I’m not looking for “what the book says,” I want to know, in real life, what do your committee meetings look like?

When and where do you have it? Who’s invited, and who comes? All parents? SPL? How formal are your officer reports? How formal are your minutes? How long do they last?

https://blog.scoutingmagazine.org/2014/03/11/ask-the-expert-is-the-american-flag-backward-on-scout-uniforms/

https://blog.scoutingmagazine.org/2009/08/25/50-stars-13-stripes-and-two-right-ways-to-wear-it/

Moreover, BSA has been wearing the flag this way since at least 1979 (see page 50)

https://archive.org/details/officialboyscout00will/page/50/mode/2up?q=uniform

Remember: the military has its regulations, and BSA has theirs. We are NOT obligated to follow the military regulations.

Thanks.

Do any of the programs (of any season) at NT have the option to bring an all-adult crew? I know Philmont's Autumn Adventure is popular for this reason but I can't tell from the NT website whether they have one, too

Hello,

I've been in Scouts since I was thirteen years old, and at the beginning, I didn't really like it. I had no friends, the other scouts seemed extremely immature, and I found the meetings extremely boring. During my first scoutmaster conference, I was told that I was the most exceptional scout that the scoutmaster had come across in his time at the troop, 23+ years. This was repeated to me by other adults while I was at my board of review. They told I was mature and attentive, and wished me all the best. Although I continued, my opinion of the Scouts only went down, I found the meetings a waste of time, but enjoyed the campouts. I have acquaintances, but didn't have any friends as the other Scouts were very immature. I am now in high school, and Scouts is a HUGE time killer. The meetings a pointless, the merit badges teach me things I've known since elementary school (I was not in cub scouts), and I am dreading troop meetings. At this point, I'm only in Scouts for college. I've talked to my parents about this, and they told me, it's not worth it to do an activity just for college, and I agree with them. I am currently first class and 15 years old, and I am very close to deciding to quite Scouts. Any advice for me?

hi, I am the current president of Venturing Crew 425 (est. 2002), and we are the only unit based out of the BSA Headquarters in Irving, TX. AMA :)

edit: we are very open to having scouts from across the country join!! we are having a meeting tonight at 7pm CST, please dm me (18+) if you’re interested in joining us over zoom :)

Regarding Requirement 2C, Do I have to fill out a day-by-day chart, or can I fill out a weekly? Does the monthly budget count as this?

Hello. 🥲 Long story short, I am not a Boy Scout, I have never been. But I made a Boy Scout character, and I am obsessing about the accuracy of the uniform.

YES, I know it does not look like this any more, but, how is it for the previous uniform before it changed? (I can't find the exact year it is from, I guess 1980s-2000s). Is that every thing that belongs on the shirt, and in the right place?

Can anyone recommend a good cost-effective sleeping bag liner that would add a little warmth for winter camping? We have a 0° bag but it's a cheaper one from Amazon and still feels cold in the low 30s.

I am an Eagle Scout. I am looking for some easy merit badges to get more eagle palms.

Any feedback to offer on any of these 3 camp options for a girl troop this coming summer?

Camp Rockefeller (Damascus, AR) Camp Orr (Jasper, AR) Lake of the Ozarks (Gravois Mills, MO)

Appreciate the feedback!

I'm wanting to take a crew to Philmont in 2026 or 2027, but currently our Troop doesn't have many interested in going unfortunately. If anything, most of the scouts interested are the former AOL scouts who just crossed over -- but they wouldn't be able to go until 2027. In talking to most of our scouts on why, they've never backpacked, just camped and hiked, so they don't feel they can do it.

This got me thinking, if we had a Backpacking program to help scouts earn their backpacking MB they would get the experience they need, then we can possibly build a crew for Philmont. I understand, it's a HUGE commitment, and now'days many youth seem to not be interested in things they can't master in short time. So I'm putting together a proposal to offer the Backpacking MB to scouts and leaders across the District with the hope of having a weekend hike every 4-6 weeks as weather permits.

