Scoutfish

Oh, I do have another reason for troop trailers. Still not a dire necessity, but sure are a welcome helpful device to have. WEnt to my first Boy Scout summer camp. 11 boys and 3 adults rode in 3 vehicles. One pulled the trailer. The trailer isn't just for hualling, but does act as an onside storage unit. 11 boys and 3 adults carried a weeks wworth of gear to camp. Backpacks, day packs, sleeping bags, duffle bags, wall tents 5 gallon coolers, our washing machine( two 5 gal buckets and clean plunger , laundry detergent). Shovel, rake, axe and hatchet for campsite maint and/or any potential service projects. Trailer ia a 5 X 8 enclosed trailer. It's not a car carrier sized behemoth. One trhing thevtrailer does is allow scout to work together. Everybody loads their gear in trailer the day before even if you are driving. My son and I could have easily carried our own gear in our own truck, but we didn't. All scouts work together to load trailer neatly, aand when we get to camp ( after check in and med check) the form a line and unload gear from trailer. Nobody walks off and sets up until all gear is unloaded. WE hosted another unit at our campsite for ice cream, cookies, and hot dogs. Well, our Sm went out in the morning to get supplies and we stored them in the trailer until needed to make sure they were safe from wildlife, insects, heat and scouts Keeps campsite neat for inspection too. Trailer also stores a box of chem lights, lanternes, extra tents, rainflys, stakes, first aid kits, wall mounted file box for med forms, fire extinguishers, and any extra gear that may be needed. Sure, we could have put most of that stuff in the back of the two trucks that went to camp, but suppose it rained on the way there? Alot of wet gear . What if scouts carpooled in 4 Honda cars or such? There wouldn't have been room for backpacks, blankets , sleeping bags, clothes, etc... So no, the trailer isn't a real, dire necesity. But neither is a refrigerator in your home. You can always buy pints of milk and buy your meat daily. Would save you some space and electricity too. But it makes things easier and more convienent to have. Plus teh time spent going back and forth to the store could be used to plan your next scout outing. As for real scouting...well how about stop using your A/C? A real scout in the woods has no access to an A/C so why have one at home? It could go on and on. Trailer is not imperative to life, but neither are most things we have or do either...like scouter.com But it makes things easier.

Our troop trailer is plain white. Does not say anything on any surafce about what it is for. Troop paid for it by fundraising and camp cards. Our pack has a homemadish trailer that is way too small. It is going to buy a new trailer in the next year. Lowe's home improvement will sell it at cost so a $3,128 trailer wil cost us $1,500 (plus registration). WE are going to fundraise for this too.We are going to say sometrhing along the lines of: " Thank you to our supporters" on the bottom 5th of teh trailer with a lowes logo, and the names of any other buisnesses or individuals who helped us purchase the trailer. One and done. WE are not selling sponsorship. But we will give recognition to those who helped us. WE are not going to sell sizes or spots, just list - on our own accord - those who heped us out. No different than sending a big picture of the pack witha thank you note that most buisnesses post on their bulliten boards for the public to see. I mean , if you really push it, even that thank you letter could be =considered an endorsement or sponsorship: Buisnes gives money, in return buisness gets card with picture of unit to display. Difference with us is we are not selling an advertising spot like a city bus. The trailer will not have ads, just a printed name of person/buisness who helped contribute to our fundraiser. One on, it will not change. Once bought, nobody else can add their name/ buisness name to it.

back during Fran and Berha in 96 - which was well before I had anything to do with scouting - a local grill/diner owner managed to get his place up and going. He , with the help of a local troop, spent an entire week feeding Police, Fire, EMS, and US Marines and National Guardsmen who were doing Safety cleanup( things like checking structurs, power lines, bridges, ect...), crowd control, security duties. Okay, so it was much neded help, but it was also a boost to morale and a good dose of community helping community. I had no idea who they were , what troop, etc because I wasn't in it back then, but even then, I was proud of a bunch of youth doing a selfless thing!

Wait...wasn't Black Bart and his gang the villians who was defeated by Ralphie and his trusty Red Ryder bb gun?

We told our scouts that they would take at least two showers: One before the parents arrived on Wednesday, and one Friday before we went home Saturday morning. At least the parents would think they were clean all week. You should have heard all the "Oh maaaaan!'s " we heard from making that statement. Oh, made a few mad when I told them that free swim sessions in the lake DID NOT count as a shower or bath!

