Weekend Patrol Box #27

OK, so it's a bit cold for much of the country.  There is still a lot of Scouting going on, just under layers!

This week's Patrol Box kicks off a new year!

Actually, our first Cub Scout meeting of 2010 started with the Webelos den that will be crossing into our troop this spring, showing me their brand-spanking new...patrol box!  When one of the dads is a cabinet-maker by training, you can imagine how well built this is.  They built it for the Craftsman activity badge, which is the 20th for many of them.

Great bunch of energetic Scouts to add to the mix!

Whether you are headed out to the wilderness or hunkering down to survive the plummeting temps, enjoy this week's Patrol Box.

1. Merit Badge of the Week:  Cinematography Free software and lots of tips to make you a great videographer.  Oh, and you'll help expand your Scouts' universe. [Series resuming in 2010!]
2. Merit badge humor--should Wilderness Survival be required?
3. Contest: "Be Prepared" Solar Chargers from Powerfilm (Boys' Life advertiser)
4. ...and while you are poking around Amazon: Eagle Scout street signs to go with the Eagle Scout parking sign.
5. Easy project to get behind--more bike routes.  Where does your state fall?
6. The Price of Freedom leadership conference--only for Eagle Scouts, Venturer Silver Award or Sea Scout Quartermaster Award.  11-14 FEB 2010
7. Cub Scout Video Game belt loop:  think this will help? Great week for Scouting in the comics!
8. Scoutsigns' Top 10 Tweets for 2009.
9. Take Me Fishing--new patches and opportunities for Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts.  TakeMeFishing.org is also on Twitter and Facebook.
10. Venturers, Boy Scout and Cub Scouts--this idea could be for you.  S24O:  Sub-24 hour overnighters cycle trips  for the time challenged (could easily be adapted to other things--backpacking, canoeing, and more). Adventure Cycling Association

So what do you have planned for this weekend?  We are headed off to a lock-in at a local military academy to use their pool, gym and game room all night.  Big breakfast in the AM to compensate for staying up all night.  Check in with me on Twitter to see if I'm still up!  or have a connection!

Merit Badge of the Week: Backpacking

One of my great pleasures in Scouting is backpacking.

Our troop has segment-hiked 150+ miles of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal (C&O) over the last 3 years, one weekend at a time. I would like for us to do more of it, but we need to balance camporees, summer camp, and the other special opportunities that come along.

But still. Putting that pack on gets the adrenaline going. Feeling that weight settle in and a good rhythm get established is liberating. Watch that cell signal go dead for a couple of days is relaxing. Even most of the western end of the C&O (East Coast) is a giant dead spot.

All of your Scout skills come into play: poisonous plant identification, fire control, cooking, 10 essentials, hiking, selecting a campsite, leave no trace, conservation, water purification, first aid, hazardous weather training--everything.

"Outing in Scouting" at its best.

So why isn't it a more popular merit badge? Fewer than 5000 earned in 2007, right at a quarter of a percent.

Let this be the summer! Fire up the troops and their troops! Grab the sunblock and head out. If it is too hot in your neck of the world, plan a great series of trips for the fall.

For one leg of the C&O, we slept out under the stars--in January. We had to knock the hard frost off all the bags the following morning. Still a trip they like to talk about 2 years later.

The BSA website has the requirements posted for the Backpacking merit badge.

Resource List

1. Always start with "Introduction to Merit Badges" for the steps to a successful merit badge.
2. Worksheet on Backpacking merit badge from USScouts.org.
3. Backpacker magazine is loaded with goodies, and so is the website. They also tweet. I always recommend this magazine to my older Scouts and our Scouters.
4. Leave No Trace--now that this has been added to the new BSA rank requirements, more important than ever. Second Class requirement #2; First Class requirement #3; new leadership position for Star, Life and Eagle--LNT Trainer.
5. Five ways to treat water on the trail.
6. BSA's Wilderness Use policy--which also references BSA's Fieldbook website. The Fieldbook online leads you to a lot of links and organizations to help with your trekking plans.
7. Planning group adventures section from BSA's Passport to High Adventure.
8. Hazardous Weather training at Scouting.org or Weather Hazards at MyScouting. Same thing, same training online. Get a MyScouting login to complete.
9. About.com provides a good list of Wilderness First Aid topics.
10. Scouting magazine brings you the 10 Essentials for any Scouting activity.

