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We used to thread our waxed rope from our troop supply to replace the lost tent flap ties. The USA Contingent World Scout Jamboree neckerchiefs had ribbing (white stars on blue and white "USA" lettering on red) that would make perfect replacement for flap ties. I wonder if the manufacturer has any overstock? What a great way for @karunamom3's scouts up their game next summer! Ask that camp commissioner for a canvas that needs a lot of tender loving care, bring a sewing kit and some elegant patches and chord, and bling up that baby!

That other hour a week ... well spent here.

Yeah. I guess it really didn't matter much exactly what I said. It was that I made a big deal about entrusting them with this responsibility. I've had 2nd class scouts work on teaching new scouts (especially one's who didn't come up through Webelos) the Oath, Law, etc ... By the way, our PLC is taking it upon themselves to arrange an evening to get everyone's cyberchip up to date. Now that we have several classes of scouts who understand what a roadblock it can be, they are beginning to help one another move along.

... so great scouters never have to leave the campfire.

@SteveMM, full disclosure: our PLC has been "planning" to do inspections for two years. Until that time, I will point out at boards of reviews, SM conferences, and ceremonies about how to look sharp. Since uniform police has become pejorative in some circles, I've told the older scouts to just call me the local insignia dork. I do agree with @ParkMan in that I want the scouts to be intentional about how they present themselves. So, I try to bring up deviations from the Insignia Guide -- including my own -- in a kind and courteous manner. I want the scouts to know there's a balance between a uniform that tells your scouting story and one that distracts from tasks at hand. But, none of that keeps scouts from showing up shoddy. The bottom line to my SPL: if you don't inspect, don't expect. I'm actually quite proud that all of our new patrols have their flags made. I figure my next move is to make a totem for the sharpest looking patrol.

Scouters, you're gonna "like" us!👍

Where great scouting gets upvotes!

@RainShine, Even though you didn't say it, I figured your were an SM by the way you asked questions. (... If it talks like a duck ....) To both you and @Treflienne, regarding youth sign-offs, the answer is now is the time to start. The question is how. Here's what we did: We had the first-class scouts and the patrol leaders sit in the circle, and asked them what we should expect from a person who signed off in their book to have seen: An argument that they did this here or that there was not enough. A display of paperwork was not enough. If you saw the scout demonstrate the skill in a "kinda sorta" way they day he was taught, that's not enough. If he did it partly (e.g., found 2 out of 8 controls on a one mile compass course) that's not enough. Some time after he had been taught, if you saw the scout demonstrate the skill completely, smoothly and confidently, then you could sign off. A signature in a book isn't just a check mark, it's a reminder for years to come of all the scouts who walked with that scout on his trail to first class. This took all of 10 minutes. I then asked, "So, you guys ready to help some scouts master their first class skills! We're counting on you, and looking forward to see your initials in some books soon." I then insisted with adult leaders that I did not want to see their signature in a book, nor did they want to see mine. I certainly have returned a book to the youth, saying "I'm sorry, I didn't see you perform that skill. Who among our first class scouts did?" Now there are plenty of times when adults do sign off (conferences and boards of review especially), but we look for those youth signatures on most of the skill requirements.

Last increase, my kids all concluded to forgo yearbooks.

Mrs. Q, in one of her attempts at reforming me, cleaned out my t-shirt collection shortly after we were married. The only survivor was a high school shirt with all of my classmate's names on it. It survived because she used it to put on the dog to keep him from shedding in the car. I saw it, and spared it further indignity! We all really need to cowboy up and work those full-size neckers! That said, if the scouts want to produce their own shirts, a tie dye campout is a fun activity!

Honestly, who really cares if you can't spot your scouts in a crowd? If they get swapped for some other scout, you might get a better cook! All of that lettering on the back of the shirt? It gets covered by a backpack anyway. I've become a real fan of troop/patrol neckerchiefs. It's a tough sell, but frankly a lot easier to manage. Our camp produced a neckerchief with a map on it.

Yeah, I'd tell the SPL to count -1 for each segment not on the left pocket. The pants aren't standard issue either. So, this scout would bring his patrol down. But, if he's leading an awesome service project, nobody would mind losing inspection to a more meticulous but less ambitious patrol.

My happy places ban motorized vehicles (including drones -- well technically they could fly over, but not be launched, landed, or operated from within the area). So, if you bring the theater, does that mean you have to skip the car chase scenes?

Thanks @JasonG172. Any chance you know the replacement cost of the plastic height-locks? 'cause I'm pretty sure I can jury rig something in a pinch out someone's tick-picker.