Totally unacceptable. If for some reason, this was due to extreme circumstances such as one parent was a leader and other was military stationed away or off on duty - then the parent leader themself shopuld have be the sole responcible buddy for the Webelos scout. If the SM and ASM were fine with Webelos scout at camp, then they should have accepted any and all buddy duty instead of screwing any other scout out of their camp experience. Personally, that leader should have just stayed how with the Webelos scout . Again, I can understand the exception if the leadership was needed based on the number of BOY SCOUT attending camp. So...when the next SM conference or BoR come around and they ask a scout about his progress ( or lack of) will he be willing to say that the CUB SCOUT at a BOY SCOUT summer camp caused many boys to get partials or missout due to having to buddy up? And when they ask the scout how he demonstrated scout spirit in hie every day life by following the scout law and oath...can he in turn around and ask the ASM and SM the same question?

Our adopted campsite at council camp had a patial open structure bathhouse. The two commodes and 1 urinla have a covered roof and outside walls stop about a foot short of trusses. There is also about an 8" gap between concrete floor and walls. The benches in the changing area have the same wall set up. Storage closet is fully closed closet under same shhared roof. Showers are open top. No roof, no awning, nothing. They are tow showers facing each other seperated by a shower curtain on a concreet floor with drain. Walls are 3" off concrete and extend 7 high off the ground. If it rains, you save shower water! But water is cold water only. Used to be a collective heater ( if that's what you call it) in the attic. Collected the days heat and water ran through that. But you had no temperature adjustment...you got whatever temperatur water came out of shower head. Tanks dis, somebody straight pipded water through the roof. Now when you turn it on, you get 3 seconds of air temp water, then 25 seconds of super hot water, then the ground water comes through. SO, did all of you know that ground water comes out of the ground at 57 degrees? Doesn't matter if the well is 100 feet deep or 3,000 deep. August or December...57 degrees. You ever see a hot, sweaty overheated person jump into 57 degree water? Ever see them all most pass out? You know how good hot achey muscles feel getting that cold after a long day of being hot and sore? Mine cramp up and spasm. So, the leaders have use of a hot shower facility that is about 100 yards away. Not too far, but is inbetween two campsites. Not a major burdon, but depending on what time you get back to camp after the day is dones, you could have 15 adults lined up to use 4 showers. TwoCubdad_ I think your idea is awesome. Nothing liek a hot shower to sooth those achey muscles that have been going all day long. To me, that can be the difference between a toss and turn night of charlie-horses and a nice slep( or as nice as you can get at a BSA camp). Here's an idea though: the showers in our campsite bathhouse use 1/2" pvc pipe with 1/4 turn gate valves to control water. then end out at shower head. You could make a manifold that has a inlet connection for the waterhose which splits off : one side to heater, other to next "T" connection that terminates at shower heat. Install one valve ( #1 ) before the first split, then install one valve ( #2 ) after heater and one valve( #3 ) bewteen split and shower head on cold side. This will allow valve #1 to cut off all water completely to shower assembly. Valve # 2 controls hot flow/pressure and valve #3 controls cold flow/pressure. THis way, you could hang it from trailer door, coonect it, turn on waterhose connection, but still control whole assembly at triler door without the mad dash. For water runoff, buy one of those 36" around plastic pans that goes under a water heater, then use about 10 foot of 3/4 pipe to let water run acroos ground where nobody will be tromping through it. It will soak in just as well as a good soaking rain would and the soap impact shouldn't be any worse than normal pollution that the rain scrubs out of the air. Esp[ecially when you figure any one site wouldn't see this kind of use more than once a or twice a year. And yeah, it IS NOT TOO MUCH of a perk for adults who give up alot of time to make the program work. I used a week of vacation time to go to camp with our boys this year.

Yeah, Fscouter is right: urine is the removal of waste. Waste isn't clear. It shouldn't look like a cup of orange juice orice tear either. Maybe like a glass of diet green tea. Very pale but translucent ( that's clear in layman's terms ) in color.

Pack, I'm an idealrealist. Ideally, I know what would be great, but I know in reality it won't happen. Telling somebody to change their beliefs in religion is like expecting them to suddenly believe water isn't wet. Not gonna happen.

