Basementdweller

The game of life is a huge lesson and in my opinion a long look in the mirror. A large number of scouters have an image of themselves that often isn't accurate, and most are not a generous or caring as they think they are....... In my session they got the participants all wound up to win. too me it seemed odd for this sort of training.....Your supposed to actually win as opposed to work as a group. Well I looked a little further and figured it out. then the scout oath and law, the faces were priceless. Afterwards I had several from the other patrols come over an apologize for not listening to what I had to say. there were some very mad participants at ours, one guys was carrying on..... he said it was a stupid exercise and that isn't how it really is.. All I asked him was really and how do you deal with people on a daily basis....Suggested now is the time to change some things if he didn't like what he saw.

My patrol was 240 miles a part making a patrol meeting impossible. between sessions. We had a patrol stacked with staff members from the same IOLS course who had been schooled in the game of life. Staff screwed around at gilwell way to much...inside jokes and pranks.

Thanks for chiming in eagle and oge....... I was thinking that his troop was more adult led than he was admitting to himself. It is really difficult to watch them muddle thru the process.... The planning takes way to long.

Cricket.....look beyond your council for training....... I leave my council and district on a regular basis chasing the training I need or required to have. I find it an interesting contradiction blaming the leaders for a poor program when the program is supposed to be youth led. We are coming up on our yearly planning meeting......So do YOU as leaders, add to the planning, such as a new camp site or activity.......I have found the scouts I serve generally have very limited experiences, or imagination to broaden possible activity choices. We let the scouts create their possible activities list.....then we add some fresh ideas. the scouts make the final decision.

sitting on the back porch tonight with a nice cigar and glass of bourbon, watching the storms roll in again. Very relaxing.....then the tornado sirens started. So do I get up and turn on the TV or radio to see whats going on......No, air was moving too much, the clouds weren't churning right......No, I will just sit here and enjoy the cigar till it starts to rain....ya know it never did. Daughter came out and joined me, The lightening and contrasting clouds were incredible. Catacombs you need to worry about zombies and minotaurs. hehehehe, boys would love it.(This message has been edited by Basementdweller)

neil....... The phone chirps....the boys dig them out by force of habit. Reflex. then the just respond out of reflex. It has absolutely nothing to do with what is going on. Besides, who is in charge of the program????? Same thing goes for parents....a text or emails comes in the phone goes beep......they pull it out to check it......doesn't matter where or when.....I see it every sunday at church. Had a Patrol leader whose girl friend broke up with him on facebook while at a camp out.....he was worthless for the rest of the trip. Had girlfriends txt scouts pictures from dances and partys on outing........ do you remember that age......I would have found it very distracting to see my GF at the time at a dance while I was at camp.

Now these are not your daddys hammocks......I have a warbonnet blackbird. Many have a bug resistant bed liner, my BB has two layers of material. no seeum netting. http://warbonnetoutdoors.com/blackbirds.php In the summer when it is hot and sticky....it is the best sleep I have had. Far as winter sleeping goes, I will usually tent but you can use a sleeping pad underneath you for extra insulation. Most hammockers don't use sleeping bags but quilts top and bottom. In the summer I just use a sheet or cheap fleece blanket. The boys in the troop will leave it alone, but I wouldn't take it on a Pack outing.....cubs just won't leave it alone. I would borrow one and see if you like it they are not for everyone and it does take some getting used to. some manufactures, hennesey, jungle, Warbonnet, jacks are better.

Margeret is a spammer/marketer........ Admins delete the links...... It is real hard to conduct a program, patrol, camp out, hike or anything meaningful, when the scouts are all texting non scouting friends. At the summer camp meeting......the Camp director forbid any youth from having a cell phone.....if a youth is caught with one he will be sent home. Last year there were several shower and KYBO pictures that were taken then sent with cell phones and circulated camp. (This message has been edited by Basementdweller)(This message has been edited by Basementdweller)

Cub parents, most scout troops provide tenting....Just a note. I made the same mistake....bought a huge tent for the families first one....before ya know it scout and daughter dont want to share our tent. The son tents with the troop, daughter has the girls tent on pack outings, momma and I share one. I have a fairly large collection of tents. The funny part is I have recently started hammocking when I go with the troop. Comfort is the main reason. Cooler in the summer

Son was really worried about it, there is a huge billboard in front of his school proclaiming the end is near..... He came bouncing into the living room at 6:05 saturday night and said he wanted to take me down do the dairy barn and buy me a ice cream cone.....I asked why.....He said we survived the end of the world and needed ice cream to celebrate. Who is to argue with ice cream???????

