Basementdweller

Eamon.... So how do the scouts get the experience?????? I have no issue at all, leading a large pioneering project of this type, especially if boys are going to be climbing on it...... After the boys get some experience doing bigger projects, I don't mind sitting in my chair with some ice tea watching. BTW where do you guys get the large poles and staves for these projects.....it is more than a little challenging in a big city.

shame they kicked out the one good one.... just curious, why did they need to have trip wires around the campsite?????? If I had boys sneaking out at night as SM I would ask for help and probably spend a couple of nights staying up to figure out who it is and send them home.....It is MY responsibility to ensure my scouts are causing issues for other troops. Stealing or Vandalizing your out of my Troop. All boys don't deserve scouting..... but that is an entire different thread.

wow it only cost $110 per month for a year....... So I am going to guess your program cost $2,000 or more per year???? WOW Brother that is a ton of money for scouting........plus gear????? Our program doesn't cost $500 including resident camp. As pointed out another award for the rich.

If I am paying to go to camp I expect to be served food that is not beyond it's expiration date.....I don't care if it is deemed safe or not. The simple fix is not to patronize that camp or program again and make sure you spread the word at round tables and other scout events. My question for you.....would you do it to the boys in your troop??? I sure wouldn't, in my book it isn't worth the risk. FScout....it is ok for you to deem what is safe for your personal consumption.....but if my son was with you and got sick by consuming expired food you deemed safe....we would have problems. Our resident camp used bread from the day old store for the PB and J bar.....no biggy in my book, but if that bread was moldy, I would have had words with the steward and CD.

not the stuff on the shelves......But the weight of the shelves and add ons before gear. Saw a troop trailer that had steel shelves down both sides full length floor to ceiling, just can't imagine how much that thing weighed when full.

I am kinda surprised regarding the dismantling, and hiding of the golf carts..... I am taken back and disappointed. Calico....I enjoyed your story, Watching the people who rode the golf carts eat......the obesity is voluntary......especially one the one gal went up for thirds. the SM from the a joining table winked at me and pointed it out. The being held at the closing campfire till the parade of golf carts and utv's left was the final straw for me. I wrote added it to my camp evaluation form and I ran into the Councils SE as we were leaving and let him know my thoughts about it. He was very diplomatic as expected and said he would look into it...... Nothing will change I am sure of it..........so I guess I am just venting.

So did the COR dissolve the troop???? I would have considered it. I cannot even fathom why the boys would cut up a tent.......let alone 10-15 of them. And these are scouts???? What is wrong with them?????? Theft at this years camp was a problem too, we had several scouts loose money at the pool and I had my backpack gone thru at the swimming pool......By a fellow scouter cause it was in the adult changing area. I lost a couple of knives, compass, headlight and first aid kit. I reported it to the CD who mentioned it at the SM meeting the following morning. They are gone, stolen by an adult scouter. It was to the point the boys going to the pool left everything at camp except a shirt and towel. really sad.

Funny this should come up...... What was the level of vandalism???? Carving his name in a picknick table or breaking all of the windows out of the dining hall?????? It makes a difference in my book. If it involved a large dollar amount and one of my scouts was involved, I would not let him be questioned by the camp staff period. I would ask that LE be involved and contact his parents so he had proper representation. Shortridge.....someone actually did that????? What is wrong with with these scouts??? That impacted a bunch of scouts in a negative manner..... We had one scout who kept BMing in the shower.....Which lead to no youth unescorted to the shower house and the adult leader had to verify a clean shower before the unit left......guess what it wasn't a problem after this was implemented. Another Troop had the SM's son writing "Troop 123 was here" on duct tape and sticking it all over camp. The troop was asked not to return to that camp.....EVER.

DO NOT STORE YOUR GEAR IN THE TRAILER, how many times have we read or heard on the news about scout trailers being stolen....... STORE TRAILER BEHIND LOCKED FENCE, or in a gargage, not in the CO's parking lot. Get some tire covers to protect the tires from UV when sitting. BTW check the tires for dry rot or uv damage.. Don't add to much weight in shelving. Make sure you have a proper spare tire, jack, lug wrench. do the maintenance on the bearings....I am sure no one has.

Guessing there is much more to the story.......... As CC I would have consulted with the COR and have removed him...... It is just easier to find another troop. The ASM should have absolutely nothing to say about a campership other than a letter of support that is.....BTW what kind of campership is it???? Troop, district, council or OA??????? Which adults go to summercamp?????? Are you talking about bickering for the free spots?????? other than that who cares?????? We make it clear that the boys tent together and mom or dad isn't supposed to follow them around all day.

Nice shot Seattle. Yes, we got tired of eating their dust. Especially right after leaving the shower house.

cubs don't care about awards......remember all of them have 5 minute attention spans. Big convoluted ceremonies are for the parents. the kids just want to play......

I forgot to mention the same troop ran generators as well. Probably for the air conditioners in their tents. Again, I have no issue with elderly and disabled using them. The fuel was not stored properly, it was kept on the flat bed transport trailers unsecured. But is being Fat a disability????(This message has been edited by Basementdweller)

My son has a raccoon phobia and cannot attend camp because of this.....it is certified by his doctor and is in writting. So I ask for an alternate for all of the camping requirements. I am being silly of course. We have too many selfish adults trying to short cut the requirements. Yes they are selfish because they like their boys advancing. So telling him is simple.......Here is the requirement, did you do it? no....... Pretty simple So your first class scout who could not swim goes to Northern tier and drowns, whose fault is it???? the requirement is to make the boy self sufficient. As a youth I had a friend who refused to advance......He never wanted to be patrol leader or anything, he just wanted to camp and camp he did. He passed his swimming test, did the mile swim for kicks, resident camp, weekend camp and on. He never advanced just enjoyed camping. so who cares he took what he wanted from it.

