BrentAllen

We had two twins drop this week, bringing us down to 48 Scouts. The twins hadn't been on a trip this year, so this wasn't a big surprise. We had 44 attend Summer Camp. We just switched to a new billing method, charging a fee to cover the monthly outings from August 1 to July 31, excluding Summer Camp and High Adventure. We are operating like a sports team, in that if you miss a trip you don't get a refund. We may lose a few more Scouts due to this change, but it is a risk I'm willing to take. I, too, think around 40 Scouts is a good number. We haven't put a cap in place, though we have discussed it. Due to space, we are really limited to 6 patrols, which would put us just over 50 for patrols and Green Bar.

We only had 3 of our 44 Scouts complete the Mile this year, mainly because the other Scouts who would normally swim it put together a team for the Woodruff Banana Relay. We not only won the event, but our team set a new Summer 2011 record (we were there week 7). Most of them have several Mile Swim patches already.

We'll be at Woodruff for week 7, July 17 - 23. If this heat keeps up, it is going to be a scorcher. We usually go week 2, which is in early June, but due to the HA trip, we had to move to late July. Woodruff offers 8 weeks of camp.

We do what we usually do - join in with a lot of other Boy Scouts, Cub Scouts and Girl Scouts on Saturday to place flags at all 18,000 grave sites at Marietta National Cemetery. This is a big deal locally, with Sons of the American Revolution showing up in period uniforms for a flag ceremony, and a gun salute with black powder rifles. There are so many people out there that all the flags are placed in less than an hour - it is a pretty awesome thing to watch. Lots of Union soldiers buried in that cemetery. We (Georgia) recognize both Memorial Day and Confederate Memorial Day (April 26, but recognized on a Monday) with State holidays. Confederate Memorial Day doesn't get much attention in my circles. I have relatives that fought and died for the Confederacy, so I pay a little more attention. I can't find any slave owners among my relatives - they were mostly shop owners.

Two questions: What % of your body weight is 85 - 90 lbs? How many dutch ovens are you taking? :-) Seriously, what are you carrying? I couldn't get my pack up to half that weight, if I tried. My "heavy" pack is an Alps Mountaineering Denali 5500 (cubic inches) which is plenty big for even cold weather backpacking. It weighs a little over 5 lbs and can haul 45 lbs easily. It is a very good pack for the money (45% discount for Scouts). My "light" pack is a Mountainsmith Ghost LT (3000 cubic inches) that weighs 2 2/4 lbs. A full load with it is 25 - 30 lbs. Your pack without food should weigh less than 30 lbs, based on the following, which are some pretty liberals weights. Some of these can be cut pretty easily, getting your pack down to 25 lbs, without food: Pack - 5 lbs Tent - 5 lbs Water - 4 lbs Sleeping bag - 3 lbs Sleeping pad - 2 lbs Rain suit - 2 lbs Stove/pot/fuel - 2 lbs Mess kit - 1 lb Clothes - 2 lbs First Aid kit - 2 lbs Toiletries - 1 lb Head lamp, etc. - 1 lb

bigbovine, The two books I can recommend for you are: Working The Patrol Method, A Scout Leader's Guide to Youth Leadership Training by Four Eagle Scouts http://www.scoutleadership.com/ 3rd Edition Scoutmaster Handbook, Vol I & Vol II This is the 1930's - 1940's version of the SM HB. You have to search around to find copies, but it is worth it. Go to Roundtable. I hope you are attending Summer Camp with the Troop this year. Figuring out all the in's and out's of Summer Camp can be a little tough, on your own. Lots of details can be missed. It is much easier to learn if someone is teaching you the ropes. Good luck!

Basement, I asked Devin if he was a Scout - here is his reply: I sure was. Does it show? Troop 65 from Morgantown, WV. I was actually just in contact with the Scoutmaster there and it looks like I might be able to give a talk at the local Scout camp about what it takes to bring something like this from idea to reality. Scouts really instilled my love for the outdoors, but I was never an Eagle, unfortunately. The call of soccer and swimmer was too great. But as I was creating this I kept thinking "this is just the kind of thing I would see in the back of Boys' Life."

Sablanck, Our council usually has a "Certification Saturday" twice a year for those who want to get certified to run a BB or Archery range. You might ask your program center if they offer something similar. There are also fairly new classes for water activities: BSA Aquatics Supervision: Swimming & Water Rescue BSA Aquatics Supervision: Paddle Craft Safety Our council is offering these at Boy Scout Summer Camp.

There are several of these on the market. Devin is marketing this one to the ultralight backpacking crowd. There are several reviews on Youtube. This one is pretty funny, from hikinginfinland.com, testing the Backcountry Boiler against the mKettle out of Britain.