WEll, to start with, my usual spot at camp between 2 very nice oak trees was taken by one of the wall tent the staff had set up. So I ended up moving to a different spot. Yeah, I made 4 spreader bars out of 1/2" pvc pipe. I cut them in half and used a pvc coupling to hold them together. It worked well becuase the nature of the hammock pulls them towards each other. I did paint the pvc olive green to match the tent. So anyways, the attached rainfly/top had 3 loops on each end. But since I had the spreader bar, I only connected to the center loop on each end. The tarp I used was a 10X12 tarp. I used a second rope to go between the trees about a foot and a half higher than where the tree straps connected. Just hanging there, the spreader bars actually tough the rainfly, but once I lay in it, my body weight causes the spreader bars to drop at least 6" lower than the rainfly. The rainfly is also offset. I have just enough covereage on the bnon-zipper side of the hammock to cover the mesh if the weather gets nasty. Maybe hangs about 3 inches lower than the hammock The rest hangs over the other side and is supported by enough of the original rainfly rope to go diagonally to a tree that was about 2 foot from a support tree. This helped hold up the fly over my chairs. This also helped create an area where I could hang my shirts under the tarp ( at night) withough brushing against the hammock. The tarp is a heavy duty one, so I will be buying a smaller/lighter one soon. Yeah, I did have a bunch of stuff with me. Severely overpacked. 1st time at summer camp...ever! Got my Jansport backpack on Weds, so I'll be packing based on what fits in my pack from now on. I did learn alot at summer camp: Don't need 5 pairs of shorts. Don't need 6 shirts. Don't need 8 pair of underwear, Only needed 5 pair of socks. Using two gallon buckets and a clean ( unused ) toilet plunger is just as effective and 5 times faster than a washing machine. Just be careful how you measure your detergent! Anyways, I tied some of my rainfly support ropes to the surrounding trees to keep it up and open for a breeze. Some were tie to stakes. If bad weather came, I could have dropped and secured in in about a minute. The surrounding trees were oaks and other hardwoods so there wasn't any bark damage

Oh, I know it.

Okay, I noticed that my comments may have come out sounding a bit vicious. Wasn't my intent. "I am okay with anybody believing what they want. I respect it and defend their right to that. They just shouldn't think I have to believe it too." As far as they thinking they have the right to dictate what I believe...do they feel recipricable about that? Do they feel that I too have that right to tell them what to think? Just like rights: Your beielfs end with you and mine start with me. Mine end with me and yours start with you. Belief is the key word. Forcing your beliefs on somebody doesn't make them believe them, it just means they are oppressed under them. So, it comes down to this: If everybody respected everyone else to follow their own beliefs ( which means not forcing yours or expecting others to follow them) then things would really be hunky dory!

Ummm...religion is not a brand new concept to me. I do not get my beliefs from facebook either. But what I read on facebook pretty much summed up a big issue with just a few words: I am okay with anybody believing what they want. I respect it and defend their right to that. They just shouldn't think I have to believe it too. Kinda like Constitutional rights: Your rights end when they infringe on mine. Likewise, mine end when they infringe on yours. If everybody just followed their own beliefs....

With all the fighting and bikering over personal beliefs and religion, what if there was a simple answer to it all? WEll, there isn't a simple answer, But I think I found one that is pretty close to the problem: RELIGIOUS FREEDOM What you believe is not the problem, What you believe I should believe is the problem. " Saw it on face book just a little while ago.

Basement, while I am a true believer in "You get what you pay for".....I also am a true believer in knowing that a Ford Ranger will get me where I am going just as good as a Ford Excursion, but a hell of alot cheaper. I don't mind paying for getting something good, but I don't pay for extras if I don't need or use them. I did lay in a Hennesy at camp. Felt like a cocoon right away and since I was a bit sweaty, the material started sticking to me right away. My jungle hammock on the other hand, well, It was just as hot temperature wise, but being more box shaped than cocoon shaped, I could feel a big difference right away. Don't have that "smotering" feeling and air flows freely through the hammock. Sure, come wintertime, the Hennesy may prove to hold heat better, but thats just a small obstical to over come. Biggest thing is this: I knew ahead of time that this whole hammock thing may not suite me, so instead of buying a $250.00 ( I need one to hold my 252 pounds) hammock, I started out with a cheaper PRICED hammock . So far as quality goes, It seems to be doing just fie for now. In a year from now? WEll, we'll see! :~)

So I am thinking the point of a rescue carry is to get the person to help. With this in mind, it does no good to tire yourself out and become exhausted where you can't help at all. My guess would be use the shoulder carry or a stretcher assuming you had at a minimum of 2 strong scouts to lift it. 4 or more would be better, but you do what you can with what you have. The seat carry is great for short distances or up/down stairs, but not something you'd want to do for 500 yards. In the case of a bad blister, well, we aren't talking broken leg or such. SCout is indeed in pain and will have learned a life lesson from it.

