AnniePoo

CM, troop committee, and COR should agree on the punishments for the kids involved. In our troop, the kid who pulled the knife would be out of the troop.

I used to budget $5 per person per night for cub campouts. However, I'd up it to $7 per person per night now.

Headlamp. Can fine good quality comfortable ones on sale for ~$20.

New form is now active on the BSA website.

*been

No No One or two joint events a year, but otherwise seperate.

Just a comment that the three worst helicopter parents in our troop are dads. These three tend to want family camping style camp outs, not the moms. I've Henn working on them, though, and they have greatly improved.

I picked Glacier because I was kicking off our troop & crew's high adventure program. For 2013 (and henceforth) the kids proposed the options and the kids voted on the final location.

Not sure why this thread was spun from my post about high adventure trip ideas.... My opinion is that Cub Scout campouts should be family campouts, but Boy Scout campouts definitely should not be.

Did Glacier NP this year, going to Washington State (Cascades) next year. Isle Royale is high on the to-do list also.

Essentially this isn't a scouting issue, it's a customer service issue. Learning how to keep a cool head and remain professional when your customers are jerks is something that people in many professions have to deal with. It takes effort and practice. Do some digging on the web or in books for some helpful hints, and slowly but surely start incorporating them into your dealings with your customers. There are also some professional training courses available, including one-day events. Look around for one and see if your council would pay for you to go. At the same time you need to make sure that you are doing the best job you can. Good luck!

Just fine. Four active females. One in relationship with one of the guys.

What a coincidence - I just finished our troop's treasurer report. No, you should not be running a deficit. Are you factoring in other assets that will be coming in, such as payments that haven't been made yet for campouts, etc.? I tally assets (checking account, council account balance, payments yet to be made, etc.) and tally encumbrances (scout account totals, outgoing payments in the near future, etc.). Your assets should be more than your encumbrances.

I also agree with Calico. And I also would notify the police first, then BSA.

Spiney Norman -- If you're looking for a good 3-day river trip as a practice for Boundary Waters (and to get the kids excited about paddling trips), Namekagon River in northern WI is a great paddle. You can do a nice stretch in a long 3-day weekend. PM me if want more specifics. As someone else mentioned, Kickapoo River is also a good one, with campsites on the river, and Wildcat Mtn. State Park (WI) right nearby. they have good group sites.(This message has been edited by AnniePoo)

Good article.

That's great, gsdad! Keep them camping. Tigers are so much fun.

Very boy-led. Our troop was adult-led until about four years ago, when new SM started the change. Kids camp by patrols, kids plan meals, shop for food (but with adult along to write the check), and cook the meals. Adults along for campouts hang back and let SPL and PLs make the decisions. Parents write the checks to pay for the campouts 'cause kids can't. Adults drive the vehicle pulling the trailer.

Cost for most weekend campouts is $15 per person. Parents pay me (treasurer) by check. I reimburse the people buying food or supplies. If the campground is a little farther away, then person hauling the trailer (usually SM) usually doesn't pay the fee for him or his son in order to compensate for some of the gas cost. For more complicated trips other than average weekend campouts, we usually have a more detailed budget, including gas costs for those transporting scouts.

Members of our troop have been putting old rank patches on the back of the sashes for quite a while. Maybe it's not exactly correct according to BSA uniform standards, but it's a tradition for our troop.

Yeah, I overstated my opinion on that one. Ok, how about this: IMO, based on what I've seen and heard, you can set up numerous backpacking tents in a higher percentage of backpacking campsites that you can set up numerous hammocks.

Just a comment about the tent vs. hammock situation. You can set up a tent anywhere. You can't set up a hammock anywhere. Thus, if it's situation where units will be investing in hammocks OR backpacking tents, I would recommend they get tents. We could not have used hammocks in ANY of the backcountry sites we camped in at Glacier NP this August. As with many of the National Parks, Glacier requires that gear be set up only on the designated tent pads. Lots of places outside National Parks have similar restrictions. Plus, only one of our sites had appropriate trees that would have worked for even a couple of hammocks, let alone for our larger groups.

Re-read some of the other posts and have a few other comments (again, as a non-expert): You can add a younger scout in with a group of older scouts on a really long trek, but remember that the speed and distance will be determined by the "weakest link" in the group. I highly recommend matching the physical capabilities of the people in each group. Someone asked me how I knew for sure if some kids could do the trip. I didn't know for sure, but I did know the kids. I've camped with them a lot and spent a lot of time with them as a leader. You gotta trust your gut. We had some skinny but scrappy kids that did great. By the way, we had crew and troop kids on our trip, so the age range was 12-19, including four girls. The girls were among the scrappiest. No whiners came on the trip, and the kids really supported each other.

I'm no backpacking expert, but we took 17 youth and 4 adults on a very successful 12-day trip to Glacier NP in August. My sister, experienced backpacker who takes her kids with her, told me to plan for 5-10 miles per day. We stuck to that, and she was right. We split into a couple of groups for our multi-day backcountry treks, and the older kids did treks with the most elevation gain or loss in each day. DON'T overdo mileage with kids, even if you think they can handle it. It's gotta be fun. Plus, most of the fun stuff happens when you have time at the backcountry sites, and when you have time to notice stuff along the trails. Remember that significant elevation gain AND/OR elevation loss will really affect how much mileage the kids can handle. Long downhills are hard on the joints and feet, even if they are not as hard aerobically. We kept pack weight for all kids at 20-25% of body weight, including water. Two of the dads in that were in really great shape went up to 30% with no problem. Strength, endurance, maturity, and overall attitude, but not speed, were main considerations when determining whether the trip was going to be appropriate for a specific scout. The youngest kid on the trip was 12, and he did great because he's strong, mature for his age, and has a great attitude. I recommended to parents of a few other interested 12-13 year olds that they hold off until the next trip. They'll be ready for next year's trip. Sometimes a year in age makes a big difference. Best trip I've ever been on, and I've travelled a lot. We're already planning next July's trip. I can't wait!

I got my beads in the mail, with no ceremony anywhere, just the way I wanted it.