perdidochas

I pretty much agree with BD. It would be hard to find female leaders who are as hardcore about camping as most male leaders. Our SM and about two others of us are at almost every campout. Female leaders are welcome, but we pretty much just get them to come on rare occasions. The other thing is that it would increase the drama. When you have teenaged boys and girls together, there will be romantic drama. (I taught middle school for three years, high school for five years, my wife has been a middle school asst principal for 6 yrs, after 5 yrs in the middle school classroom, and a year as a disciplinary dean in a middle school). We don't need the drama. We do have a coed set of units in BSA, the Venture Scouts. Until then, we give boys a time to develop. 11 yr old boys are about 2 yrs less mature than 11 yr old girls. They don't come close to catching up until about age 14 or 15. Boys need a girl free zone, IMHO. I agree with BD about family camping. Our troop does a family camp every August, along with a COH at the campsite. My wife and I go for the day, but don't camp with them (partly because it's August in NW FL with the lows at night in the 80s, with 95% humidity, but partly because I don't want to see my semi-independent scouts become Mama's and Daddy's boys). It changes the dynamic too much. The other side to that, is that I can see why we have some lazy scouts--their parents do too much for them, and it's a shock to their system when in the Troop they have to pull their own weight.

We advise the boys to occasionally photocopy their books, or to go to our Advancement chair and update their records on TroopWebHost. It happens. Just had a boy yesterday tell me he lost his book, just after I asked to see it. (He's closing in on First Class, so I'm trying to nudge him a bit).

Exactly. Our troop travels in Class As. The way I see it, that uniform is close to $100. I want to see it used. As a leader with two sons, we've got around $300 tied up in uniforms (more if you count all the socks we've lost). I have gotten nothing but praise and compliments from the general public (then again, I do live in the conservative Florida Panhandle) when in uniform. When the troop invaded a Subway on the way to summer camp, one of the other customers gave $20 to the cashier to help with our bill. Little things like that show me that wearing the uniform on travel is a good thing. I think it's good that the general public realizes that there are Boy Scouts outside of parades.

I agree with BD.

From what I read on whiteblaze.net, gravity filters are the in thing these days for AT hikers (the ones that use filters, more seem to use just chemicals (Aqua mira drops), and a large group of foolhardy hikers seem to just be careful about their water source, and use no water treatment (I'm not brave enough to buy their arguments)) I bought a Sawyer 3 in 1 at the Scout shop a few months ago. I'm looking for a camelbak style bladder to use with it to convert it to a gravity filter. Gravity filters make sense to me, but I'm basically lazy. Have yet to use it in the field.

Sounds like you're probably doing it the best way possible. My boys hang their own sleeping bags on a hook on the back of their bedroom doors. The thing is, you don't want the bags compressed for storage, so they are going to take up space.

I agree that he didn't do any fundraising, especially since had nothing to do with the money.

I'm with you Fred, with the exception of PORs. A scout with a POR should be there most of the time. That is what responsibility means. My oldest belongs to a youth orchestra. They practiced at the same time as our Troop meeting. He didn't sign up for a POR because of that. That went about 6 weeks.

When I was teaching science in a middle school, I almost always had my leatherman in my pocket. I found it useful to do a lot of different things. Most of the kids kniew I had it. One day, the school resource officer (a deputy sheriff assigned to the schools) told me that I had been "turned in" by one of the girls in my class for having a knife. He told me that as long as I didn't use it on a student, he had no problem with it. I've lost a leatherman micra to TSA. When I went into our local courthouse with a knife, the security guard took it, and told me to pick it up when I came back, which is the way it should be.

Nope, only 18. IIRC, committee members have to be 21. MBC and ASMs just have to be 18.

Kathy, If his scout skills are as you say, he should be able to help the other guys in the class out. I had a similar experience. I was already an experienced camper, and I had been camping with the Troop as a parent/committee member/driver for a year, after 2 1/2 yrs as WDL. I knew most of the curriculum for IOLS (except for some nuances of LNT, and backpacking). I ended up helping the other students in knots and compass work.

