perdidochas

Engineer61, Not sure what your point is? Parents are welcome at any event we have. That definitely includes camping. If the parents didn't trust the leaders and YPT, I don't think they'd allow their boys to come on campouts with us.

Make your own hammock. http://www.tothewoods.net/ is a good reference for that. so is http://www.hammockforums.net You should be able to make a hammock for about $30 that would be big enough for you. Use 4 yards of ripstop nylon. (I'm 5'11 and 240, and it's big enough for me). I used an 8x10 poly tarp the first time, and have tree straps from Harbor Freight lashing straps. I took up hammocking when my oldest became a boy scout as well. As I camp with them quite a bit, I wanted more comfort than the ground, but I didn't want to have to deal with a cot and a tent large enough to house one. Hammocks are both more comfortable than a cot, and easier to set up than a tent.

For me, it depends on conditions. Minimum is water, a whistle, firestarting equipment (hotspark), cellphone, pocketknife, and small first aid kit (mainly bandaids, etc.) Usually also have rain jacket. If I were going to the mountains (instead of coastal forest), I'd add an emergency blanket, compass, more tinder, and a map.

Engineer61, I think the troop lost out on a valuable resource by rejecting the college student as ASM. Now, if he weren't a former Eagle or at least First Class, I would probably agree.

I'd be happy if such a man joined our troop as an ASM. We are in a Navy town. We have had two ASM's that I know of that have been sailors. One was awaiting training, and had extra time. The other in a job at the base, and again had extra time. Both were Eagles and wanted to give back to scouting as a whole. I'd think the same about a college student in the same boat. Now, I'd be leery if the ASM wanna-be had minimal Scouting experience.

Turtle, I tried that, I found it hard to get in a comfortable position in the hammock while in the bag. I do keep a tarp below me, though, so when I get out of the hammock, my socks don't get dirty.

Oh, don't recharter them.....

Well, certainly don't sign off their PORs if they are not fulfilling them. Our SM has no problem not signing off PORs for boys who aren't intending on leaving. He is serious about the idea that they actually do their PORs.

Yes, I lie on top of the pad. My feet are in the bottom of the bag, and the rest of the bag is tucked around me like a blanket in a bed. (and I'm inside the bag liner). I tried getting into the bag fully zipped on my early trips, and it was hard. Much easier to just slip my feet into the footbox, and wrap myself with the bag.

Also, even in a bag, you need to make sure the pad is between you and the hammock. Otherwise you will lose a lot of heat through it.

I find it hard to get into a sleeping bag in a hammock. What I did is turn my bag into a topquilt. To do that, I basically just safety-pinned the zipper about 18 inches above the end of the bag, to make a foot pocket. I put the pad down, and then snuggled into the rest of the sleeping bag like a quilt, with my feet in the closed end of the bag. I have heard of people who simply sleep in the sleeping bag as a bag, but that's hard for me to do. Your results may vary.

Yes, their individual account information should be private.

RW, I slept to 42 this weekend with a blue wm pad (the wider kind with a pattern on it), a 40 degree sleeping bag (used as TQ), and a fleece bag liner. I was ok, but wish I had wool socks. Also, don't forget to wear a knit cap or something like it on your head.

Running in the woods and no seat belts are two totally different things. Not wearing seat belts is just tempting natural law (Newton's laws) to kill you. It's common sense. Letting kids run wild in the woods is actually protecting them. It's teaching them the limits of their bodies. In terms of Skeptic's post, I basically agree with the whole shower thing, however, I can recall not being comfortable with it in the 7th grade. That said, we have to learn to live with some things.

Merlyn, Trevorum was not communicating well. From what I can get from context, a better way to rewrite the sentence (The larger point, which pack skirts, is that scientists tend to do a pretty crappy job of public outreach and public education. ) in question is: The larger point, which Packsaddle skirts, is that scientists tend to do a pretty crappy job of public outreach and public education.

WAKWIB, About once a year, our troop gets an outside trainer (the council "expert" on this subject) to teach our scouts youth protection. I think it's a good idea, and hope we continue with it.

Well, with Cub camping, my old Pack generally just camped on Saturday night. Breakfast on your own, the Webelos would make hobo stoves with buddy burners, and lunch would be hamburgers (cheeseburgers also) cooked on the hobo stoves. Dinner was usually hotdogs and chili, with the Webelos sometimes doing foil packet dinners, followed by S'mores. Breakfast Sunday was either on your own, or sometimes a den would do a den breakfast--most popular is zip-lock omelets.

Well, I for one would applaud if a young fellow did that.

I love my hammock, and use it whenever possible on campouts. Mine is homemade and 12' long, 5 ft wide. I have a rainfly over it (a Noah's tarp 12 imitator), but have slept under the stars in nice weather. I use a "cot" mosquito net suspended over it during mosquito season. I use a Walmart blue pad for insulation when it gets colder. My tarp is huge, so I've got room to hide to change clothes. I've lucked out and not had rain yet. I went to http://www.tothewoods.net/ which is Just Jeff's Hammock camping page for basic instructions. Also go to http://www.hammockforums.net/ for more advanced hints.

I'd go with TwoCubDad's suggestion, but be prepared for a long conversation or a very short one.

One of the scouts in our troop goes to a lot of these (hence why he's a 14 yr old with 55 merit badges). I won't allow my sons to. I agree that they aren't part of the MB spirit. I also think, if done properly, they would result in a lot of partials, which are a pain.

As long as it's an appropriate movie (i.e. something they wouldn't choose on their own that is inspiring) , and it's not a regular thing, I don't see the problem. We showed "Rudy" to our scouts on a Boy Scout campout--it was a very hot day, and we couldn't have a campfire. We haven't repeated it, but it was a neat novelty. We used a generator for the electricity, though.

Use a coin or screwdriver to pry it open. Also, check to see if there is a burr or irregularity in the metal.

Open it, and work it back and forth a few hundred times.

Responsible hammockers use 1.5-2 inch webbing around the trees. I have not slept better on a campout than when hammocking.