Stosh

I have personally seen Civil War Reenactors with massive fire set-ups, horses, trenching around tents, etc. everything that would make a seasoned LNT Scouter gasp and gnash their teeth. Yet one week after the event, no one could tell anyone had used the park for a 3-day campsite. It's amazing what one can do when they know how to do it correctly.

Welcome to the forum. Just remember that being a CM isn't forever, there's always the follow up.... being a SM.

Has any one ever noticed that if mom's afraid of mice and spiders, so are the kids. Has anyone ever noticed that if dad's nervous about being in a certain area after dark, so are the kids. Zombies, vampires, violence in games and on TV, wearing bike helmets, don't talk to strangers, not safe to ride your bike 2 blocks to school, Child Protective Services are hiding in the bushes near your house. Lions, tigers and bears, oh my! Is it any wonder our children grow up paranoid of everything in this world.

Sign off in this order of priority PL APL TG (new scout patrols) Instructors (only if they are POR Instructors) SPL for the PL's SM for the SPL The responsibility has to directly pass down. APL can sign only if the PL says so, etc. It is for a single item. The responsibility always remains first with the PL.

The information is rather contra-indicative and confusing. Reminds me of the old Civil Defense training we used to get in school.

The 90 year old woman was pulled over and she informed the police officer she was armed. She said she had 45 in the glove box, a 9 mm in her belt and a derringer tucked up her sleeve with her hankie. The officer was amazed and said, "Lady, what in the world are you afraid of?" to which she replied, "Absolutely nothing." Today we perceive the world far differently than we did 50 years ago. Personal freedoms were assumed, Free Speech was not something one could get arrested for and many civil rights people died for a cause that today they in a whim wish to reverse. It totally amazes me the situation our media has put us in with all this "information" being bombarded on the public. A delivery man stopped by a house and noticed 2 children playing in the house but didn't see any adults. He called it in. 3 police arrived on the scene to check it out. The woman was busy and simply chose not to answer the door. Seriously? The children were in a home with an adult and 3 police had to waste time answering the busy-body delivery person's concern that no one answered the door. Look at my signature. It gives everyone just notice that being at everyone's beck and call just isn't my style. When one calls a dog, he comes, when one calls a cat, he'll take your message and get back to you when he feels like it. I like cats.

An EMT in the field of trauma may be better suited for the situation than the MD cosmetic surgeon. The pedigree and law must always be taken into consideration.

I wouldn't call it a course per se, more of a compass scavenger hunt. Targets of varying values, team continuity, time limit...more than a compass course. If it was just a compass course, I don't think there would be the international interest there seems to be generated. My Australian nephew has his whole family involved and they are out 2 to 3 times a month in their summer season. Their kids were well versed in map and compass before they started school.

Instead of a compass course, do a patrol Rogain course. http://www.rogaining.com/

I was in Boy Scouts for 4 years. I never earned a MB at summer camp.

One has a legal obligation that once medical treatment has been started, it is illegal to turn over the patient's welfare to someone who has lessor level of training that the original provider. I have been told to get out of a scene of an accident by law enforcement and fire personnel, but I refused until someone with equal or greater training was there to take over. Both instances where this happened (once law officer, one fire personnel), they were reprimanded by their superiors for their lack of knowledge in that situation. I wouldn't necessarily ask anyone if they were certified, but I would have law enforcement acquire the name of the person taking over from me in case the situation made it to court. In that case, all certifications and levels of expertise would be worked out by the legal system. Although I was a volunteer (technically on duty anytime I volunteered) at that particular time, I did carry EMT-D national certification which I knew to be a higher level of medical training than what was offered to law enforcement and fire rescue personnel.

Where ya gonna get your drugs if you don't go to the playground?