Related BSA merit badges: Camping, Climbing, Hiking, Pioneering and Wilderness Survival

Do you have a resource for the Backpacking merit badge? Please share in the comments below or on Twitter.

Webelos Scout to Boy Scout, part 3

Continued...

What we accidentally learned was that:

1. 11 year-old Scouts can handle the Wilderness Survival merit badge. 
   
2. This was a great way to stress the importance of the 10 essentials.
3. Wilderness Survival merit badge can be taught well and effectively as a group.  The more experienced Scouts had plenty of leadership opportunities to teach and demonstrate skills.
4. The Scouts figured out how little they really need to go camping or backpacking.  Subsequent camping trips have had gear slashed food is well thought out (usually) to account for weight and necessity.
5. They have figured out how to make each thing they bring do 2 or 3 jobs.

We were able to test out new-found theories out a few weeks ago.  We brought 5 newly crossed-over Scouts camping with us.  Each patrol was able to get their own campsite, all within 100 yards of each other.

The weather was a lot better (sunny and 60s during the day, 30s at night).  The new Scouts were greener than the previous year, so that balanced the weather out.

The older Scouts were anxious to get started, and build much better shelters this year than last.  I challenged them to really pretend they had gotten lost with just their 10 essentials--no sleeping bag.  Some of the shelters I would have gladly slept in--they were well constructed, water resistant, and downright roomy.

The new Scouts were a different story.  We used the same format as last year--instruction, followed by building shelters and having the older Scouts provide advice and encouragement.  Two of the new Scouts were nervous--homesickness and fear crept in.

You could tell that they were considering bolting back to their tent and campsite once it got dark out.

Command decision:  "Guys, let's save some time in the morning, and break down the campsites tonight."  A lot of "deer in the headlights" looks from the new Scout patrol.

An hour later the van was packed, and as the sun went down, they trudged off to their shelters.

...and loved it!  No one had any trouble sleeping, no one woke up afraid in the night, and they had a great new level of confidence and experience to draw on.  

Word has already trickled down to next year's Webelos Scouts that this adventure is waiting for them next April.

What does your troop do to help "break in" the new guys?  What worked well?  What didn't?  Share your experience in the comments.

Webelos Scout to Boy Scout

"The Trainer's Corner" blog has been running a series on getting Webelos Scouts ready and into a troop.

Over the last two years, I've stumbled across a method that is working well.  On paper, it might seem a little drastic.

We are fortunate that our council has a Webelos Crossover weekend in early April.  Webelos Scouts from all over come to shoot a rifle for the first time (as Boy Scouts anyway) and cover virtually all of the Scout badge and Tenderfoot rank requirements.  

A lot of dedicated volunteers come out to help make this happen.  Scouts travel from station to station from breakfast early to a post-campfire crackerbarrel after 9PM.

The transition weekend is a blend of Boy Scout material in a Cub Scout format.  Honestly, that is the only downside of it to me.  With the number of boys to process, that might be the only way to handle it, too.

Our troop though takes a different approach after that weekend:  Wilderness Survival merit badge.

Last year, our program plan called for Wilderness Survival in the early spring--always an unpredicatable time in the mountains of Virginia.

The troop arrived at Camp Rock Enon in nice, cool weather.  There had been rain earlier in the week, and the usual shoe-sucking mudholes were easy to identify.  A number of the Scouts were brand new, and this was their first campout with the troop.

For ease, we used a large cabin with a great woodstove and covered outdoor shelter to teach the basics of Firem'n Chit and the Totin' Chip.  With dinner preparation and getting camp set up, that filled most of Friday night.

Our new SPL called it a night, and everyone hit the sack.

The next day...