Region 7 Voyageur

Has anyone ever niticed the difference between American (U.S.) campaign hats and those from the United Kingdom or Canada? It appears that in the U.K. the indentations on the hat peak are 45 degrees different than those from the U.S. Take a close look of any photograph of Lord Baden-Powell.

In our Troop the scouts sleep by patrol. No scout is allowed to sleep alone. (buddy system) Scouts usually pair up for tenting arrangements. If a patrol had an odd number attending an event then there has to be one tent in that patrol with three scouts. The scouts that have to triple up use a larger size Eurika tent. Most campouts have one patrol with an odd number of scouts. I do not see any problem with having more than two scouts in a tent.

The Troop that I am involved with pays for the initial registration of all adult leaders and committee members. If the adult becomes fully trained at their position the troop will continue to pay for subsequent registration. If the adult does not make the effort to become trained then they are responsible for their own fees.

Sheath knives, I believe this started as a discussion about rules prohibiting sheath knives. When I was a scout the BSA supply division sold some very nice sheath knives. I do not recall any scouts in the troop that I was a member of having them. We all had the folding scout knife that had a can opener and bottle opener. When I became active again as a scouter a few years ago I was told that sheath knives are not permitted in scouting, a BSA rule. Upon reading the guide to safe scouting I interpret the guide to mean that there may be better tools to use than a large sheath knife for the job at hand. When working with scouts on knife, axe, and saw uses and safety I discuss the choice of tools available for the job at hand. Scouts are attracted to axes. They are cool and something that they normally do not have access to use in their daily life. I like to show them that much of what they desire to do with an axe may be done faster, safer, and better with a saw. I have a folding hand saw made by Gerber that really impresses them with its effectiveness. There are some tasks that do need an axe. Part of scouting is learning to analize the task and select the correct tool to use. Scouting also should teach the skills, knowledge, and attitude necessary to use the selected tool correctly and safely. I dislike being told that a rule exists and then later discovering that someone made the rule up. I am sure that scouts discover on there own that some rules do not exist and that they have been deceived. I believe that this leads to distrust. This past weekend I was working on a project at home to make a hiking staff. I had a very nice piece of red oak that I needed to strip the bark and cambium off of. My normal knife of choice is a Buck #110 that I keep very sharp. I found that for this task that my Ka-Bar sheath knife worked much better. (no, I am not a Marine) I suspect that the larger and heavier blade was the reason. I feel that for most tasks a good quality lock blade knife is the best choice. This type of knife is far better than the non-locking folding knives that were once common scouting items. There are times that a sheath knife is useful tool. Knives are not dangerous, the improper use of them is. Scoutings job is to teach the difference. Dave

Who makes the decision to have a new scout patrol or not to? Is it the PLC or the Troop Committee or the Scoutmaster? I am an ASM right now and I would like to see our troop have a new scout patrol and a venture patrol. I think that the scouts would be in favor of both but I fear that many of the adults would reject the idea. Dave

When I was a scout (early 1970's) my troop would ocassionally allow the use of personal tents on troop campouts. At district or council events we always used troop tents to look uniform as a unit. On some troop campouts personal tents were allowed. Many scouts that had become very interested in camping had purchased their own tents and they were egar to show them off. Although I do not know what BSA policy was at that time, these were never one man tents. At these outings scouts could do a sort of show and tell, and show off their personal tent. We would ocassionally have campouts that involved backpacking and on those outings the use of personal tents was encouraged. (The canvas tents that the troop owned were not well suited to backpacking) If one of our goals is to have scouts gain an interest in camping, one of the results is that scouts will want to obtain camping gear of their own, including tents. They will naturally want to use this gear and show it to other scouts. Allowance should be made in the program to allow for this.

Here I go with my first post- Mr. Bob White, I have been reading posts here for a while and I very much respect your opinions. My question is, if a scout working on an Eagle project were to solicit a donation of material from a local business would that be incorrect? Does a scout first need to inquire if that business is a donor to the local council?