I thought twice before hitting the POST button on the comment. I do realize that there are a far greater majority of excellent instructors, teachers, mentors, etc. out there doing an outstanding job. I came very close to adding, "Those that can teach, teach, those that can't, still try." Having spent 22 years of my life sitting full-time in the classroom, I can kinda get the impression of the quality of one's teaching ability. Maybe this gentleman in the original post who cut off the process with a bit of arrogance was out of his comfort zone, might be having a bad day, just wasn't thinking for a moment, but when all the dust had settled, an apology should have been his first step in the right direction. A professional teacher gets paid, a volunteer teacher doesn't, but there's a certain amount of "professional decorum" that goes along with being in any position of teaching others. My post was not to belittle any teachers out there, if I offended any of them, please accept my apology, it was not directed at anyone other than the rude WOODBADGE woods tool instructor in the story told by @@Oldscout448

Over the past 50 years our society has spent thousands if not millions of dollars working on making our playgrounds a safe place for children. They slides are plastic, bolts are covered up, nothing is very high. the ground is covered with pad-like rubber, chains on the swings are coated so as to not pinch. Anything that can move quickly is removed. So the statistics have come out and there is NO significant reduction in injury or death on the playground, but the number of car/pedestrian accidents involving kids going to and from the playground has gone up due to the increase in traffic over the years. Somewhere someone feels good that they have gone to a whole lot of trouble making it safer for our children. Too bad no one ever spent any time teaching our children to look both ways anymore.

Ya didn't think to drop in the "Those that can, do, those that can't, teach?" Sounds like he's got all the answers, too bad he doesn't understand the questions. After working all these many years with scouts and scouters, it is the scouters that pose the greatest danger to themselves because of their arrogance.

The best way to get injured with an ax is not to know how to correctly use it.

Nope, it's homemade out of old cans. I have a big one for plop camping #10 can and a smaller one for backpacking. Cans and tent pegs is all it takes, even the #10 can weighs next to nothing, except it's size is too big for backpacking. I made the larger stove one summer camp about 3-4 years ago and really liked it. They cooked on a shepherd's stove, I used my new rocket stove and it worked great. I then made a smaller version for backpacking. It's small, but it gets the job done nicely.

I hit the local Walmart and pick up the $1 led flashlights that fit into the pocket. Never was a fan of head lights, every time one talks to some one who has one, looks up and blinds you for the next 10 minutes. Super annoying. The cheap little $1 shots are bright enough that I put my fingers over the end to cut down the light to something bearable. If one loses one, they are out a buck. No big deal.

220g for the stove, how much does the fuel and fuel container weigh? How much fuel does one need to cook for the 9 days of Philmont. BWCA uses wood but the canoe handles the load.. I don't know what Sea Base does, but they aren't backpacking. I have a small rocket stove that cooks very nicely and burns wood, works just as well as a backpack stove, weighs about the same and fuel is found in the woods, not the backpack pocket.

I'll let you guess as to which it is. 1) fat fingers 2) agree 3) disagree but well written

I cook on a propane stove every day. Why would I want to do it again in the woods, when I can do it for fun with a campfire. Nothing can beat a campfire cooked meal, not even a Dutch oven.

Gotta teach the boys how to make char-cloth.

I don't think most scouts and/or scouters have any problem igniting fires, it's the 3 hours of blowing, tossing in sticks and repeated snuffing it down, turning it into a signal fire instead of a cooking fire. I find that boys who have been taught the how have never been exposed to the why. Why pine and not oak? Why does the dutch oven need more coals every half hour and charcoal goes a full hour? Why is a belt ax more useful than a full or 3/4 ax? Why make all those fire starters when a candle stub works just as well. Why does Mr. Stosh have a walking stick with a hook on the end. What's that go to do with fire building? Why is wood lying on the ground not as good as breaking off branches. Why do those branches have to snap to be useful? None of this is covered in the Scout Handbook. The mechanics of fire building is a good start, but the art of fire building his a skill that will be far more useful and interesting to the older scouts, especially the Eagle scouts that can't get up in the morning and get a cook fire going for breakfast.

Nothing more frustrating than to get the fire built with extreme care only to have the impatient scout who shows up with a handful of pine needles to help speed up the process.

I have sometimes over the years encountered some on the forum that use the negative button on those that disagree with them regardless of how polite and positive that may be. It might be good to review the use of the green and red buttons so that everyone is on the same page. I have never used the red button against anyone that has disagreed with me. If that was the case, I would have known the daily limit a long time ago. Disagreements is the life-blood of new knowledge and insight. I would never want to discourage that process.