BOY SCOUTS

I was the Rotary Club sponsor and shooting instructor for Troops 33 and 100 in our area and enjoyed the work a lot. The only thing that really ticked me off was that even the older Scouts weren't allowed to carry a fixed blade knife----someone carelessly cut himself a few years back so they were banned. Scouts were mostly limited to SAK type knives.
 
That's sad to hear... that Scouts can't carry knives.

*sigh* Every patrol was assigned a locker and in there was all our patrol eqpt: first aid kit, cooking utensils, ropes and the patrols pride--a parang and a hand axe.

Every patrol had a pair, and it was part and parcel of our scouting life to learn how to use and maintain them. We joined the troop at 13 and by 15, some of us got to be office holders. The QM was picked from the 15yr old batch with a Senior QM a year older and a scouter overall in charge. They'd be in charge of the Troop eqpt which was kept in a little storeroom.

We used to think that the QM's job was the best coz he never really cleaned anything... he'd just detail it out to everybody else.

But I always liked it when we got to bring out all the troop axes and parangs for maintenance. Just getting to play with all those cutting tools was cool. We'd spend the day slowly sharpening what needed to be sharpened, removing rust, and sometimes changing new handles on the axes.

It may not seem like a big deal to some of you guys who're fortunate enough to live close to more rural areas, where usage of these tools are second nature... but for us growing up in a city, it was a big deal. Holding a parang in your hand, you can reminisce (sp?) about all the fun you had on you treks and hikes, and you can fantasise some more about the trips you're gonna take. It was important.

Kinda sad that in this day and age, scouts don't get to do those things...
 
It's very encouraging for me to read all these passionate posts about scouting in Blade Forums. I pause and repeat Blade Forums. I was in for 30 years. Got out for about 10, now back in for about 2 as District camping chairman. There is a LOT I disagee with. But nothing is as it was when I/we grew up. But you know that's probably what my Scout leaders said about me/us in the 60's.
Sheath knives or lack there of is probably what irkes me most...but deal with it! It was my gold plated excuse to buy and use a Gransfors Bruks mini hachet! To steal a quote, "my instead of a knife hachet" The kids learn and the parents and some "leaders" think it's cute. My point is who is better qualified to be in the scouting program than regular readers of blade forums/wilderness and survival section?
A couple of weeks ago I built a fire [in a foot of snow, while snowing, at about 7,500 ft., at 20*, at 10:00p.m.] with shavings and splits from my mini. Used a hemp birds nest for tinder and set it off with a fire steel. About a dozen 12 to 15 year olds will never forget it [nor will their leaders.] I'll never forget the cheers when it finally took off. My point in this post is not self serving braging but that the scout program needs people just like us. I hoped they would all flock around and soak up my wise experience. The reality is it's work. The work is in dealing with [some] marginal volunteer leaders and a cash poor not for profit. It is always easier to find enough wrong with organizations to stay uninvolved than to jump in. I'm fighting hard to stay in and learn to DEAL WITH IT. I believe the kids are worth the trouble. Believe me, this tread has been a big boost for my sanity. Thanks to you all.
 
As an Eagle scout myself, I must say that scouting is a wonderful program that I gained a great deal from. Although I live in a rural area and grew up with axes, knives and guns, scouting gave and continues to give me many things that I might not have had. Even though I am only 16, my focus now is to give back to the younger kids what I have gotten from scouting. As for the knife issue, in our troop, there are no real restrictions on knives. The basic policy is that if you are responsible enough to carry a particular knife (including fixed blades, you are allowed to, although fixed blades are not really necessary unless on backpacking or camping trips. We train everyone in the proper use and sharpening of cutting utensils, and those who are caught missusing them are either reprimanded or have their knife taken away, depending on the severity of the offense.
 
As a Taoist, I am unable to provide help to the Boy Scouts, as I don't meet their religious standards.
 
Originally posted by MichLee
"Why does a married man with no kids want to be around young boys?"
Click to expand...

That used to be the question. Before "September 11" entered the English language as a phrase all its own, someone would always say, if he had kids of his own he wouldn't have time for anyone else's kids. Or, why isn't he home watching the game, like other normal guys? Then suspicion would set in. Now, with patriotism all the rage, it's normal again, though who knows for how long.
 
The knife issue some troops have is pretty stupid, showing complete ignorance in cutlery by the anti- fixed blade morons. I have never seen any leader take away a POS folding knife from a scout, even though they are much more dangerous than a fixed blade. If they were concerned about safety they would inspect the scouts' knives to make sure they have well made and well maintained knives.