Sure, Beavah, we change the laws & treaties, if that is what it takes to make you happy. Repudiate the teachings of my faith? That happens every day, with government approval, through abortion. Capital punishment is against the teachings of the faith of many. You know, separations of church and state. You put limits on it, and build in checks and balances like everything else. "War" on drugs or whatever? Congress must approve. I'm not going to go into all the details, so don't ask. Agree to disagree.

An enterprising young man is bringing an old idea to the backpacking crowd - a Backcountry Boiler. He has been working on it for several years, and has just kicked off the program through kickstarter.com. I am not affiliated with the project or the creator, but I have placed an order. For backpackers who just boil water for their meals, this might be up your alley. It is about the size of a Nalgene bottle and weighs around 9.5 oz. Fuel is sticks or anything else that will burn. Check it out here: He was hoping to have $20,000 in orders in 30 days - I think he hit that his first day. It helped that REI put it on their Facebook page. Check it out.

acco40, Hiroshima and Nagasaki kind of kills your argument, no? packsaddle wants to know where I would draw the line. Simple - no physical maiming, no removing body parts, no hanging prisoners with their arms behind their backs (ala McCain). Waterboarding? I have no problem with it, and don't consider it torture. Is it painful and traumatic? Yes. Does it maim the person? No. Scareing the person to the point of where he thinks he is going to die? No problem (thinking of the scene on the porch of the cabin in The Untouchables). I'm not even an amateur on interrogation techniques, but I think there are lots of things that can be done that can yield results before you get to maiming. That is where I would draw the line. So Beavah, our torture in Vietnam caused us to lose the war? I wasn't aware of that. Maybe the NVA's torture of our soldiers caused them to win the war. That's just as plausible as your argument.

OGE, I Don't know if the end justifies the means, well actually I know that the end does not justify the means, at least the ends does not in the universe of pure reason and logic..." Yes, I know how you finished the sentence, but this is what lead to my comment. Beavah, Your argument might work with your lawyer buddies, but it doesn't hold water with me. Killing prisoners will stiffen the opposition (lesson from WWII). Learning that your fellow countrymen were losing body parts for not giving intel might stiffen the opposition. Learning that your fellow countrymen were being waterboarded isn't going to get the same reaction. Can you show me where we fought any harder or were more determined to defeat our enemy when we learned of the NVA torturing our soldiers and airmen? Exactly how did that stiffen our resolve? How long did it take to get them all out?? How many NVA and VC were tried for war crimes?? I believe we still train some of our military in resisting torture - they expect to be tortured, if caught.

OGE, I read that you felt that way about Japan - do you feel the same about enhanced interrogation techniques? Maybe you have said that as well, but for some reason, I thought you were siding with Beavah on the issue.

Basement, Is there a day that goes by that someone doesn't pee in your cheerios? Honestly, I don't see how you can still be in the program, given all the bad experiences you've had. I'd have been gone a long time ago.

I'm still trying to figure out why it was ok to drop the bombs on Japan, and it is bad to waterboard terrorists. We are at war with a terrorist group, not an army. They don't wear uniforms. They don't live in a clearly defined geographic area. They hide among the civilians. They don't want to fight our army - they attack our civilians. They are unconventional in every sense of the word. If we think we can fight and win using conventional methods of war, we are nuts! We killed thousands of women, children and the elderly in Japan because we had to do what we had to do. Since we can't defeat this terrorist group on the battlefield, we will have to rely on the gathering of intelligence. If we have to use some enhanced methods to do so, this is one of those cases where we do what we have to do.

OGE, Should we have dropped the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki? Did the end of the war in the Pacific justify it? I personally don't see how we can get so bent out of shape about water boarding terrorists after we decimated 2 cities with atomic bombs, killing thousands of women, children and the elderly. Maybe somebody will answer (packsaddle, Beavah?) - Did Allen West commit torture when he fired his pistol into the sand beside the head of the Iraqi policeman who he thought had information about an upcoming ambush?

Beavah wrote, "Do yeh want to teach the world that an honorable man abuses helpless captives?" So, is killing "helpless captives" ok? Because from what I've seen and read, that pretty well describes OBL. Reports are that he hadn't left that house in years. We will never know if he was even armed (except for maybe that water pistol that was in some photos). Water boarding seems pretty tame compared to Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Ends justify means. Did Allen West commit torture?

neil B, Do any of the boys in the Troop make Eagle? If so, they had to earn Camping, which does require at least a little more than car camping. Does the Troop ever send a Crew to Philmont? My guess is the program was softened up to keep boys advancing, keep boys in Scouting and keep the registration dollars flowing. We have a few boys that say they don't like backpacking. Once they get a little bigger and the pack is a smaller % of their body weight, they enjoy it a little more. For the adventure-seekers, backpacking is high on their list. We have some who are interested in ultralight backpacking, and they really enjoy the challenge of lightening their load. I say bring it back, but make it longer. 1 1/2 miles isn't much of a trip.

