British Scout Assoc. has finally given in to the crisis creators, knives banned...

I am a den leader for my boys cub scout group and It shocked me when I found out that fixed blades are banned here......I guess we are lucky they can still carry pocket folders......Drew
 
Drew,

Instead of just feeling lucky about that, you should actively work to legitimize fixed blades in Scouting and realize that this mindset will eventually arrive here. The people that run the BSA don't give a damn about a pocketknife, they care about money, never forget that. Hell, the Scoutmaster down at the local BSA-Owned and Directed Scout Shop even says that.
 
Having been a scout, an assistant scoutmaster, and a long time supporter of the BSA, I have seen a sick political correctness creeping in for some time. Once I had the troop doing a little close order drill. It's the easiest way to move a bunch of people from one place to another in an orderly fashion. One of the mothers was concerned. She said, "The Boy Scouts are not supposed to be a paramilitary orgnaization". I replied, "You are mistaken, ma'am. They are and always have been exactly that." Back in those days, the scouts could carry fixed blades if they had their totin' chip. Not any more. Any knife user knows that fixed blades are safer to use than most folders. Not that I have anything against folders. I use mine every day.
 
drew1095hc said:
I am a den leader for my boys cub scout group and It shocked me when I found out that fixed blades are banned here......I guess we are lucky they can still carry pocket folders......Drew
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Drew,

I don't know that the Scouts have banned anything here, I thought the organization has stated a preference for folders for "safety reasons", but I could be wrong... I am a Cub Master and I wear an FB a lot of the time when we are are outdoors and only talk about FB's being in PSKs when we teach wilderness skills to our scouts and parents. Folders are hard to open with cold hands. In the absence of a clear and logical explanation of the preference, I won't teach young men something that contradicts what experienced woodsmen taught me. I'm probably preaching to the choir here though....
 
Don Rearic said:
Drew,

Instead of just feeling lucky about that, you should actively work to legitimize fixed blades in Scouting and realize that this mindset will eventually arrive here. The people that run the BSA don't give a damn about a pocketknife, they care about money, never forget that. Hell, the Scoutmaster down at the local BSA-Owned and Directed Scout Shop even says that.
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don't get me started on the prices in the scout shops. I just dropped 122.00 on uniforms last week. My boys have been camping and hunting with me long before scouts....I put Colin in scouts to be with his friends. When we camp at our lease it is closer to nature than the scouts can offer.....middle of the Piney woods with no elec. no running water(other than the spring) and best of all no people......His current camping carry is a rc3 and leatherman wave....At scout camp he will have his wave. I do understand what you are saying and I do agree with you, but the scouts just aren't a big enough part of his true wilderness education for me to rock the boat.....He likes being with his friends....besides I as the den leader I may not be allowed to put a fixed blade in there hands during scout functions,but i can still educate them on the benifits of a fix blade over a folder in the woods.Drew
 
This is flat disgusting. No other way to say it.

mneedham:
I don't think the BSA bans anything yet, but local troops can and do.

My church just decided to run our own program and, you know, do stuff.
 
I live down the street from a Bass Pro store and visit regularly to check out the fine gun room and knives and just spend some time. I see alot of British people in there buying pocket folders (the store is right off the Las Vegas strip, easy taxi ride for them to take).
One guy was standing next to me looking at a SOG Blink. He asked if I knew anything about it and I pulled out mine, which I had in my pocket. He loved it and bought a few of them.
 
I'm honestly revolted. I just lost what little (very little) respect I had for Britain's law makers. :mad:
 
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Sad, very sad.

What the camp rules of the national scout camp in Germany had to say on knifes is the following:
Knifes and Axes:
Keep your knifes and axes sharp and in working order at all times. Group ... is providing a sharpening service.
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And that is how it is supposed to be.
 
drew1095hc said:
I am a den leader for my boys cub scout group and It shocked me when I found out that fixed blades are banned here......I guess we are lucky they can still carry pocket folders......Drew
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BSA hasn't banned anything. They may discourage, but there isn't a ban.