*** THis is more for parents than leaders *** So, the other thread was discussing med forms. Yeah, our troop has the same issue. I doubt anybody would be surprised at how many "Part C's" are turned in - in the 10 minutes before we leave camp. Brand new parents excluded, I have to ask: " Didn't you know camp was coming up again this year?" I mean, it's not like scouts just learn about camp the day before they go. You do remember last year's camp, right? So, don't most of us start thinking about and planning for summer camp in ..oh, I don't know....January or February? Now, parents that are new to a troop..sure , I get that, In cub scouts, it's rare you have to fill out part C . Parents are not used to it or in the habit of it. BE PREPARED

Lisa, I said "routine" physical. Not routine camp policies. Meaning a regular physical that you get each year. MOST insurance companies will pay for one as a means to catch what could be a big issue before it gets big. Think of it as preventative money spending on the part of the insurance company. It has nothing to due with camping dates or when a scout goes to camp. Get one every January or the week of the scouts birthday. Point being, everybody should call the insurance company to see if their plans covers it. Ours does, but the insurance company doesn't go out of their way to advertise it. They are hoping you pay for it yourself. So in my case, I can get a yearly physical - including lab and blood work - for free. I just bring along Part C of the med form and have the DR sign off at the same time. No extra cost for that by the Dr. And I have a form good until the next time I get a yearly physical. THis applies to my wife and son too since they are on my insurance plan. Why schedual them to take place around the same time the scout has to leave every year.

Everybody should check with their provider about yearly "prevention physicals" My insurance will pay 100% for an annual physical. No, they aren't being nice, they are trying to catch an illness/ issue while it is only $100.00 and keep if from becoming a $1,000.00 illness/issue.

AZMike, I am a side sleeper too. I mostly sleep on my right side, but the hammock was okay. In my past experiences camping, the first night in a sleeping bacg always sucks becuase it's just not your home bed. But by the second night, sleep is better. Third nigt, your body is exhausted enough that you could sleep on a pile of bricks. Now, during that week with the hammock, I never got to the exhuasted enough to sleep anywhere stage. I also slept on my side, but had to curl my legs up about halfway to do so due to the curve of the hammock. Even though laying diagonal in the hammock allows you to lay flatter, you still have a curve to your body. ON the bright side: when I was sleeping on my back, I didn't snore like I do on a flat bead. MUst be just enough angle that whatever causes me to snore doesn't happen in the hammock. Personally, I think the biggest thing is just getting used to something different.

If the RM decides to stick to his guns on the pin, I say it's his call. May not be popular, but still his call. But as far as the beltloop goes, it does not require a certain score or that the arrows even hit the target at all. It is more about a scout showing how to hold and shoot the arrow, and understand archery safety. THis is where the RM should back down and let the Tiger cubs cubs participate. But having said that....the RM does not sign off on the beltloop or pins. The advancement/ awards chair can get them if he wants to wether the RM likes it or not.

I think the biggest issue I will be dealing with is that at 41 years old, I never slept in a hammock before except the ocvcasional nap in a backyard hammock. And even then, we are talking maybe 30 miutes tops. Maybe it's more of a mental thing than physical? I mean, usually after 2 or 3 days of camping, I can sleep on a pile of bricks!

Oh...I thought this was going to be a post about baby hydras! WE pushed the water issue to our scouts extra hard last week when we went to summer camp. TRoop rule: No Crabonated Drinks during week of camp. Be a god idea to ween yourself off before going to camp. WE provide a 5 gallon spout coller full of water and we buy a couple boxes on individulal size gatorade/ fruit aid powder mixes for the boys to use if they want. I think I weened myself off of caffiene that week as I have drank almost nothing but water since camp.

Nah, no chore at all. I lke the saciousness of the jungle hammock. The sides are not wrapped around me like the $250.00 Hennesy I tried out while at camp last week. By tried out, I mean that I laid in one in the campsite next to us just to see how it laid. Felt like I was in a silk cocoon. The net was only at the top whereas mine is on all side except at the head end. Easy for a breeze ( if we had one) to pass through. Plus, using a tarp as a secondary ( well primary , really ) rainfly gave me a place to store everything and keep my chairs dry as well as afoord an under shelter clothes hanging area. My hammock also laid flatter than the Hennesy and the Enos I saw. Plus the canvas bottom seems to pull sweat away from me while the Hennesy just held it there against me. But compared to setting up a tent with air mattress or cot, It's definantly 1/4th of the work!

As far as I can tell, the frame is already adjusted the way I think it should be. It feels good. I did move the middle back pad up about 2" , but other vthan that, I think it's right. The curvature of the frame matches the contour and shape of my back and even flares out the same as the top of my booty. The top of the frame is just about even with the top of my head. Not sure if that's right or not, but it doesn't look like I should try to lower it du to the positioning of the hold open bar's relationship to the rest of the pack or the load support straps. But I will readiy admit I never had a backp[ack like this and am not experienced with it.