I guess living 500 miles inland we don't deal with hurricanes or anything that predictable. If they predict rain we still camp.

I would get the 8 other troop leaders together and see if you are all on the same page and agreement....If so ALL 8 of you sit down with Mom of the Bully and have a chat. If you cannot come to some agreement then some one needs to leave.

Owns...... Explain to me how your son gets billed for a free game????? Not judging just trying to learn so I can pass it on. did you need to put your Credit card info in? I know a parent that down loaded a smurfs game to their Iphone, keep their kid out of their hair, and their 4 year old spent nearly 100 bucks in the smurf store. I understand how that happened....

Just curious, how do you plan for rain storms when you create the Pack calendar a year in advance???? We go camp rain or not. One year it was just the core group that went...this year we had 115. you can get a eureka timberline for $115 right now on amazon.......with free shipping I guess I would rather spend $115 right now than $50 then $115 in 6 months. If he wants to try to tent by himself, why buy a tent......see if you could borrow one first.

have you actually set up a Walmart Ozark Trail tent????? They are horrible, terrible finish on fiberglass poles...next to zero rain fly........

Expectations........ Now would be a good time to look at them. Is this a tent he might carry to boy scouts with him? Do you camp in foul weather or high wind? Is he expected to set it up for himself?? All tents are equal till it rains and blows...... I bought my son a Eureka timberline as a cub....It is a more expensive tent, but I expect it will last his entire scouting career. Far as rules go.......Your son can sleep alone or with another scout, but cannot share a tent with an adult who is not his parent or guardian. I have never tented with my son on a scout outing, he would rather be with his buddys.

Never had much luck with spring recruiting, even with boy talks and all. Gotta agree with Scoutfish, everyone is burned out and needs a break. All I can think about is the three weeks of camping comming up.....I cannot wait for a nice break. We do pretty well in the fall, We do boy talks, bring the troop, bring the Pack, bring the crew, we set up a big display up in front of the school......We schedule it on the same night as the school orientation night.......

This sounds like the discussion around the last campfire......Boys were discussing various zombie movies, myth, lore and facts........Facts I had to laugh. I think the general agreement was detaching the head was needed to properly dispatch a zombie.

We award once......the boys can earn it 100 times but the pack only buys the award once.

I was going to buy a new shirt to add to the rotation, two of mine are looking pretty ratty, well they are both pre-centinial........Guess I will wait for the new one......when is it due out????

OGE.....I agree with the cost. in the Troop "Car Camping" the troop owns all but the personal gear. Backpacking the boys will need to get a Backpack, a better sleeping bag, possibly a BP tent, the cost goes up a bunch. The youth I serve cannot afford it......I own 6 backpacks and as a reward we take 6 of our best scouts out on a backpacking weekend trip, to a location of their choosing. Our crew is similar to what OGE said, they canoe, kayak, whitewater raft and backpack and it is too expensive for my wife and I to both attend, we are both advisers.

wow what in the world are you taking??????? Philmonts gear list is pretty generous, too. I would strive for a pack weighing no more than 30 pounds with out consumables. Which should put you close to 40 with food and water. Like shoes this is not a thing to just buy on a recommendation.....go to your outfitter and try it on before you buy it. It is worth a couple of hour drive if you don't have one close to where you live.

I stand corrected.....

It specifically says smudge pots.....

Why is there no way for him to join?????? Is the wife unavailable to be his tiger partner? Do you meet at the same location and time? Being on the Pack committee isn't that big a deal or a huge time commitment....far as camping goes you can schedule that around each other. I am involved with a Troop, Pack and Crew. My scheduling priority is Troop, Crew, Pack, part of the reason is how far out they schedule. The crew and troops calendars for 2011-2012 are finished. The Pack is just working on ours now.