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pocket knives are broken before it comes out of its brand new package. folders that is. SAK does serve its purpose, but you can't really baton with it. why is BSA scared of fixed blade? it just looks homicidal? we teach our boys how to build fires using woods. most of us do not carry saw or ax. but if someone had becker BK-2 or BK-9... who would ever need an axe or a saw? they are tools. we teach our boys to use them as tools, not as an weapon. less chance of cutting their fingers and getting their job done. face the reality. stop feeling intimidated. let liberals go camp at LA and go to 5 start restaurant for their evening snack.

always wanted campaign hat, and found from another thread that there is a company making campaign hat in different shape than perfect circle. i went there and looked at the shapes and i don't see triangle. my head is just weird.

all the boys love belt loop.. not mine. but in my den, boys are always looking for a way to learn them. instant gratification, or almost instant..motivates the boys to do things otherwise they won't look at twice.

boys first. i let my son pick the troop that he wanted to go to. only two of his webelos den mates came to this troop. i volunteer for the ASM and been very happy with everything. doesn't your son's troop allow you to volunteer?

we are changing things as we are moving along. the scout skills are now done completely by the troop guides. we have implemented full uniform starting this yr. and discussed with the SM about the patrol method. everyone seems to be happy.

i live in nc. this yr, it rained too much. most of figs didn't have their usual taste. i collect fig trees for fun. have about 40 different types of figs.

happy yuletide! as a fig grower this is a happy day. a day closer to my trees giving me the fruit of my labor.

i have a jewish friend. we have known each other for last 20 or so yrs. he is a life scout. never made it to eagle. his father was a SM. last yr during our pack bonfire, i asked him if it really bothers him when someone says "merry christmas" to him. i occasionally invite him to our pack/troop events. he has only 1 daughter, no sons. he thought about it for awhile and said it does bother him to a certain degree. not offended or anything, but it bother him nevertheless. so i called him up and said "merry christmas" to him this yr. after calling him for "happy hanuka". he called me some names and we had a good laugh.

only used cot at summer camp. had a friend who was in navy. he carried cot around when we used to camp on beach. it didn't look all that comfortable, and it's not that comfy at summer camp either.

i have access to local scout store and i still can't keep track of new shirts. not that i go there often. centennial shirt has changed. now it has embossed BSA and no sleeve pocket. microfiber shirt changed few times in last few yrs. by the way, the quality of the shirts has gone down a bit on both poplin and microfiber.

i enjoyed it and i would recommend it to newer scouters, but not to the scouters who has been at it for some time. it was a great motivator for me and made me look at the scouting from different perspective.

my son crossover to a troop that had very little new scouts. it seems for whatever reason, they didn't do much of recruiting previous few yrs. with leadership change, that is turning around. we are recruiting from all the packs around the area. we are doing webelos weekend, and extensive webelos parents meetings. maybe the leaders are burnt out.

we have about 20 active boys in any troop meeting. it works more like a single patrol. we do have 3-4 patrol, but all the boys more or less belong to a "troop" rather than each individual patrol.

thanks all for the information. they were all helpful.

volunteer for ASM at a troop that my son crossover to. now i only wear it to CoH or B&G with his old pack since my younger son is still there. usually wear my beads with my class A.