Basementdweller

Eagle92 I am speaking of the Den Leader. I have spent a small fortune on glow sticks at the camp outs.

Did you guys actually read the article. The SM was an idiot, who takes a bunch of boys on a hike like this for a first outing. waist deep snow and 2700 foot vertical climb on steep switch backs in winter???? Then they split the group, bad choices again and again. There is no defending what happened.

I have read the last child in the woods, I think it would be lost on them. I have shared my copy with some of them. Patch blanket is a nice idea.........

Pack bought the den meeting book in august. I do like the pocket knife idea....... Keep them coming

Well national has sold out of my original idea of Cub Scout vests.......any other ideas.,

There really is no turn down in a board of review......He just needs more time or a little more work. What grounds did they delay his advancement???

So it sounds like your a co recruiter. No biggy. I did it solo one year and my sons scouting experience suffered because of it. he missed 6 weeks of den meetings. Lets face it I cannot drive an hour one way to a another Pack's Pack meeting and expect his den leader to have him for three hours. 4 packs that are close to your home is easy especially if they meet on different nights. They all meet on monday night here.

let me see Camp promotions means you need to Call every Pack in your district, Make arrangements to visit each Packs Pack meeting and do your presentation. You may hold sign ups and collect money that same night or you may not. But why?????? The problem with it is most of the Packs meet on the same day of the week at the same time. So you need to neglect your duty to your scouts in order to recruit someone else's boys to go to day camp??????? What happened to the Camp and Program director?????/ Are they not supposed to be promoting it???? How can you promote something if you don't know the staff involved?

Double post (This message has been edited by a staff member.)

We the people are to Blame. Got a story for you..... My uncle worked for Kelsey hays making brakes in Fremont ohio...... Made in America. For years as I stepped up to the counter at the Napa or Autozone I have always purchased my US made brake parts. Last time I did they were 3X the cost of the cheap brand. The wife's van needed brakes I could not buy american made for her van at any price. A sad state for sure. My uncle died from cancer years ago, so it is kind of irrelevant. Everytime you walk into walmart and save a few dollars on something because it is made in china or bangledesh or africa you hurt our economy. read the labels on the apple juice in walmart for pete sake it is even made in china. Most Citizens of the United States are to selfish to spend a little extra on Made in America. Oh I gotta save $50 bucks on brakes so I can by my son that new ipod.......or cell phone. So what kinda car do you drive?????? is it Japanese or korean??????? Quality or not your choice matters. I don't need heated leather massaging self adjusting seats. what I need is affordable transportation.

Nothing new in the article. Scout master are experts at all, just ask one. More and more SM's are realizing the limitations of their charges. I am going to say a truly boy troop would have been less likely to have gotten into this situation. Our youth are less and less physically fit.....blame it on Video games, unsafe neighborhoods, lazy parents and youth. It is a reality and we have to deal with it. A 2700 foot vertical hike in winter is tough, that scout master was NEGLIGENT. Taking a city kid on that sort of a first hike was NEGLIGENT. It was an accident that killed the young man, but he should have never been on that mountain to begin with. I have scouts that cannot hike 2 miles.

Ok everyone has spouted off now. So as a group we must agree our Nation cannot continue the irresponsible spending habits. We the people need to harden up and pay for the sins of our parents. I do not want to burden my children with my and my parents debt. So gentlemen, are you man enough to support this selfless act and pay down our national debt.

The bans were put into place to control peoples stupidity. Let see, put a 12 year old on an ATV and see what happens. City boy is gonna kill himself. Country boy has ridden atv's since he could walk. Cold is a relative thing. Alaskans may view cold as double digit negative temps -20 to them maybe cold. Florida anything below 32 is cold. 50 degree difference. I preach common sense and I cringe everytime someone talks about polar bear and what the requirement is. Far as ATV's at a summer camp. It is safer for my scouts to ride them at a BSA summer camp as opposed to riding a parents ATV on a camp out. There are many kinds of ATV's, My personal one is a utility 4x4 model. Most parents who talk about ATV's have super high performance 100 mph type. 1200 cc costing 10k or more. ATV's are fine but I hope it is limited to scout camp owned units.

I refuse to do the quality unit award. let me see 60 members x $1.5 each. too expensive, especially since you change them annually. Veteran bars, temp patches by all means. Service stars are a waste as well. 60 x $2 annually too expensive Scoutfish, with as active as you are your shirt will be full before you know it.

Scout fish pointed out that they use paper plates and plastic utensils on their camp outs. Took me back to my first cub family camp. We generated 6 bags of trash a day, for a total of 25 bags total for the weekend. An incredible amount of garbage and 90% of it was paper plates, cups and the like. I was embarrassed at the waste and knew we needed to change. We have since gone to 100% reusable dinnerware. It was a hard sell to the families but it worked. We still had a couple bring their own disposable but after being put on trash duty for the weekend they thought better. Each family brings their own plates, cups and flatware. we went from 25 bags of trash to 3, and they were put in the trash just to keep the critters out of them, not because they were full. Benefits for the troop is that all of the boys typically have mess kits and understand meal time expectations before the enter the troop. They understand how to properly wash and manage their mess kit. We also steer our families away from the single family tent mansions.

