MattR

Good. Competition will float all the boats. But it's rich that they say they're experts at it. If so, why do they need North Face to help?

Well, isn't this kind of like squirt guns? People will ignore it. It's sad that it's gotten to this point, though. Two can play this game. I mean, if I camp at the trail head then I'm "there." Did you recently walk away? If you'd like to share, is this from frustration or it's just time (i.e., Mrs EagleDad said so)?

And you need to be able to add small numbers. Thanks for the correction.

Welcome to the forum @yknot.

Hi @Jacob9, welcome to the forum. To answer your question, you need a minimum of 14 months to complete Star, Life, and Eagle (for the position of responsibility requirements). If your age, to the day, plus 14 months is less than 18 years then you have time. So, when were you born?

My son is a scouting youth. Does this mean I can't have a beer while eating dinner with him? Okay, that's a bit far fetched. How about this scenario. Two families, both in scouts, get together for a BBQ. Again, there's beer. Is this a violation? Or a parent offers to pick up the scout son from soccer practice of another parent that is sick. I know what the likely scenario is they're after. A troop wants to do something that's not in the G2SS and so calls it a non scouting event. But that's not what the new rule says.

Well, I promise not to shoot the messenger. Thanks.

Really? So no going to a bar anymore? I would have lost all of my ASMs. Is this rule documented somewhere?

I would not have a problem with that at all. I also know that if I talked to my DE (he is one of the good ones) he'd encourage it. The problem, as I see it, has two parts. The first is a really vague description of what is allowed. The second is that parents interpret it to mean the scouts can't ever be on their own. I do understand where it's coming from. Vague used to be fine because all kids did things on their own. And I have no doubt that there were times when they got into trouble. No doubt because I got into trouble. The glue that can hold things together is good training. Again, none of this is mentioned. So it can still work. <moderator hat> The only solution is to get more adults reading this forum. </moderator hat>

And the above continues with ... This world is a form; our bodies are forms; and no visible acts of devotion can be without forms. But yet the less form in religion the better, since God is a Spirit; for the more mental our worship, the more adequate to the nature of God; the more silent, the more suitable to the language of a Spirit. Please explain. I can figure out something for most of it but the term "of one religion" is stumping me. Could one mean any, or a particular one? Of course, I could have the whole thing wrong. One thing great about doing this from passages originally written in Hebrew is that the translations are always a guess. So in the case of one religion it could also be one's religion and completely change the meaning.

Our troop has a very simple ceremony when a scout completes a rank. Someone shouts "KA-CHING!" and everyone claps and congratulates the scout. It can be right in the middle of a meeting. Right after an election the new scouts are announced. At the COH they get their patches. For merit badges we don't do anything before the COH. So, the scout is recognized verbally. Now, for the Scout rank, I tried to have patches available to hand out right away. Unfortunately there are other processes that make it harder than it sounds.

I really enjoyed doing that as a SM. It made a simple hike into an adventure. The scouts got serious. They knew it was important just from all the questions they got. What bothers me so much, and is probably where @Oldscout448 is coming from, is that I just couldn't get this idea across to the other adults. They can cook on their own but that's not an adventure.

Along with that smart phone is 200 emails a day. Sometimes smart phones are just black holes for data. Trust me, I have been there before and I understand your frustration. I really hate to say it, but maybe this is the issue? Is this about communication or buy in? I think it's a great idea but what do the scouts think about it? My guess is they have no idea. Just a thought but how much preparation was there for this event? Do the scouts have any idea how challenging it is to cook that much food and serve everyone quickly? Did you ask the scouts to take ownership of say, cooking the pancakes and bacon, or serving? I was always more interested by a challenge. If you look at this event as an opportunity for scouts to do something new and get them involved in the preparation then I think the communication will take care of itself. Granted, this takes a lot more time and preparation on your part.

Thanks. I'll try to have fun with it. If When I get grumpy, send me a PM. BTW, @desertrat77, is off at camp this week.

We also have the added $200/scout fee that is replacing FOS. As for all that money on the campouts, if the scout is going on every campout then he's having a ton of fun and it's not an issue. If he's typical he's only going on half the campouts, so cut that number in half. On the other hand, there are high adventure trips. I always pushed for a less expensive trip. It used to be $300 but now it's more like $500. I had a lot of scouts tell me how much they appreciated that. @David CO, makes a point in that some sports are not absurdly expensive. Also, some scouts really do need to be thrifty. I always assumed there were scouts that needed to raise all their funds. Part of this discussion should also be about fund raising. Scouting supports that better than other activities. Cutting lawns and raking leaves are also good.