In my later years in scouting, I notices a complete lack of skills and common sense among many of they scouts. Maybe it was because they were city troops as opposed to the two country troops I was with before. I remember showing the newer scouts poison ivy and told them to avoid it. Later that day one moron came up to me holding a poison ivy leaf and said,"Ben! Is this poison Ivy?" There also seemed to be a lack of dedication in the troops.

When I was a kid I had a SAK or other folder with me at all times. In an early 90s BSA publication I read it said to only carry knives at camp. I guess "Be Prepared" should be changed to "Be Prepared at Camp, but only in a way that won't offend the PC crowd." I know there is that Zero Tollerance BS, but the BSA should join in the fight against it. Maybe if everyone who supposedly has traditional values unite the socialists won't win.

Overall, though, scouting is a good program for boys, much better than what most of todays' kids do with their time.
 
I know. I worked very hard to grow up.

I had a stubborn streak 10 miles wide. Having reached 40 years of age last year, my mom recently confided in me that when I was a child, she and my dad both though I was retarded because as soon as they got done telling me what to do, I immediately went out and did the exact opposite.

I blame my dad's mom for that! She's still alive, and never has, and never will, listen to anyone.

My point is, you have to learn to pick your fights. When I tell people Our Founding Fathers were considered guilty of treason by the British, and that many of the colonists would have been considered "terrorists" had the word existed then, people say, oh that was different. Oh, yeah?

People seem too darned eager to give up the very freedoms OTHERS bled for and died for on the beaches of Normandy. The guys WHO WERE THERE would be speechless with shame.

Sorry about that. I have some strong feelings on this matter I try not to discuss in public. Don't want to get lynched.
 
at the risk of this thread degenerating into some sort of rant fest ("Oh you mean it hasn't already??")...

I agree to some point with you. There's just a general disgruntlement about society as we know it today. Singapore is halfway around the world and often considered too "sterile"... but it does have a few of the same social issues... BUT...

my personal feeling is that too often, hypocrisy has been sold as tolerance.
 
I live in Virgina up in the Blue Ridge Mountains. One winter some boy scouts came up from Florida specifically to get their winter survival badge or whatever its called. Anyways they were going to hike up to a place called Spy Rock and spend a few nights up their so they could get some experience. Well to make the story short it snowed about an inch and it was too cold (around 30F) so they came to our house and asked us if they could sleep in the fire dept. Well needless to say it was quite funny and I was hoping that at 0200 we would get a rescue call just to wake up and scare all the kiddies that were sleeping under the fire trucks and ambulance. Anyways just thought I would share this story with you all. Can you imagine the fright of being sound asleep at 0200 and being woken up by a siren not 3 feet from your head :D
 
I'm also very happy to see all the passionate posts about scouting. I'm an eagle scout myself, and my troop greatly influenced my outlook on life. One of the things I'm proudest of is my patrol, I was elected patrol leader of the group of guys I was with in Webelos, and we all stayed together till we were the senior patrol of the troop, every one made eagle scout, I came back from prep school (boarding high school) twice just to be color guard for their courts of honor : )

One thing we always did was camped once a month, sometimes twice, through the whole year. Never knew how the adults that lead us got the time off from their lives to do it, but they did a fantastic job, I thank them for it.

We were the troop 24 Pioneers, and we prided ourselves that we were *outdoorsmen* unlike the prissy parade marching, patch sewing on, prissy other troop in our town, Troop 73, the 'feather merchants' LOL

The best thing about the troop was camping, and our adult leaders could be evil about it, If we forgot our partol saw for instance, the response was, 'hmnnn, that's going to make it hard to cut wood, and rather difficult to cook food, you may want to start reading the fieldbook there was something in there about a star fire' we learned.

And if we couldn't be spurred by our own stupidity, sometimes we were given incentives. Our leaders reagularly came at the begining of a campout and repossessed important pieces of equiptment. Tents, saws. Once they took all our knives, the thing I most remember is when they took all of our cooking pots, we were cooking on stick spits, steaming veges with wet leaves, etc.. all weekend. The idea was never rely on one piece of equiptment.

So we were always having to build shelters, improvise cooking, burn through logs to get firewood, etc...

BTW If you can get ahold of an old scout fieldbook at a used bookstore, grab it, I still think it is the best single volume survival manual in exsistance.

Best,

Todd
(edegedance)
 
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