Boys' needs

[Eagledad]

4 minutes ago, mashmaster said:

And yes free time is important, having a bag of games or balls in the trailer are an important team building tool.

And patrol campfires. We humans, or a least we males, are naturally attracted to fires (like females to diamonds ) and socializing around them. Our patrols today struggle a little with patrol campfires because it was a lot of effort for just a couple of hours of socializing, but boys being boys (of all ages) managed to find something to pull them together before hitting the sack. Patrol campfires were easy for us in the 70s because they were required for cooking and heating water for KP. 

As a SM, I encourage a fire all day in the adults camp site, so that they had a reason and a place to relax while staying out of the scouts way. State fire bans are the devil and one cause for disrupted patrol method. 

Barry

[MikeS72]

1 hour ago, Eagledad said:

Our patrols today struggle a little with patrol campfires because it was a lot of effort for just a couple of hours of socializing

I find that many Scouts also struggle just to get a properly built fire lit.

We were at summer camp last week, and after multiple failed attempts, I showed them a correctly built fire, which lit on the first try.  As I laid the first bit of kindling, one of them remarked 'Look, he's doing it the way they showed us in Vanguard (second class skills)'.  He sounded surprised that what they had been taught earlier in the week actually worked.

 

p.s., I agree with your assessment of state fire bans.  Here in FL it is often hard to find a campsite that will allow open fires.

[Rick_in_CA]

1 hour ago, Eagledad said:

And patrol campfires. We humans, or a least we males, are naturally attracted to fires (like females to diamonds ) and socializing around them. Our patrols today struggle a little with patrol campfires because it was a lot of effort for just a couple of hours of socializing, but boys being boys (of all ages) managed to find something to pull them together before hitting the sack. Patrol campfires were easy for us in the 70s because they were required for cooking and heating water for KP. 

As a SM, I encourage a fire all day in the adults camp site, so that they had a reason and a place to relax while staying out of the scouts way. State fire bans are the devil and one cause for disrupted patrol method. 

Barry

I agree about camp fires. To me, sitting around the camp fire in the evening is one of the best parts of camping. The fire bans make me sad. Though here in California, after years of drought, things are so dry in some places a fire ban makes complete sense.