Stosh

We took a dining fly when we were at Philmont. It came in really, really handy when a hail storm hit us second day out.

There's a lot of talk on the forum about the boys' ability to struggle with fire building. Other than the obvious techniques described in the Scout Handbook, what other techniques does one use to get the boys excited about their pyromania tendencies in the woods? I have dissuaded the boys from using rope and twine because of the amount of herbicides and pesticides use to grow those fibers, using paper towels and newspapers is another because those are not readily available in the outdoors. I use my 2' copper tube with one end flattened to intensify the bellow effect and bring a spark or coal from another fire to start a second fire. Bark, grass, milkweed and such also work well. Most boys have magnesium starters but don't know how to use them properly. Making bow and drill is also fun for the boys. Some have even gotten a fire started once they figure out the system. In competitions, any boy who starts a fire without a match or other modern conveniences always gets placed ahead of those who use them. I also give extra credit for those who, start a fire, get a 2' flame without having to "play" with it to keep it going. I once experienced a pyro-pro who started a council fire, producing 10' high flames with no matches, just a flint and steel. Really impressive. I have also experienced scouters who could produce eye-brow reducing fires using white gas. Not a pretty sight.

On extreme occasions, I have used the negative vote. I guess there's never been 2 extreme occasions on the same day for me.

I'm only giving you a little poke. You are correct in that every opportunity needs to be taken to engage the boys in all opportunities especially on outings. I, too, have lashed the camp chairs throughout the years, but my "pattern" has been the tripod tipped on the side and lashing a seat around the base. The extended "top" of the tripod is often cited as a trip hazard because they extend into the shadows behind the person sitting at the fire. It would be good to find a better pattern for the boys. I've never been a hammock person, always did well with just finding a comfy spot on the ground if necessary. For me, tents are always optional. A walking stick and poncho always do well for lightweight tenting. The glamping comes in when we see all sorts of 4-man tents with 2 boys each, adult tents that could hold a circus, and kitchen setups that are better than what most people have at home. The trailer of one of my former troops was 20' long, side door and double back doors. Shelving and walkway from front to back. The non-door side had a stainless steel removable/storable counter. There was an awning over it and able to hold 3 gas lanterns fed by 20# tanks. 2-10' tables to be able to serve food to the troop buffet style. 3 double burner propane stoves provided plenty of cooking opportunity. Their "adult" tent could easily house 10 adults on cots and still have room for all their personal gear. This troop was known among the council as the epitome of high adventure Scouting. The outside of the trailer was painted with the technology that could produce nice big pictures of the boys on former outing, like what businesses do for their fleet vehicles and municipalities do for their transit system. The closest thing of glamping when I was a Scout back in the '60's was each patrol got a big military wall tent in which all 8 of us could fit into. It was handy to be able to keep card games going well into the night. I'm thinking the only card game for the guys in hammocks is solitary.

Naw, when your back gets tired, it's time to lay out on the cot that has 4" foam pad and sheets and a nice wool blanket. if you put the second pillow under your knees, it relaxes the back quite well.

Dragging a log over to the fire is a lot easier..... and if four boys wanted to do it for me, even better.

Rule #2 - look and act like a Scout. It's been around and taught by me for over 30 years. It's nothing new. The uniform is the easiest way to look like a Scout. Acting like a Scout is the more difficult part. And so the myth will continue for years to come. End justifies the means..... A lie told 1000 times is still a lie....... Yep, there's a ton of them out there.

Our CO provides us with storage. It is in the basement and anytime there is need for equipment, it has to be dragged the full length of the building and up stairs and then halfway back and out to the curb. It is remarkable how much we can get by with when the boys make due rather than drag a trailer equivalent of gear from the storage every time they want to go camping. I know I dumped the term plop camping on the forum many moons ago, but in recent years I have had to modify that to the more 21st century term "glamping". How many scouters set the example out there for their boys and have a camp chair rather than sitting on a log around the campfire? I have a camp chair, but I have never been able to justify dragging it out into the woods.

For all the Latin aficionados out there the word is uniform, i.e. UNI- meaning one and -FORM mean shape, style, or shape. "Class-B" of all colors and designs of sorts is contra-indicative of anything resembling the definition of ONE or UNI- form. For that matter the boys all wearing white t-shirts (which are readily available in our society) would be more uni-formed than what a lot of scouters tout as a "Class-B" uniform. At one point the BSA did produce and promote an Activity shirt for when there was a need to keep the boys' field uniform from getting dirty, but it never was promoted on the Uniform Inspection Sheet. And what many call the "Class-B" uniform doesn't, nor has never been part of that Sheet either. At strict, conservative schools where there is a school uniform, the students wouldn't dare wear a t-shirt in school colors with the school's mascot and school name to school. The term Class-A and Class-B have been derived from the military where a dress uniform and a field (or duty) uniform are specifically spelled out. Only problem is, BSA is not a military organization. And as a further note, the term Scout Uniform is short verbiage for the full title of Boy Scout Field Uniform as expressed in BSA literature.