Basically don't take your MOAB or FBM and walk around camp with it and you'll be fine. ;)
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
I'm honestly revolted. I just lost what little (very little) respect I had for Britain's law makers. :mad:
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Meh, it's just the British Scout Association. And it's just another example of the PC bs that's seeping in everywhere.

As far as the BSA is concerned, I think the quote is "...to avoid large fixed blades."
Now, the BSA used to sell official BSA fixed blades. They stopped, never really found an explanation. Probably just PC crap. I think the problem was, that the kids (being kids) kept one-upping another on size, until everyone was toting around friggin' machetes and rambo blades.

Now as far as my local troop goes, I don't care what they say. I make it a point to bring all my new toys to show to the older guys, and more importantly to the Asst. Scoutmasters. I treat all of the Scouts like I do the guys at the Armory. Treat them like grownups, and they'll start acting like grownups and developing maturity. I've actually caught my scouts spot correcting others in the wrong. I taught five years at Camp Old Indian, and never had a problem with any of my scouts.

Just last weekend I showed the group batoning through some logs *ie, the, if it's wet outside, split wood to get to the dry insides, funny how it never says how you're supposed to do that. :P * The adults with us had never even heard of it. Just keep showing people how useful a good fixed blade is and they'll come around.

As far as marching is concerned? You're right, lose the marching, might as well lose the formations. You can also say that proper individual drill helps instill discipline and attention to detail. Scouting is set up in a military TO&E. SPL, ASPL, PLS, and etc. During the Cold War the Soviets tracked Eagle Scouts because of the "threat" they considered them to be.

But who cares if you lose one or two? You'll gain 10 for every 1 you lose. If you run a good troop, the numbers will tell the tale.

Scouting is a boy's organization.

Traditionally, the fathers are the adult leaders. The mothers are helpful, don't get me wrong, but when I pull up to the Scout Hut and there's a quarter mile of cars parked because the parents are hanging around being "motherly"....grrr.

If they don't like the way you're running things, and you're in the right, tough shit. They can take their little darlings to another troop that's more PC.

The problem is, all these enterprising, manipulative, planning, pc-correct parents just want their child to get the "Eagle Scout" title, to make their further career advancements more manifest. This is extremely unfair to all the Eagles that have come before, and busted their asses to get their recognition. And, most importantly, it's unfair to the children in the program. Children are children, but years later, when they're in their lives and do something that they first learned in Scouting, they can feel proud that they earned it, and didn't just have mummy do all the work for them.

That's probably my biggest gripe. The role of parents in scouting has become overblown. It's one thing to provide motivation and direction for an individual, and another to do the work for them.

Anywho, don't get discouraged. Keep fighting the good fight. Keep using FB's and turn the naysayers to your side. Do what you have to to provide quality instruction, and the scouts and parents will thank you for it. Those that don't....well, they're miserable and they know it.

/end rant.
 
The problem of knife crime is more to do with the unemployment and intelligence levels of the scummy classes, and nas nothing to do with the educated and the sensible working Brits.
 
The problem with "knife crime" is the same problem with "gun crime" or "hate crime" or the real manifestation of "hate crime" which is "thought crime."

They don't exist. If people start chucking hand grenades at each other, some goofy asshole is going to refer to it as "grenade crime."

Whatever you want to demonize, you place that word before "crime."

How about we just call it what it is, "murder" if the criminal is ultimately successful in his/her goals or simply "assault with a deadly weapon" if they are not...how'd that be?

"Tire iron crime." Good grief.

We have had people here for years talking about our "gun crime" and you better believe if they ever get rid of firearms they will start talking about our rates of "knife crime."

That's why I placed "Ingsoc" in the title. George Orwell referred to English Socialism as "Ingsoc" in "1984."
 
you forgot dangerous dog crime , and exotic pets used in crime... which is hilarious...

when i look at what the boy scouts have become it makes me regret putting so much time and energy into it. I hope they go back to the old scout manual that my father gave me when i started.... and get back to the real job of scouts .... to create a solid future.
 
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