perdidochas

Does he like the younger group? My son preferred the younger group, so it worked for us.

Hammocks do prevent rolling over, primarily because of comfort. I'm a side sleeper in a bed, but a back sleeper in a hammock. The hammock doesn't really wrap around you, if you've hung it right. See the hammock sites I linked earlier. They explain in more detail, and with more points of view.

drmbear, Go to one of the Hammock sites for more info. Best way for most of us is to sleep diagonally in a hammock. It is almost flat then.

I'd let him repeat Web I, if that's what he wants. We held my son back in 2nd grade. He repeated Bear. The other thought is if he's old enough, he could go ahead and do Web II, and join Scouts.

Brew, Looking back at the thread, I realize that a lot of hammockers are evangelists, spreading the word of the gospel of the hammock. We are enthusiastic about it, because it works so well for us.

Brew, You can get a usable hammock online for about $20 (or using JustJeff's directions can make a DIY for about the same price). Get some lashing straps from Harbor Freight, a 10x8 blue tarp, a blue walmart pad(or your current sleeping pad) (if temp below 60 degrees) and some line. That's enough for an experiment.

Brew, Basically what we are talking about is using a hammock along with a tarp. No tent required. When my oldest son became a Scout, and I started going on outings, I got tired of dragging out the cabin tent and cot (my previous choice). It took too long to set up, and was overkill. So I got my cheapo 2 person tent (from my single days) and a pad. Had a miserable night sleep. Next campout, I made a hammock from 4 yds of nylon, and used a cheapo poly tarp. Best night I had sleeping outdoors in years (better than a cot even). Now I have a 12x12 tarp over my homemade hammock and sleep even better. The only downside is when the camp location doesn't have convenient trees. Then I have to go to ground. For more information go to: http://www.tothewoods.net/ http://www.hammockforums.net

I interpret First Class in First year to mean that a troop, at minimum, should have 10+ outings a year, to allow a scout to get First Class in the First Year. The rest of the requirements should come naturally in 10 outings.

I just think it's being oversensitive. That said, it was a Pack thing, not a Troop thing. I don't do it anymore. The thing is, a bit of humiliation, embarassment and shame is not always a bad thing, provided it's not overdone. They are human emotions, and have a purpose. That purpose is to stop us from doing the same behavior in the future.

A hammock is the best sleeping pad for old geezers.

I'm with Jeffrey. Packmaster with dotnet access works quite well.

When I was in scouts in the late 1970s, my tent fell down on me (and my two tent buddies) in the middle of severe weather (tornado about ten miles away).

For me, the hardest part of that swim test would be the resting backstroke. The resting backstroke is far from restful for me. If I'm doing a resting stroke, it's a side stroke.

Reaseyann, If you don't have reservations for the mule ride, you'd better try to get them ASAP. It's probably too late, but you might luck out. If I were running your trip, I'd try to go to Zion Canyon as well as the Grand Canyon. The Grand Canyon is magnificent, but Zion Canyon is just plain beautiful.

No hope for Eagle. Life is a great accomplishment, and he should at the least go for it.

The hard part of the Whaling merit badge is the cleaning requirements. It takes a while for a scout to successfully field dress a whale.

I don't see the big deal about singing for your stuff. I've done it myself as an adult leader. That said, we live in a kindler, gentler world than just 5 yrs ago (when I did it), and I think we are probably being oversensitive towards trivial matters.

So Basement, I guess you would rather the prairie dogs be poisoned than shot...... Prairie dogs are considered a pest on ranchland. If hunters didn't shoot them, ranchers would poison them. Prairie dog shooting isn't my cup of tea, but I'm not going to criticize it.

A cubmaster should stay until he/she finds a suitable replacement.

I used the EDGE method with my sons, although I usually modified it to DEGE (which is allowable for EDGE method)

I'd keep it the way it is--as part of Venturing.

Lisabob, While I don't condone what Zimmerman did, I don't think it's as simplistic as some think. It wasn't just an evil white guy gunning down a black kid. Don't quite know what the full story was, but it was much more nuanced than that. The hoody is just a silly detail that people have latched on. I think hoodies are pretty much universal these days. I (a 46 yr old white man) have hoodies, my sons have hoodies, I've suggested that our Troop buy hoodies as part of our informal uniform.

Eng, We tend to like things for evolutionary reasons. Hunting is one of those things. In the past, we needed it to survive (yes, we don't absolutely need it now). For that reason, we find it fun. I have no doubt that most aboriginals that need to hunt to survive have fun doing it. I know that cats love to hunt, even the most well fed house cat who doesn't need to hunt. If you don't want to hunt, and don't want to hunt, please feel free not to do it, and to raise your kids that way. However, don't disparage those that do enjoy it. They are not serial killers in waiting. They aren't sadists. They are just staying in touch with a part of their evolutionary history, and enjoying what nature wants us to enjoy. That said, you are exactly right about most of the skills that hunting teaches. They can be taught in other ways. However, those methods just get us that much further away from nature (and our own nature), and being a part of nature. As long as game is bountiful (and deer populations in most of North America are about as high as they have ever been historically), and we have places to safely hunt, there is no good reason to stop or ban hunting. There are a lot of bad reasons to.

Engineer61, I hope that you are a vegan, otherwise you are a big hypocrite. Hunting puts people directly in the food chain as an active participant, rather than as somebody who pays others to kill for them. Hunting is part of human nature. Our closest relatives (the chimpanzees) hunt game as well. Having lived in the South my whole life, I know a lot of hunters (used to hunt myself). I have seen no evidence that it is a negative thing to kill animals for fun (if the creatures are eaten as well). In fact, I would bet that most hunters are much more aware of and appreciative of God's living things than the average person.

Troopmaster does this well. The downside is that I haven't figured out how to do partial sheets.