Even with fire bans in effect, in my neck of the woods, cooking fires, barbeques, fire-rings, etc. are allowed. I was sitting around a campfire at a state park with my family when the forest ranger approached (he is legal law enforcement in the park). He informed me that campfires were banned. I inquired whether that included cook fires. He said, "No, cook fires were okay." I offered him a S'more and he smiled and moved on to the next site. There were two buckets of water, a bucket of sand and a 5 gallon water jug sitting there with me. The area had been raked clean of leaves 10' radius and all the bases were covered. It wasn't a bonfire, just a modest campfire.....with marshmallows.

The modern OA ordeal is based on the traditional American Indian Vision Quest https://www.warpaths2peacepipes.com/native-american-culture/vision-quest.htm

myth miTH/ noun noun: myth; plural noun: myths 1. a traditional story, especially one concerning the early history of a people or explaining some natural or social phenomenon, and typically involving supernatural beings or events. synonyms: folk tale, folk story, legend, tale, story, fable, saga, mythos, lore, folklore, mythology "ancient Greek myths" traditional stories or legends collectively. "the heroes of Greek myth" 2. a widely held but false belief or idea. Of course I know what the definition of myth is.

...and this is why Scouting myths never go away....

My favorite myth is there is a thing called a "Class-B" uniform. Never seen one, but they say they're out there.

Help on an Eagle project can be only other members of the troop. Sheath knives are banned, (but unsheathed butcher knives thrown in the chuck box are okay.) BSA requires all scouts to have a uniform. One has to attend X number of meetings and outings to qualify for active scout status. All boys should make first class by the end of the first year. New scouts are too young to understand leadership concepts and thus only the older boys should be the leaders. The new boys will learn by osmosis and watching others lead. Every troop requires an SPL to "run the show". High Adventure occurs only at Northern Tier, Sea Base, Philmont and Summit Bechtel Reserve. "Sign's UP!" is the best way to teach boys how to interrupt those who are interrupting them.

An Eagle project requires the candidate to do a project that benefits someone other than the BSA. Generally speaking I think most of the service project around my neck of the woods are for more public causes, like cleaning up roadsides, raking leaves for the elderly, sorting food at a food pantry, etc. Cleaning up one's own back yard never seems to make the list, but it does for OA. Volunteers come in an clean up the spring and "put it to bed" for the winter and get no credit for it..... except the OA participants, If OA is a service arm of the BSA, it seems to spend a lot of time with that arm tucked in their own pocket. Sign on the door of the local food pantry..."Shelves will be stocked today by Ordeal candidates of the Order of the Arrow, Boy Scouts of America. They are to work in silence as part of their Ordeal. If you have a question, please ask those who are not in Boy Scout uniform. Thank you." BAM! Two birds with one stone! The scout fulfills his ordeal obligation and the BSA get great publicity. If the local council camp needs all hands on deck to prepare and clean up camp, OA should be there just like any other volunteer. Ordeal should be something special like a real service project similar to an Eagle Project in nature.

Alcohol does not burn as efficiently as white gas. BTU's per weight is a lot less. Most alcohol burners are also uncontained meaning if one tips it over, fuel will go all over the place, LIT. Not a good idea unless the only fuel available is alcohol.

I was in a shelter that was the local high school. I can assure everyone that school was not in session at the first announcement of evacuation so the kids had the time. I'm not talking about traveling half way across the country to help out, I'm talking about the local residents that know the area and are a 5 minute walk away in some circumstances. If a disaster hit one's own town, what would the scouts be able to do? That's the point. I'm retired so I have the time to take off and go halfway across the country. I'm not a local. I don't know the local area. Without Good Maps, I never would have even been able to know what direction out of town I needed to drive to get to my assignment. Yet local volunteers do step up and provide unbelievable help in that they know the area, they know the people, they know the low spots that might flood, etc. Even if the boys couldn't provide hands on help, they would be excellent people to have available to know where the flooding areas were, where the damage was, where the relief supplies are needed the most, etc., etc. etc. One kid shows up and says I have a map all marked where help is needed and hands it to a Red Cross worker is solid gold!

How does one mentor 50 scouts at the same time? When I do MB's I normally try to keep the numbers well below 8 boys at a time. It's difficult to keep track of any more than that if one wishes to include the "personal touch" in the mentoring process.

From the time I leave the house until I get back I wear my Red Cross ID card around my neck. Once I get to my deployment destination I wear my Red Cross vest so everyone knows my function in the area. Out of all the people needing help its the only way to let them know who those people are who are there to serve their needs. I can assure you that the young boys who came into the shelter to help set up cots, etc. did not wear their football uniforms, but they, as a group identified who they were and why they were there. If a scout were to come in uniform, just a necker or identified himself to me as a scout, I would have taken the name of his SM and troop # and made sure a special thanks went out on his behalf to those who mentored him. As a SM he would get service hour credit and no one would have to know his generosity unless he himself said something to others. Yet as SM I would want to know I was doing a good job in my troop knowing boys like him were part of my troop. I don't participate in BSA, ARC or any other organization for the credit, I do it because I need to pay back and pay forward for all those who were there when I needed it. The thank you's and hugs from those I serve are credit enough.

http://www.landcruisingadventure.com/the-gasoline-coleman-stove/ For the more adventurous. There are some good videos on cleaning the stove if one were to clog it up using regular gasoline.

