Den Numbers

[BluejacketScouter]

How does your unit do it's den numbering?

 

My preference is Tiger Den 1, Tiger Den 2, Wolf Den 1, Wolf Den 2, etc...

 

Some others just want to grab a number strip and make all Wolves Den 1, all Tigers Den 8, that sort of thing.

 

Probably no right or wrong, I'm just looking for a compelling arguement either way.

 

Thanks

[Eagle92]

My current pack does Tiger 1, Tiger 2, Wolf 1, etc.

 

Pack I grew up in gave you a number, say Den 2 and that was what you were your entire career.

[ScoutLass]

We rotate the numbers, and the number sticks with a den until they cross over. The crossing over Webelos den numbers become the new tiger den numbers. So right now, we have:

Tigers:#4

Wolves: #5

Bears:#1

Webelos:#2 & #3

 

If we get enough boys to split a den, say in bears, we would then have bear den #1 & #6

 

I was under the impression that den #'s shouldn't repeat in the pack, otherwise it messes with den yells (Den four, let's Roar! doesn't mean the same thing when every rank has a den 4) and it makes it more confusing.

[T2Eagle]

Some may see this as heresy but we have essentailly stopped using den numbers.

 

This is primarily because the dens tend to become consolidated over the years, from three dens of Tigers down to one den of each set of Webelos. And we would then have to decide which number to use --- and frankly most parents wouldn't bother changing them any way.

 

At Pack level events the boys tend to be grouped, by us and by themselves, by age, so it's "Tigers line up here, Bears over there." When we do need to identify a specific den we use the leader's name "Mr. Smith's den over here."

 

The only reason I can see for numbers is as an identifier of a particular subset of the cubs. An assigned den number doesn't really have the loyalty building effect of a patrol name the boys choose for themselves, and our method is more intuitive and easier for 6, 7, and 8 year olds to understand.

 

Heresy maybe, but it works for us.

[clemlaw]

Don't worry, it's only slightly heretical.

 

My son (a Tiger) seems to like stuff on his uniform, so a den number strip is one more decoration. Come to think of it, when I was a Cub Scout, I thought it was kind of cool that the combination of council patch, pack number, and den number narrowed down my identity, so that anyone in the world could figure out where I belonged. Yes, I was kind of weird about things like that. But I have no idea what den number I was in back then.

 

One thing that I have noticed that does seem heretical is that in two different packs, I have noticed people refer to Cub Scouts as "first graders", "second graders", etc. I haven't spoken up (yet), but IMHO, they're not "first graders", they're Tigers!

[AnaMaria]

I'm firmly in the unique den number camp. Only 1 den 1 in the pack, no Tiger Den 1, Wolf Den 1, etc.

[shortridge]

When I joined Cubs, I was in Den 2, all the way until Webelos, when we became the Frontiersmen. The numbers stuck with us as a den. It was a simple system and gave us an identity, which we greatly enjoyed. Our den flag included the ribbons we'd won in contests as well as a real raccoon tail - we were the envy of all the other dens for certain!

 

I respectfully disagree with others who say that identity and loyalty doesn't count as much at the Cub level as with Boy Scout patrols. The whole purpose of dens in Cubs is to lay the groundwork for the patrol method once they get older. If you just create ad-hoc groups, or have to keep merging them, or treat them more as Wolves and Bears than as specific dens, they don't get a chance to develop that group identity in the first place ... and thus the patrol method begins to weaken from the get-go.

 

Den number patches go all the way up to 24. If you have a pack of more than 200 Tigers, Wolves and Bears, then there might be a need to classify them by program level first. But not until then. Give your kids their own distinct identity and let them develop it.

[83Eagle]

We don't do den numbering as we only have enough boys for one den of each.

[kari_cardi]

We do what ScoutLass mentioned, where each den is given a number in rotation and keeps the number until they leave as Boy Scouts, then the number is available for the new Tigers. Except like 83Eagle, we only have one patrol per rank. So the den number designation is really only used in Scout Track. I don't think any of our boys wear the den number strip, it is one more patch to buy and sew on that doesn't have any real purpose in our pack.

 

If we did have more than one den per rank, I would favor a system that gives each den a unique number. I can see that changing den numbers as the pack changes could be a problem.(This message has been edited by sasha)

[FScouter]

If two dens use the same number, it would seem to defeat the whole purpose of having a number.

[Shriscov]

We use the same numbers until Webelos can give themselves a patrol-type name.

So, my son's Wolf den started out last year as den 11. This year's tigers get to come in as den 1.

[Eagle92]

Short,

 

Same with me, one den # all the way from Wolves (no Tigers back then) to Webelos. I don't know if the problem is common everywhere, some locations, or just here, but when my pack restarted in Sept, I lost 1/2 my TCs. Out of the 11 I had in May, I had 6 return. The other den is in a similar boat: out of 10 down to 5. Sad part is 4 of my 5 who left participated in the pack summertime activities.

 

 

[T2Eagle]

'92

 

I haven't gone back to track our average attrition rate, but 1/2 doesn't seem outrageously high. We pull almost all our scouts from our CO's Catholic elementary school, and as I mentioned we usually start out with three Tiger dens and are down to one by Webelos at the latest, often by the Bear year.

 

It doesn't seem unique to Cubs; a similar attrition rate occurs in Baseball and Soccer -- almost all the boys in first grade will play both sports and then over the years pare themselves down.

[MTAF]

When a Webelos den crosses over to Boy Scouts we reissue that numer to the incoming Tiger den in September. Example, Den 7 is crossing over next February, that number will go to my Tiger Den which will start meeting that September. we do not number by rank, just reissue the numbers.

[Scoutfish]

We have 8 active numbers out of 9 den number designations.

 

Each den uses the same number until they cross out. The leaving Webelos Den number goes to next years Tigers.

 

 

If we lose enough of a particular rank, we go with the den number of the largest den of that rank simply because it takes less work to cange numbers on te roster and paper work. The pack also buys their NEW Den Number patch.