I understand everyone hear loves to hear their own voice, but read the original post. Seattle, how long are the boys actually in the den? If it isn't more than a couple three weeks, I think it is a great idea. The boys are in the rank specific den before summer camp, so there is no issue in my opinion. Besides the are probably awarded the bobcat rank at the graduation camp out so they are not left out. Another benefit is this prevents a well meaning den leader or parent from trying to complete the bear rank in a couple of weeks.

When ever I get an idea like this I have to ask what is the point, lesson or what do I hope the student will take away from the experience. I don't think that cub scouts could get their mind around the lesson you have hoped to teach in your post. They can't even think about dinner tomorrow. If the lesson you are hoping to teach is they are cool, they are full of calories and some of them taste ok, your probably ok. If you trying to teach eating them day after day is bad boring, and a sacrifice then they probably miss it. I believe they are 70 different MRE meals to be had. not too bad. Besides MRE's are a big step up from what my father ate in the service out of the cans. D, k rations or the 5 and 10 in one rations. MRE's are a huge step up.

Remember your Son When I am asked to volunteer for something additional in scouting. I pause and ask myself "how is this going to benefit and impact my family?" Recently I have come accrossed an increasing number of scouters or exscouters who have lost their families over scouting. Remember scouting doesn't care about you.

Before jumping all over him did you guys read his post. After spring recruiting. Kinda makes sense. If I follow the logic, the boys would be in the den for 2 or 3 weeks after the may recruiting. Then the enter the new den at the graduation camp out. (This message has been edited by Basementdweller)

Jetboil had a similar recall. no biggy http://www.jetboil.com/recall It happens, a conscientious user would never notice it. those who don't make sure the tank is tight will have a problem. The MSR users are constantly complaining about the pumps breaking. there is some maintenance involved with the liquid fueled stoves. The jetboil users complain about the ignition system being fragile. cat can users complain about time.

Great link. I have a jetboil helios, The msr heats water quicker, but the helios is easier to use. if I am merely making coffee for my self in the morning at camp, I have a jet boil pcs with the french press attachment. If it is anymore than that I take the msr. Family is sick so we didn't get to go to the family thanks giving at the relatives, here we sit like birds in the wilderness waiting to eat,

My son cannot ride a bicycle but he wants to earn the cycling merit badge. Can I get a doctor to write an excuse for him saying that he is afraid of Bicycles....... Please people, stop trying to short cut the requirements. If they are afraid of the water that much, tell him to go home and park his can on couch where is nice and safe. he isn't boy enough to be a boy scout. Can you tell I am getting tired of excuses and all of the over achieving parent. Do the requirement, get the rank..... pretty simple.

I give up on the jetboil, I own the helios, pcs and flash, when the temp dips even with the cold weather fuel mix. once the full canister gets below half full it simple doesn't work very well. I have been left frustrated when my companions are eating and I am still waiting. I have constructed wind screens to help trap heat and help warm the fuel, helps a little but not enough. The iso fuel mixes are not all created equal, the coleman stuff at wally world is terrible, the best I have found is the snowpeak, giga stove version. I have run out of fuel during cold weather that is how I found out the coleman stuff is terrible. As many of you know I am a confirmed gear junkie. I have about 15 backpacking stoves, some for education others actual use. I have a variety of stoves from the esbit solid fuel thru my favorite stove which is the msr EGK. I am a huge fan of MSR stoves, multi fuel, reliable, field serviceable, excellent performance. Wide choice of fuel can be burned from kerosene to jet fuel, not that I have had issues with getting or running out, but it is nice to have choices. Now if you think your gonna actually cook on these, you can but it is an acquired skill. They are for the most part meant for boiling water fast. I have cooked eggs on it, but it will require constant attention. Shrimp and grits is my favorite first night meal. mmmmmmmmm, tasty. Store bought dehydrated meals, mountain house, enertia, Backpackers pantry, are an expensive luxury. Backpacking can be an extremely inexpensive adventure. cat can stoves, now prohibited, plastic sheet tarp camping, beer can cook pots. it is the perceived needs and wants that drive the cost up. Get them scouts outdoors

make sure you use the real deal ziploc bags the cheapo's leach chemicals into your food. Just sayin.

My son's tiger year we went to day camp and resident camp.....he wanted to share the experience with his sister and mom. Our council puts on a 3 day family resident camp for cub families. It was fun, son and daughter had a great time. We ate in the dining hall, they swam shot bb guns together. I am lucky in that my children enjoy each other and get along. the cost goes up because it was $40 x 4 people.