Looking at @5thGenTexan's budget (which is as straight-shooting a letter as any I've seen), my reply as a parent would be, "Here's $85, don't give our kids any awards except a shake from your generous hand." It's just that simple. The other alternative is parents will sacrifice a night out, or the unit remove one (more) activity. Until national reduces belt loops to thin strips with just the name of the award in black and white and prints Boy's Life and Scouting, and every handbook and MB pamphlet in two-color at most, it's not showing that it's saving every dime possible. So, we have to decide if we'll do it for them.

@Mrjeff. this is what's disconcerting about this issue. With the rise of the self-righteous secular* mob: extending their logic, the institution of family should be dismantled in light of the risks it poses to the nation's youth. Going there invites apocalypse. *No offense to my friends who host such a show (should they every discover this post), but to me Christian + talk radio is a delusion in that the talk therein is not much more elevated than what we would find in my Uncle's bar when the miners came off shift -- healthy in small doses, but hopefully everyone leaves before too much is said.

At World Scout Jamboree, the Swiss exhibit had a bed of straw where they invited scouts to practice wrestling.

@mrkstvns, tell your scouts they can load up on turkey early, then hitchhike to Steeler country ... https://www.lhcscouting.org/boy-scouts-america/what-makes-scouting-come-alive/ten-commandment-and-world-faiths-hike

Because dropping my scouts over blades spinning 100x the RPMs of my lawn mower, albeit separated by a metal grate, seems like a rational thing to do. I'll note that the article in the OP is not about a crew going on a skydiving adventure. It's about what should be on the list of destinations for anyone who might enjoy skydiving. This is actually what I want venturers to be doing. After whatever BSA-confined super-activity we may try, I may mention a "next-level challenge", and hope that some of them "take the bait" and ask me for details, I then give them some links or phone numbers to call, they do more research, discover the array of possibilities that could open up for them in the next decade or so, and present a report on them. Prepared for Life ... it's what we offer.

Prior to the '80s, only Tenderfoot, 2nd Class, and 1st Class were ranks. Hillcourt's handbook listed Star, Life, Eagle, and Palms as awards. The term "rank" was hardly used at all. Treating three of those advanced awards as ranks and the forth as "not a rank" was a fairly recent conception. I tend to not harp on language as much as @TAHAWK, but in this case the novel distinction between ranks and awards was used as an argument in favor of insta-palms.

Question: who ever actually did 5 miles of land navigation during their IOLS? Measure the width of a ravine? Height of a tree?

Venturing Magazine is not an official voice of BSA. Their articles are not scrubbed for political correctness.

I'm not a fan of changing language on whim of fashion. But there are plenty of other applications for the word that don't imply thuggery. (Folks still say, "The gang's all here." Don't they?) American street gangs pride themselves to taking care of one another, giving their young members the dignity that their family and society has failed to do, and living by a code of honor. The problem is that code runs afoul of law and order. BP was determined to turn the term "gang" on its head in much the same way as he was transforming the term "scout" to be a tool for peace, not war. Scouting for Boys stood in stark contrast to Scouting for Military Agents. I think we do well to keep up that tradition.

Sounds about right for a patrol. Not every scout needs a compass, map, trowel, TP, etc ... Unless you're trying to train scouts in a particular skill (e.g., with navigation, it's good to show each scout how their own compass works.) Proper clothing can obviate the need for a tick remover. (I have no idea how well it does pulling them off your jeans that are properly tucked under your high socks. But, I'm not afraid to use fingers.) And, if you're not wearing proper clothing, you might need a mirror to find where that tick has landed! Flashlight batteries double fire-starter, especially if the metal from the tick remover can serve as a resistor! One essential: pencil (okay, down south you don't have to worry about pens freezing, so one of those is good too) and small notebook. Almost as essential as a neckerchief. And of course ... Don't forget your full-size neckerchief!

Fine, call me a downplayer. Even my hand-held won't play music at full volume anymore ... I'm not ameliorating anybody. I just don't consider earning a rank besides Eagle to be a failure. There are 1st class scouts (concept not patch) who chose to do other things besides earning Eagle. Some contented themselves with an earlier rank. Those who chose to do so are a unique breed indeed. But those who do not are far from failures. They are what make it fun for the rest of us. And maybe that's why I cringe a little at the thought of a troop forming just so LDS scouts can get their bird. Maybe if the Eagle-bound are also encouraged to do their advancement in a way that bolsters their church's youth program, it will balance out. But earning that award while enhancing the scouting experience for those not interested in it is part of the glitter of the reward.