I like that idea. I may do that on a day hike in the future.

Stosh, That's what my oldest learned in Wilderness Survival merit Badge. Worry about water and shelter, everything else can wait.

I thought the mad rush to Eagle before 2014 was due to the Cooking Merit Badge requirement. We've got 4 Life Scouts in the troop that have finished their Eagle Projects. Only one of them has Cooking merit badge, as he doesn't expect to finish the other Eagle required badges before January 1. One of the three without Cooking MB has been a Life Scout since 2010. I hope he's diligent on his paperwork, and gets it done on time.

Yep, my parents bring my boys to buy their christmas gifts. It was a pivotal year when my oldest decided to go to Academy and Dick's sporting goods rather than Toys-R-Us.

My boys were going to an OA event with two OA leaders (our Scoutmaster and a lodge official), all four in uniform. They got stuck in traffic close to a Cape Cod potato chips truck. They asked the driver if he had any food for hungry Scouts. They got a small box of chips and crackers. I've bought Cape Cod chips ever since, and I know it was due to them being in uniform.

Yuuuuuuup. Exactly Stosh, I think that's the main reason that crossover percentages are so low. I really think if we did Webelos III, we could probably enhance retention quite a bit. However, we would lose much more than the extra Scouts would be worth. While my oldest was doing his Eagle project, I marveled that we allowed a 15 yr old boy to lead 7 younger boys to dig and place posts in very visible locations around a church (part of outdoor stations of the Cross). I can't imagine any other place where a 15 yr old would be allowed that much responsibility in this day and time.

True, unless they are educated about boy led when they visit. To some degree, when prospective parents come to a troop meeting, the SM and ASMs have to sell them on the troop. They need to explain why boys are running the meeting, etc. They need to be taught the concept that Boy Scouts is preparing the boys to be independent, and part of that is the goal that the only roles for adults is to 1) drive the boys, 2) do things they can't (i.e. make reservations for campsites, etc.) and 3) to drive the boys to the hospital if needed. I know as WDL, I tried to explain some of the above to my future crossovers. Lost a lot of boys due to that. however, the ones that stayed were pretty hardcore, and still are.

There are different levels and effectiveness of boy led troops. We are close to the above, rather than the troop you mentioned first. Not as boy led as i would like, but is better than boy led into the ground.

Gotta trust the boys, even if they crash and burn. Sounds like the above scout is learning what I would want Scouts to know.

Voting wouldn't work for me. That said, talk to your DE about it. My gut says, it depends on what the conviction was for. I do think, though, that parents are allowed to attend any scout activity.

Check with the troop for requirements. In our troop, I would recommend a baseplate compass, a personal mess kit (plate, bowl, cup, utensils in a mesh bag), nalgene (or similar) water bottles, backpack, tripod camp stool, non-vinyl poncho (either nylon or frog-togg), etc.

We average about $20-$30, with food being a fixed $12 of that. I've been contemplating the Iron Chef cookout idea, but have to get the PLC sold on it. Also I think we need to get our level of menu planning up.

When I was a den leader, on Pack campouts, we would generally do hamburgers for lunch, cooked on buddy burners made by the Webelos. We would follow that with a dinner of hot dogs, and whatever else came in (chili, etc.). Breakfast was family by family, or sometimes den by den, depending on the choices of the den. Usually, we did family by family. It seems that people have a lot more choosiness when it comes to breakfast--ranging from donuts/pastries to eggs/bacon/sausages/grits, so we did it that way. There was usually extra coffee to be had around the campsite. The interesting thing to me in Pack camping was how little most Cub Scouts were expected to do. Most of them did nothing but play. My sons weren't that lucky (or possibly they were luckier in the long run). They helped me in every stage of work to their ability. They helped set up and take down the tent. They helped load/unload the car. They helped cook and clean. Kind of interesting, but Boy Scouts was an easy transition to them. Their main frustration in terms of campsite work is that the other boys aren't pulling their share. That said, the main problem with Pack camping is all of the adults involved, with skill/equipment levels ranging from nonexistent to experts.