Well just spent a week in the new shirt. It really isn't that much cooler, temperature, than the old shirt. In that week my whiskers caused the collar to pill and look really bad. The shoulders don't fit quite right either. Thru the course of the day, the epilets ended up behind my shoulders. I kept having to fiddle with it thru the course of the day to get it to look right. I am disappointed

Got a chuckle when I saw this thread. Had one troop doing drive by squirting from their golf carts at resident camp. They showed up to flag one evening with several super soakers in violin and guitar cases. CD was entertained. It was kinda entertaining when they made "Hits" on the camp staff or other troops. Another example on how poorly and unevenly the G2SS is being followed. Most Packs in our immediate vicinity have a huge water fight every summer and it involves throwing water balloons and squirt guns. Nothing will happen if you hold a squirt gun fight......You won't be kicked out of the BSA, your charter won't be revoked.......Ya know the boys might even have a good time. Just got to shake my head.

Just got back from summer camp at new camp for the troop. It seems this camp allows Golf carts and gators to be run on camp grounds by Troop Adults. I was astonished....... Again, this is a first for me. Never in my life had I seen anyone but the Camp ranger, Camp director or Program director using them anywhere else. I will say there were some very elderly scouters being shuttled around, I have absolutely no problem with them being shuttled as they truly appeared very frail. I asked about the scouter and their service because everyone seemed to know and respect them......I was not disappointed and both had over 60 years of tenure in scouting. I spent a wonderful morning chatting with one of them. Then there was another troop that had a fleet of golf carts to shuttle around their scouters and scouts.......They,the entire troop, pulled up to the dinning hall for dinner the first night and I simply could not believe it. Well they raced around camp all week and were told at the SM meetings every morning to slow down or else. I simply didn't like it.... Just curious, So what is your summer camps policies regarding golf carts and gators?????

Best practices for who.....the Rich White scouts from the suburbs. It is easy to dictate best practices when you donate bunches of money and gear and have the SE's ear........

Sorry for the long delay.....Just back from my second week at summer camp.....one more to go. That is ridiculous if it is just for weather protection. Again BSA regulating common sense. Just like Packsaddle I have significant experience in the outdoors and many thousand miles under boot. I find this silly. I have worked to get my pack weights down as I age.... Lets me keep up with the youngsters. They are going to force me to carry a thirty pound pack....I am not going to be happy. I would not carry a tarp tent....from Henry shire.......Too expensive and small for the weight......I have a couple of silnylon tarps.......one is for my hammock and it has doors too, well they don't zip.

30 years ago when I went to Philmont we sleep under three dinning flies.....Two for the the scouts one for the adults..... Reading a friends trek guide they now say no Tarps, everyone has to sleep in a tent..... I have a silnylon tarp and it weights 12 ounces with stakes 14. My question is why? Bear safety? Look of a clean campsite? I am looking to cut weight....as a youth there was no shake down, Just before I got on the bus to head to poneil, with food and water my pack weighed 52 pounds......I am looking for a 18 pound or less base weight. I expect 24 with consumables.

The new microfiber shirt is available in 4XL At 7 foot.....I applaud your efforts to make a uniform.

Fair enough kudu.....Fair enough.... there are so many "Experts" who post about things they know not. Our numbers average around 10% currently.

KUDU I am not sure why you are currently raising and waving this huge race flag...... I have scouts, not enough, but I have scouts. Boys at 11 or 12 years old are looking for adventure, I don't care what color or ethnicity they are, we are blessed with all the colors of the rainbow, makes for fantastic blue and gold potluck. I would like to hear your background, very specifically, on why you believe you are a self proclaimed expert on scouting and they hispanic community. I have 6 years with a very ethnically diverse CO in the inner city, have experience with a number of different ethnicity's. Am I an experts, no way. I don't throw around Made up statistics and half truths. I speak from my personal experience or can cite my source. You can speculate why boys are not interested in scouting......Of the boys I lost this year most of them were to Lazy parents, lost of jobs and relocation, divorce, a couple to sports and one to he isn't interested. kudu....I believe as you do in the boys, patrol method and scouting's importance. your making up statistics and unsupported accusations damages your credibility and I believe damages what you love.

Just curious, Do you actually think the TSA employees enjoy patting you down???? Personally, no way. I especially don't want to feel up your 80 year old mother in law or her sweaty fat son Felix. It is a job. They pat down 30 or 40 people a day. So they are patting down 200-300 people a week, tough to be nice an courteous when MOST people treat you like crap and an inconvience. My attitude is Just grab my junk and be done with it. BTW I am one of those sweaty fat guys. Yes I have been patted down a couple of time, it isn't that big a deal. The parents of that girl who was Traumatized, have already succeeded in raising a very neurotic little girl. She is gonna be a treat when she gets to be about 13.

You guys are silly..... Don't fly..... We, the citizens of the United States, are spoiled beyond words. Would you be happier with no checks at all. As OGE pointed out, extremist would think nothing of sacrificing their child or baby to take out an airliner. The reason this is a big deal is flying is for the rich and very simply the rich don't like to be inconvenienced or hassled in any way...... The poor are hassled like this daily. In the hood, the boys are rousted out and lined up and patted down fairly regularly, hanging out on the corner.....LEO will say they got a complaint and then line the neighborhood kids up and pat them down and lecture them...... My son and his friends have been stopped and patted down a couple of times, the store clerk at the circle k said she had kids shoplifting..... Could you imagine that happening in the rich suburbs? no way. My point......Rich guys get over it.