Here's my take on the whole business. There are white gas backpacking stoves and lanterns that are grey instead of green that burn both white gas and unleaded gas. In a pinch I use the unleaded gas. The only drawback is that if one leaks or spills on the outside of the container white gas has no odor, unleaded gasoline DOES! I have an adapter for my Colman stove that converts it from white gas to propane so I can go either way on that when I plop camp. Otherwise I stick with the white gas. I haven't the nerve to experiment with burning unleaded gas in a white gas stove. I don't know what it would do. I think they use white gas instead of the old leaded gasoline because of the lead fumes. Now that it's unleaded, I don't know if it will work. Maybe do a research to find out. Still don't like the odor issue with unleaded gasoline. The octane levels offered at the gas stations may make a difference in that the higher the octane, the quicker the evaporation. That might make a big difference. I'll have to go back to the manuals on my white gas/unleaded gas stoves to see what the manufacturers recommend.

The people who did show up to ask if they could help did identify themselves. We had some discussion on units wanting to be involved with fire departments, chuches (CO's), to provide assistance. I took an online course of the Red Cross on Sheltering Fundamentals and next week I will be trained in the practical portion. I got thrown into the situation as shelter manager (2 grades up from my position) when we opened 27 shelters with 34 volunteers before the hurricane hit. Safety concerns were not a problem before or after, Families are responsible for themselves during that time of the storm. No problem. When the high school football team showed up, I did not ask questions about age, just pointed to a stack of boxed cots and the boys did the rest. I did not have any time to contact anyone from the local council, but maybe the local council could have contacted units to offer up some help. Saying "no can do, thanks anyway" and saying, "YES! I have things for you to do!" are two different issues. After the storm there were safety issues with downed power lines and other hazards, but serving up 150 MRE's in the shelter twice a day in the dark would have been something the boys could do. As far as safety is concerned inside the shelter was far better than any place else in the whole town. I have never seen such destruction, yet I got everyone through with no safety issues involved. I did meet other former scouts and scouters, but not currently registered because I wore a BSA T-shirt under my Red Cross vest and they commented many times. These types of things could easily be identified in such areas prior to any disaster. Red Cross partners with Federal, State, community and faith based organizations all the time. BSA could inquiring into that as well. Venturing Crew members would have been perfect in many places.

My boys have a 36" square necker. They normally wear them around their neck, especially in colder weather. In the hotter months, they end up water soaked bandanas. Those are but two uses for them. There's many more.

I'm back and I going to go into a loooong rant. I just got back from 2 Red Cross disaster operations, one in Louisiana and another in South Carolina. In Louisiana I was doing bulk distribution of relief supplies into the flooded neighborhoods with a 16' box truck. I handed out a number of items to people who needed them. I had one place where we stopped a young boy about 14-16 years of age came up and asked for a complete package of relief aid and hauled it off. No problem. A few minutes later he came back and asked for the same thing. Red Cross never refuses aid under any circumstances so I gave him everything again. He returned a third time and I gave him the full load again, but I watched him carefully. He went over to a house and knocked on the door and after a short conversation, left the stuff on the porch. He came back again a 4th time and got a load. But this time he went to a different house, knocked, talked and left the stuff on the porch. He kept coming back and I never saw him go to the same house twice. I was impressed to say the least. Many times I saw other young boys and girls doing a ton of stuff that made my trip to that area of the country. This past two weeks, I did sheltering. In South Carolina there are evacuation routes and shelters marked along the road. I was assigned one of these shelters to setup, run and clean up. I had only one other Red Cross worker. I had to put up signage, ready the shelter and put up 200 cots for the people seeking refuges from the hurricane. The shelter was in a local high school of a small town, and the high school football team showed up in force to help set up cots, distribute blankets and get ready for the storm. Afterwards when they heard we were shutting down operations they returned to clean, sanitize and repackage cots for the next time. They were a God-send! The two of us Red Cross people would never have been able to shelter the 146 people who showed up. These are but two specific events that renewed my faith in the younger generation of today! The only thing that concerned me was that with all the TALK of what scouting is all about, I did not see one scout uniform, I did not see even one necker, I had no one from BSA come up to me and say, "What can we do to help?" I have heard others talk about looking for opportunities to get their sleeves rolled up and into the fray, yet when the time comes, it's a no-show. As a Red Cross volunteer, there is never enough hands to cover everything needed at a time like this. Sure the Red Cross has the financial resources to send people from all over the country, My eventual staff ended up with people from California, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Oklahoma, Maryland and Massachusetts. Yet the local volunteers, even shelter residents themselves came out in droves and stepped up and helped. In the storm cleanup of hurricane Matthew I saw a ton of people out clearing roads of fallen trees, cleaning up parks and getting their neighborhoods back into livable condition, but no uniforms and no neckers. I know the BSA talks the talk, but do they walk the walk?