Scout Leaders?

**perdidochas** · 06-23-2011, 15:51

Originally Posted by Pinnacle

Maybe it is time for the BSA to start reviewing what it deems safe and unsafe. I have been in scouting for 11 years now. 7 as a scout(eagle) 3 as a Committee Chairman and 1 as a Scoutmaster(current). I think scouting was a huge importance in my life and I hope it is for our scouts we have now.

Alcohol stoves. Personally I see them as very safe, as long as they are used properly. Normally only loaded up with 1 oz of fuel at a time and not under any kind of pressure. Use it like it is intended and it is a cheap, safe, and fast way to cook a meal.

2 campouts ago we avoided disaster. One of the approves BSA stoves malfunctioned and caught fire, it was not user error. The stove and the canister were enveloped in flames. If not for some quick thinking....... well it would have been horrible. We were 5 miles from the truck and 2 hours from a hospital after that.

I love the BSA, please dont read me wrong. I just think they should update their allowances every decade. One thing: I will never trust anyone else to tell me whats safe and whats not. And thats why my trangia is always first in the pack.

Alcohol stoves are allowed (but not recommended). It's homemade alcohol (or any other chemical fuel) stoves that are prohibited. Your Trangia (if it's a storebought one) is legal.

**perdidochas** · 06-23-2011, 16:00

Originally Posted by I Splice

Update the G2SS every decade??? In my dreams! The G2SS is updated perhaps on a quarterly schedule but sometimes more often (only National knows for sure). I think the hardcopy is updated every year with a different color cover. The BSA seems to set rules based on emotions and stuff-that-sounds-like-a-good-idea-to-someone. IOW, each update seems worse than the last..

Latest version is slightly smaller than the older version. It has things that are less strict. There is no more guideline in it prohibiting monkey bridges higher than 5 ft off ground, for example.

**dkperdue** · 06-23-2011, 16:04

If you add a few salt crystals to the alcohol it will produce a yellow, visible flame.
Biggest drawback to this is that it really makes the brass stoves like the Trangia and my Brasslite look corroded.

**richtorfla** · 06-23-2011, 16:04

Originally Posted by mountain_man_mike

Sometimes the red tape take away from the fun and sense of adventure.

I am an ASM in Troop 354 in central California, never attended Woodbadge except to cook for the campers and staff in 2009. That was a lot of work but very rewarding. I had a great crew to work with and it was nice to see them get standing ovations from the staff and campers.

Mike,
Wished you cooked for us at my woodbadge! Wow! What a menu! Anyway I used to be ASM, CC, and a commish. May do scouts again one day. Right now focusing on college. A little time for myself right now. Did my fairshare of coverting scouters to hammocking. Son became an Eagle in 08! Scouting is fun. Had a lot fun setting up high adventures and pinewood derby which I still miss watching the cars go down the track!

**dkperdue** · 06-23-2011, 16:06

Originally Posted by perdidochas

Latest version is slightly smaller than the older version. It has things that are less strict. There is no more guideline in it prohibiting monkey bridges higher than 5 ft off ground, for example.

Also, used to prohibit driving after dark except for "short trips"
Now that is not anywhere in there, so you can drive on into the night on unfamiliar roads with a vehicle full of other people's kids as much as you want.

**GW Sears** · 06-23-2011, 16:11

To get back on track, the boys in my troop discovered the net "backpacking hammocks" back in the mid '70s. Those hammocks, particularly their suspension, were primitive by today's standards, but they worked well for rest stops and occassional night hangs.

What they really excelled at was teaching the kids how to tie a timber hitch correctly. It was virtually impossible to loosen any other knot after hanging, so it became the knot of choice. It was easy to spot the kids who had yet to master that knot -- they were the ones laying on the ground in the midst of a cloud of dust.

Todays hammock systems can teach more than that. Scouts can learn about resourcefullness and inventiveness by finding alternate sources for materials, such as using HF tiedowns rather than buying expensive straps. They can try out alternate ideas for tarps, insulation, etc. If I was still active in Scouting, I would be pushing hammocks.

**JohnSawyer** · 06-23-2011, 17:28

Back on the hammock topic:

I am not a den leader, but I am very active in my son's Webelos den... We've discussed hammocks and hammocking, but this den doesn't do that much camping (2x/yr). I'm hoping for more when he becomes a boy scout.

RE: Papasmurf's thread: If cost is a factor, suspension can add up to be the major cost in a cheap hammock. I still have some 5/8" mule tape available, pay shipping and I'll send any den as much as they will use...

It will take me 3 weeks or so to get shipments out, though...

**Shane** · 06-23-2011, 17:30

Assistant Scoutmaster here.

Been hanging in my troop for about five years. Now, most of the leaders in our troop, and a lot of our older boys hang.

I have mentioned this here before on this subject, but it's worth mentioning again.

Be careful in how you present sleeping in a hammock to your new recruits. To many of these tenderfoots, camping is a new experience, a little frightening and definitely overwhelming. The last thing you want to do with a new, somewhat frightened scout is hang them in a bag in the middle of the woods by themselves with only the noises of the critters and the wind for company. They should not be made to feel that they are taking a juvenile approach to camping by opting to sleep in a tent with a group. We encourage it.

I think it's better with new scouts to have them camp in tents with their friends for company, somebody to fart and giggle with til it's lights out. For many, the tenting experience with friends their age is one of the most memorable aspects of Scouting.

As the scout matures, learns more skills, and becomes less interested in farting and giggling and more interested in getting some good rack time, then be prepared to offer them a hammock as an alternative.

On the other side of that coin, one thing that we have found is that it is easier to keep adult leadership interested in going along on our adventures with hammocks. They are more comfortable than sleeping on the ground, and more likely to return to the field with us.

S

**mountain_man_mike** · 06-23-2011, 18:15

Originally Posted by richtorfla

Mike,
Wished you cooked for us at my woodbadge! Wow! What a menu! Anyway I used to be ASM, CC, and a commish. May do scouts again one day. Right now focusing on college. A little time for myself right now. Did my fairshare of coverting scouters to hammocking. Son became an Eagle in 08! Scouting is fun. Had a lot fun setting up high adventures and pinewood derby which I still miss watching the cars go down the track!

Thanks Richtorfla, it was a grueling yet very rewarding experience, that and a "one and done" operation. My son became Eagle in 2005, but I still volunteer with the troop. I have many acquaintences in the workplace, but somehow my best friends I found in scouting. There are few rewards as gratifying as our youth becoming responsible, honest citizens and having even a shred of an impact on them. The invitations to their graduations and weddings are pretty cool too.

Happy Trails...

**lbdgolfer** · 06-23-2011, 20:50

Asst Scoutmaster and Crew Adviser.

Our crew has 4 hangers and 5 soon to be hangers. We just went camping this past weekend and had 4 hammocks and 1 tent. We had a storm come through and the hammocks stayed nice and dry but the tent got a little wet inside.

I'll be bringing my hammock to summer camp this year so there might be more soon to be hangers after summer camp.

I don't miss sleeping on the ground at all.

Lewis