I wouldn't argue that gay marriage will affect the divorce rate - I would argue that it would affect the marriage rate. If people see marriage as meaningless due to an "anything goes" attitude for marriage in the country, then more will choose not to marry. The marriage rate has been dropping, which may be the reason the divorce rate is also dropping - fewer marriages to begin with. We also have many more women having births out of wedlock - that number is really scary. The author here thinks the marriage rate is dropping due to the economy. That could be, or it could be due to gay marriage being legalized. http://divorce.clementlaw.com/marriage/marriage-rates-down-less-couples-wed-due-to-economy/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+NewYorkDivorceAndFamilyLawBlog+%28New+York+Divorce+Report%29

MattR, I think you have to start from day 1 with the Scouts, and let them know what you expect. The following statement is part of our Visitor Packet which every visitor gets (credit goes to Green Bar Bill). This lets them know what we expect in our Troop. "The real price of membership in this Troop will be unfailing regular attendance at its meetings, and steady progress in all the things that make a Scout Prepared. If the Troop Leaders put their own time into the activities of this Troop we shall certainly expect you to do your part with equal faithfulness." This doesn't mean we get 100% participation. I also tell our Scouts that I expect them to participate in other activities besides Scouting, so they can bring those strengths and talents to the Troop. This will create scheduling conflicts, and learning how to deal with them is part of growing up. We also point out to the parents and the Scout that every time he misses a meeting or outing, he is leaving his patrol a man short. The bottom line is we are looking for boys who can find ways to do both Scouting and their other sports, band, etc. A baseball game only lasts a few hours - come on the camping trip before or after. We are looking for boths that can do both. Finally, the real consequence of missing meetings and trips comes home with PORs. We don't create PORs just to help meet an advancement requirement. The SPL chooses who is going to fill the slots, and they are tougher in their decisions than I would be. They know who is attending and who isn't. They need the best Scouts in those leadership positions to make things run smoothly, so they are only going to assign the boys they can count on. I have several boys who made FC in December who keep asking for a POR. They have missed a number of meetings and outings, so the SPL isn't willing to give them one until they "earn it" by showing they can be dependable in showing up and doing the job.

Oak Tree, Look at our mission statement, I believe that pretty well covers it. We teach Scouts how to take care of themselves. Personally, I see it as adding more value to our program.

When a Scout discusses the three R's with me, the last question I ask is, "Who is more likely to molest you - someone you know or a stranger?" Every Scout has answered "a stranger." I then explain that most molesting cases involve a friend of the family or neighbor - someone they know. I tell them they don't need to be paranoid, but they need to be mentally awake.

Yes, I've held a boy up for Tenderfoot. (not actual names) Eric has Asperger's, and he has a real competitive issue with one of his peers, Chris. Both were going for Tenderfoot by the December COH. On the December camping trip, they were ruff-housing and Chris and other boys were bear-hugging each other, including Eric. Eric said if anyone else grabbed him, he was going to punch them in the face. Chris grabbed him and Eric punched him in the mouth. After discussing the issue with the parents, I learned that there had been other physical altercations at school. Eric admitted he did it, and I asked him if that type of behavior was in line with the Oath and Law. He said it wasn't, so we put Tenderfoot off for a month. We talked about how he needed to run his own race, live his own life, and not be so focused on Chris. He has been doing pretty well, but his dad told me Sunday that they had been called to school last week over another incident. Eric is about to finish the requirements for Second Class, and we are going to have to discuss the issue again. He takes advancement very seriously, so it can be a very powerful tool in working on his issues with behavior. Not totally related to the subject, but I had another Scout who would get homesick occasionally, with lots of crying. He is one of the hard-chargers on advancement, and after he earned Second Class, I told him he was going to have to get over the homesickness - I couldn't have a FC Scout getting homesick in front of the younger Scouts. He said he would work on it, and he did. No issues after FC.

A SPOT would have given location, and let everyone know they were ok. A SPOT Connect would have even allowed them to send a short text message or email. The SPOT device is just a sender, not a receiver, so no way they could have received any messages back. It is satellite, not cell. See the thread I revived under Equipment for more discussion on that device.