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From :the uniform inspection sheet. Unlike other elements, this does not say "official headgear." Which gives your troop the room it needs to choose what serves you all best. It seems that you are counting on a lot of sun (and girls who will cut their hair short).

I'm pretty sure GS/USA is not earning any points with its moms who thoroughly enjoy working with scouts of all stripes. We should not care about feeling brave. Any fool can do that just by going to the theater and cheering for the protagonist. I define brave as doing the right thing. Period. Threatened or not. Digging in heels is it's own kind of cowardice. It's a quite simple line that helped many of us preserve our marriages. "You were right. I was wrong. I don't want to be the enemy here." I've come to learn that meekness is the bravest act, and it's never too late to resolve to uplift one another.

There's now information management hurdle that keeps you from having a different number for each unit in the CO. I've read on Scouts-L of linked-troops getting different numbers. I can't speak to how easy or hard for your council registrar to make it so for your unit(s).

The video reminded me of how hard it is for me to keep from nodding off when my lawyer friends get thick into conversations about cases. At the end of the day, it's not about cost ... nor about optics of the CSE's focused rebuttal. It's about how we as an organization can be courteous and kind. Mamma brought me up to defer to the ladies. That meant, among other things, to not merely cease from harm, to give honor and support. If GS/USA is convinced it would be helped by BSA not simplifying their brand to "Scouts" or "Scouting", BSA should help them at all times. We could return to last year's brand and the nations girls would flock to it probably in the same numbers. Or, we could focus on some other aspect of our methods that has made BSA troops so appealing. The possibilities are endless: Patrols of America, Patrol Life, Patrolling Advancement Scouts of America Outdoor Scouts of America Ideals Scouts, USA Green Bar Scouts of America We All Can Win Scouts of America In fact, I would be willing to give GS/USA a list of options that we'd be happy to sail under, ask them to survey their membership and let their Moms an Girls pick the name that best reflects who they think we are. Meanwhile, we focus on working for smiles. That's what we do.

I'm always happy for veterans who salute. Regarding the Pledge, my SM let us slide until one day we were asked to do the flag ceremony for the county court. Then he explained how we were expected to say it. I didn't make it to that ceremony, but from then on, I removed the imaginary comma from my recitation!

Most of our veterans, by the time they are scout leaders prefer to shine the light on other veterans who they admire. If a scout comes to me wondering who to interview for communications MB, I often point him to a veteran. (Although every scouter has an interesting story to tell, and at the right times, boys love to hear those stories.)

Let's also not forget, Eagle-required Citizenship in the World merit badge requirement 7: The fountain is there, all the horse has to do is drink from it! Note: I have no doubt that scouters' many international contacts had a part in BSA opening programs for girls. Our district commissioner said as much about his opinions after returning from the World Scout Jamboree in Japan.

How important? Very. From my time as a scout when an Indonesian exchange student joined our troop ... At summer camp, a British scouter ran the scoutcraft area. He taught us the chant (with motions) "Have you heard about Harry?" At National Jamboree, I was toying around the pioneering area, the king of Sweden visited, and we fired a catapult for him. The one other scout in my troop who went to world National Jamboree with me later attended World Jamboree. As an adult... Every year, camp staff had International guests. That was especially handy when a Korean boy with poor English joined our troop. The Korean staff checked in with him every day. The Israeli friendship caravan visited our OA call out ceremony, and after the ceremony, they sang and shared how they did scouting in their country. Our friends raised their boys in the Czech Republic, and they both loved scouting there. It was fun watching them compare notes with our kids. An Italian scout joined our crew while she was an exchange student here. Based on those experiences, I signed on to help lead a troop at next year's World Scout Jamboree. Those are just my personal experiences. Bottom line: Boy Scouts takes that World Crest seriously.

I'm expecting most tools to give me a weekend a month of rough service (i.e. actually used for their intended purpose and sometimes a little more) for about three years. Think about your Cubs becoming scouts in three years and you'll why that's my bar.

@TLK, thanks for lurking no more. I agree that the name change is rushed and not needed at all. All we needed to know was that concerned adults could be permitted to form BSA Packs for girls, Dens for girls, and Troops for girls. Three new programs to supplement existing programs and meet post-modern nomadic parents desires. And an explanation of rules and minimum coverage. New literature, logos, and brands could wait a year or two. However, suits are always made to sound like they are a sure thing. That's nothing that strong legal teams can't pick apart. Problem is, every dime dropped on legal fees is one removed from some boy's or girl's scouting experience.

Just so you know, I've never known a multi tool (other then leatherman's) to last more than a year. Most Swiss Army or scout knives hold up for five. I tend to loose them before they ever break.

Because when I was a kid, I couldn't wait to get a spoonful of crushed condensed tomatoes! Almost as exciting as helping dad open cans of motor oil.

Welcome to the forums! And thanks in advance for all you'll do for the youth. In my day as a scout (late 70's early 80's), service hours were not required for rank advancement. (Just checked my book to confirm my memory.) My sons, boy scouts since the start of this century, could use any service (helping with an Eagle project or otherwise) for rank advancement. Do you have a handbook with the requirements spelled out? Which year?