Welcome to the forum, @Koolio. This is an old thread and I didn't go back and try to re follow it. One thing to note is both Hedgehog and Krampus haven't been heard from in a while. We consider this a virtual campfire, so pull up a virtual chair and introduce yourself. It might be easier if you go to the new to the forum section and start a new thread. Thanks, Matt

Oh, we did have rough equality. Maybe my scouts are just spoiled with sugar at home. What turned out being better was just bragging rights. It's not that they were doing end zone dances or anything but we'd just give a big cheer to the patrol that won and that was a bigger dopamine fix than the sugar. We had an axe competition at our last camporee. All they got was a cheap ribbon but wow did they get into it. Sudden death in an axe competition is quite tense. Not only that but just the term sudden death in an axe competition got them excited. But back to patrol motivation for jte, maybe I should just chuck the idea and figure out more games that involve potential dismemberment.

I don't know. All those new parents that are just trying to do a good job for their kids likely don't know what they don't know. Especially in cub scouts. Who is telling them what is expected? In my case the cub master and CC were in the same boat I was, they didn't have the experience of boy scouts to know where cubs was going. I'm not surprised that parents don't take the training. They're busy. They learn from what they see in their pack. So if the whole pack is doing something wrong then nobody knows. We did have a commissioner and she was really enthusiastic but she couldn't convey that any change was needed. After having been a SM I have an idea of what they should be working on. To be honest, patrol flag and yell is the easiest part of what they need. One of the bigger shocks is that the parents have stepped way back and scouts will need to start dealing with their own issues. I'm not sure how to teach this in a pack. A troop guide would probably be the best thing I can think of. I had always wanted to try to get a webelos den to visit a troop once a month and be more integrated but that never happened. Again, not enough time.

We did that for a while. The first time we did it it was huge. After 3 or 4 times it was: okay sure. After a few more times it was: before we do this, do you have dark chocolate? It was kind of an addiction, except I heard no reports of them stealing from their parents for the next fix.

Well, I'll admit, while I knew of using a necker for first aid I hadn't thought of other uses. I always have a bandana with me while camping. But a 36" bandana would be more useful (except for blowing my nose). It turns out my troop's necker is made from a 36" square and it looks large on just about everyone. Unfortunately it's made from really stiff material and is consequently useless for much of anything else. We finally got some better material. Maybe if it were used for more things and got a bit dirty and torn the scouts would like it better.

Our CO, the largest church in town, has very little storage space. So we found a local business with a lot of land and put a shed on it. They have a fence all the way around their property so it works well. It would be really nice if the shed was where we meet but beggars can't be choosy.

Just a hunch, @JoeBob, but did you get into much trouble as a youth? I'm asking because, well, I did and I wouldn't be surprised if you did as well. When I was a scout in JLT I was elected PL, had a great recommendation from my SM, and promptly led my patrol in a devious direction. Our patrol cheer was a bit ... salty. We had some 'tude. Anyway, I was called in to see the adults, who were all officers in the army, and was told to get my act together and was threatened with being sent home early. But my patrol rallied behind me and cheered me up. It was a great experience. I suspect the adults just figured out a language I'd understand. I vaguely remember they tried a more gentle approach at first but it clearly didn't work. I'm not at all implying anything about you, but I do wonder how many people on this forum had their share of growing up to do.

I have a Deuter ACT Trail 30. I really like it because it has a bit of an internal frame and holds things close to my back. It has a couple of pockets, bladder sleeve, water bottle holder, mesh hip belt. I like it because it's a bit larger than the usual day packs that are meant for a water bladder, a couple of granola bars, and a rain jacket. I took it up Longs Peak and had room for lots of layers, a ton of food, and water. I could have put my nice camera in it as well. I'd suggest first figuring out what size pack you want, then figure out features. I went to REI to do that. They didn't have the pack I wanted but I think I ordered one from them online.

I was given a really really nice 3/4 axe with a thank you engraved in the handle. It's so sweet I'd like to just buy a chord of wood and split it. The fires would be nice but splitting with this axe is just wonderful.

I don't drink enough when using a bladder, but taking sips while I hike is good. So I use both a bottle and a bladder. I don't put drink mix in either so cleaning is not an issue. The nalgenes are good for measuring water and easier to fill with my filter. I do miss the old days of just sticking my face in the stream and drinking. If you did it right all you needed was a cheap cup. </showing age>