Den Numbers - do your scouts keep the same den number as they advance?

[Snow Owl]

I am a somewhat new Cubmaster. My pack did not follow many of the BSA norms. We never split the age into multiple dens. We had a 28 scout tiger den! We are going to start using the traditional den structure, as best we can. My question is, Do the scouts get a new number when they go to the next level. As in Den 1 and 2 are always tiger dens, dens 3 & 4 are always wolf dens etc. or You were a tiger in den one last year, now den 1 is a wolf den and next year den 1 is a bear den.

[mashmaster]

Yes, they stay in the same dens throughout there progression. It is there identity.

 

 

[Woodward]

Unless you split a large Den up. Each Den needs its own designation, 28 is a lot for one Den. You may want to look into the benefits of splitting into smaller Dens and each Den would have a seperate Den Leader and their own number they would keep till they cross over.

[King Ding Dong]

Yes. Keep the same numbers unless you need to merge dens due to attrition. Why spend the money and effort changing the uniforms ?

[King Ding Dong]

Yes. Keep the same numbers unless you need to merge dens due to attrition. Why spend the money and effort changing the uniforms ?

28 tigers is insane. 28 anything is insane.

[Tampa Turtle]

I had a 20 cub Tiger Den the first time out. BIG mistake even with a ADL. As for the numbers have them keep them and just recycle when they age out after Webelos (or to what we Heretics did let them have Webelo Patrol names).

[ScoutNut]

28 Tigers! Yowza! That's 56 folks at every Tiger meeting! That's not a den meeting, that is a convention!

 

Seriously, requiring Cubs (or the Cub's parents) to purchase new den numbers every year, not to mention the hassle of tearing off the old, and sewing on the new, is just plain silly. Also, if you get a family that uses the fabric glue instead of sewing, you could be talking about buying a new shirt every year.

 

Our dens keep their number until they finish Webelos (or change to a Webelos den emblem). Then the "old" Webelos den number becomes the "new" Tiger den number. If we need to split a den, the new den becomes den 6, 7, etc.

[King Ding Dong]

28 Tigers! Yowza! That's 56 folks at every Tiger meeting! That's not a den meeting, that is a convention!

 

Seriously, requiring Cubs (or the Cub's parents) to purchase new den numbers every year, not to mention the hassle of tearing off the old, and sewing on the new, is just plain silly. Also, if you get a family that uses the fabric glue instead of sewing, you could be talking about buying a new shirt every year.

 

Our dens keep their number until they finish Webelos (or change to a Webelos den emblem). Then the "old" Webelos den number becomes the "new" Tiger den number. If we need to split a den, the new den becomes den 6, 7, etc.

I read something awhile ago about some pack that had den flags made with "Wolf Den 2" or something similar that locked them in to this practice.

[jr56]

Yes, the pack I was involved with kept the same Den numbers from the time they were Tigers until they bridged.

[njeagle92]

Our boys keep the same den number as they progress through the ranks. We "recycle" den numbers once boys cross-over. We encourage Weblos dens to take on a patrol identity but thats a hard fought battle. Once they trade their blue uniforms for khaki, the den number is usally replaced with a patrol patch.

 

We prefer our dens number no more than 8-10 boys and no fewer than 6-8 boys. We will often have multiple dens in a given rank.

[Sakitama]

Let the boys carry their den number through their Cub Scout life. Let the boys make a Den Flag to carry to events for the next several years too. I have the boys decorate a sheet of navy blue fabric with a felt cut out of their hand, the sheet cut to size to sew to a Den flag and when we get new people in the den we 'add' them to the flag when their earn their Bobcat. I plan to use the handprints in plaques for the boys when they crossover.

[TonyHooker]

We keep the same den numbers over time, but in our pack, we generally only have 1 den per year - (No 28 boys at any level, more like 6-10)

 

If we had more than 1 den per level, Den numbers would be a lot more important, normally we just call them by their rank.

[dedkad]

When my son first joined our pack, everyone, regardless of whether they were in the Tiger Den or Webelos Den, were wearing Den 1 patches. I asked about it, and was told that they were Tiger Den 1, Wolf Den 1, etc. After I became Committee Chair, I learned from the District officers that is not the way things are supposed to be done. Each den is supposed to have a different den number. So now every new Tiger den gets its own unique den #. We plan on recycling den #'s once the boys age out. We still have boys in different dens all wearing Den 1 patches because we didn't ask existing boys to swap out to a new den #, but eventually the new (and correct) tradition will be all that remains and each den will have its own den # and that same den # will remain on the boy's uniform throughout his Cub Scout career.

[mashmaster]

When my son first joined our pack, everyone, regardless of whether they were in the Tiger Den or Webelos Den, were wearing Den 1 patches. I asked about it, and was told that they were Tiger Den 1, Wolf Den 1, etc. After I became Committee Chair, I learned from the District officers that is not the way things are supposed to be done. Each den is supposed to have a different den number. So now every new Tiger den gets its own unique den #. We plan on recycling den #'s once the boys age out. We still have boys in different dens all wearing Den 1 patches because we didn't ask existing boys to swap out to a new den #, but eventually the new (and correct) tradition will be all that remains and each den will have its own den # and that same den # will remain on the boy's uniform throughout his Cub Scout career.

That is just crazy.

[Khaliela]

Granted I've never been accused of doing things the way council wants them, but den numbers seem stupid.

 

When my boys were in Cubs the dens were treated "sorta" like patrols. We let each den choose on of the patrol emblems and used that as an identifier. My oldest was in the Roadrunners Den, my youngest was a Vampire Bat. Over the years I have also been a den leader for Cobra's and Hunters. More fun than saying I'm in den 4.