I understand what you're trying to get at, but as we move into the 11-18 year old range, these nuances of language will mean precious little. I call my scouts, boys, sirs, gentlemen, kind sirs, Mr. ___ and ___, etc .... then remind them that this is a youth led movement, act accordingly. If we call girls girls and expect them to lead just as we expect boys to lead, they will respect us for our effort. If we call them scouts, but expect ourselves to lead, they will not.

My venturers had to endure my sometimes calling them "Sir" when I wasn't paying close attention to who was talking. Your girls will be fine if some stranger on the internet uses "boy" regarding them. The over-arching requirement in Cubs is "Do Your Best." You really want this to be a team activity. Even when I was a scout (in the days of cans with heavier gauge metal), the boys on kitchen patrol took turns at this. It takes a while to get used to it (see my note above about the new-fangled gizmos), and having three watch the other one take his/her turn will keep the less coordinated kid from being discouraged. Plus, teamwork on this little thing will translate into good patrolling in the future. That said, if your other adult is a good coach and a good carver, have him/her ready with a small project for the cub who get's bored of the can. P.S. - Make sure it's cans of something they'd love to eat. P.P.S. - Be ready with the first aid kit.

They don't have to open a can each! Have them take turns doing a few strokes on the same can. On each turn the boy can make a couple more strokes than he did the last time. Honestly, for safety and sanity's sake, you don't want any more cans being opened simultaneously than you have adults to watch the process. Once a group finishes their can, give them another.

The girls want us (be we BSA or GSUSA) ... to guide them in fulfilling a vision of the pinnacle scouting experience: hiking and camping independently with their mates. By any other name, that remains the promise of scouting.

Or, decades ago BSA should have insisted that GSUSA call themselves "Guides" the minute GSUSA abandoned the Golden Eaglet. Or again when GSUSA abandoned the First Class. Or when GSUSA decided to abandon the word "scout" entirely for its National Young Woman of Distinction! There is a reason, in many parts, many girls have a negative attitude towards a program that was built with them in mind. Maybe BSA should have made Eagle Scout rank advancement available to GSUSA members who were willing to hew to the requirements in the BSHB. They didn't. Understandably so. They would have failed for trying. So we are stuck letting "scout", and "scouting" mean two somewhat different things depending if it's preceded by "Boy" or "Girl." That's the real shame. But, BSA has time to defer. And I honestly don't think it would cost all that much. BSA could even let GSUSA keep "scouts" exclusively. Change our name to "US Youth Patrols", it's magazine to "Youth's Life", etc ..., and membership would be no worse. Heck, I'd be fine if next year we were Boy Guides of America (also for Girls), and I was suddenly a Guider in BGAAFG. Patrol me in! I'm working for smiles.

Durn it! You chased him off before I could take him up on his bet about what you all believe regarding fixed blades.

Ask your parents if any of them have a knife with one. It's best the boys learn on devices they can access everyday. Regardless, if it's your own money, it's better to just buy one or two of your own to share for the den meeting than to buy a dozen cheap ones. Tell Cabela's that you're coming with a carton of cans to test their knives on. Not every brand works as cleanly as the knife in the video. I've found Swiss Army and BSA to sell products that pretty much do what they say they will. Some of the new-fangled openers are so confusing ... opening cans is faster with my knife. It took me months to figure out one of those ergonomic ones, then once we all figured it out Mrs. Q decided she hated it. So, she gave it to Daughter for her apartment. I did inherit one without a can-opener. Well, "inherit" wasn't quite the right word for it. Mom got tired of grandpa whittling away his cane.

Well, one good thing about lawsuits, interesting tidbits of history surface: So, BSA didn't abandon "Scouting/USA" out of mere lack of enthusiasm. GS/USA clearly was defending their brand in light of girls joining Explorers and Swedish young women visiting BSA's National Jamborees.

Smarter? As in "Boy Scout Troop for Girls"? In the US, branding is never petty. Real membership (and, therefore, money) is at stake. Heretofore, GSUSA could easily market itself to its target audience as a separate-but-equivalent organization directed toward its non-target audience. In that environment, units and councils having joint boy-scout and girl-scout activities could be encouraged. It was a great way to recruit those boys' sisters! By BSA changing its brand (unnecessarily, IMHO) and claiming that its linchpin program now provides a separate-but-equivalent program for the same target audience that GS/USA wants to monopolize, it has reinforced the misconception that there is this "over-arching" organization called "scouts".

'Skip lost for words? Thanks, GS/USA legal, you just stole our Brit's wind!

The most efficient way to Eagle rank (be ye a ten year old tenderfoot or 17 year old life): Do the work! Epitomize the oath and law!

I'd opt for @SSScout's option #2. I agree with @Eagle94-A1 that we want the WDL's signature in the book. But, I'd also call ahead to the SM of the troop they want their son to join. Maybe ask if he's going to your next roundtable and so you can touch base about this in person. If he's gun-ho about having the kid, see what you can do about moving things along. (Maybe he can loan a Troop Guide to play den chief and tutor this kid so he's solid on his AoL requirements.) If he's really concerned about accepting a scout too young and too early (maybe because the troop is doing something fairly rugged January and February) you can convey to the parents that it's not just your wish, but the SM's too, that you all tow the line.