Any advice on things to consider? Or has anyone done this before? The goal would be to prep for Philmont, but for those who don't want to do this or don't have the means to for whatever reason we can still plan a five day trek locally to satisfy the final requirement of the MB.

Thanks in advance for any guidance or suggestions.

Is anyone else having issues with the Scout Shop and their Cyber Monday code? It’s saying it’s not valid when I enter in “CYBER25” like their advert tells me to.

Hello everyone , I’m working on creating a song and skit book for my Troop that is inclusive and addresses diverse cultures and backgrounds. This is my wood-badge ticket . I was hoping to get some recommendations from this forum on what prayers, songs and skits I can include .

Thanks

My son got his Eagle application 2 weeks before he turned 18, and had his BOR about 3 weeks after his 18th birthday. For his COH, can he wear his Rank Badge like a youth, or can he only wear the Eagle knot award?

I know if he stays involved as a young adult, it will be the knot award.

Back when I was a kid our troop had a bagpipe band. That’s where I fell in love with the bagpipes. My son, wanting to be like his old man, has picked up the pipes rather quickly and wants to join a band. I was wondering if any of y’all know if the scouts still have pipe bands

We are looking for users who are interested in becoming moderators for r/BSA. With a fairly active community of over 26,000 members, we could use some help reviewing new posts, moderating discussions, etc. Those interested should send a message via Modmail with any relevant info such as Scouting background, experience moderating forums/communities, reasons for wanting to join the mod team, etc.

Here are a few requirements for those interested:

• Must be an adult (18+)
• Willing to fulfill standard moderator duties (monitoring the spam queue, responding to Modmail and issues)
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Thank you!

Thank you to those that posted their thoughts and where I need to go,

9. Show experience in camping by doing the following:

• (b) On any of these camping experiences, you must do TWO of the following, only with proper preparation and under qualified supervision.
  • (2) Backpack, snowshoe, or cross-country ski for at least 4 miles.

I need some clarification for this one, my scout did the 4-mile hike with a backpack that had clothes, water, food, 1st aid kit, a blanket for sleeping and other scout essentials. This was done with several other leaders at a Cub Campout where the scout is a den chief.

I submitted the completion in scout book and the SM got in my face today prior to meeting about he needed to present his backpack to him for him to sign off on the requirement. The SM asked if he had a tent in the backpack and I stated that my scout didn't hike with a tent as they were sharing with another scout (same age and is a den chief too who did the hike also for support), So, the scout master refuses to sign off since he didn't have a tent on the hike on his person and rudely let me know that my scout would have to redo the 4-mile hike. The scout master has made the rule of all the stuff and tent. Nowhere does it say what must be in the backpack and all he was lacking was the tent.

I know that there is such a requirement in Camping 5.E and my scout had signed off already.

Also, the scout master doesn't agree with some of the items that have been checked off at camp or merit badge colleges and will make scouts redo items.

Edit 1 - Not sure if the CC or SM is the MBC for the badge.

Edit 2 - the Hike/Walk/Backpack event started and ended where the camp was, so the scout did 4 miles with a backpack on, slept at and ate at the camp. As the parent I made sure that other leaders were aware and there for validity for my scout so that the SM/MBC had more than my word. I am thankful for the folks that defined better backpack vs hike but how does one breakdown the meaning in this case when the other 2 options of snowshoe and ski are there and whether or not they also had to be done with a backpack and was that 4 miles in and 4 miles out. Same as biking vs boating.

Personally, after opening this can of worms, the requirement needs a better definition of what must be done. I will also seek out the whole MBC issue too

How do different council camps conduct their med checks? What are the rules and procedures for them?

I was thinking about this the other day and I couldn’t find anyone or any resources that gave me a definite answer. I’m curious if a national venturing or sea scout officer can wear gold loops and national committee patch when not in that oyp’s uniform. So if you happen to be at a venturing event as a venturer, could you wear the items since you still hold that position, vice versa, or on tan? I have seen adults do this with their uniforms, so I wasn’t sure if youth could too. I am too old to hold office, but still curious.

Thanks.

Just received all my Eagle pins and everything! Wondering what the normal convention in other troops is for setting up and Eagle COH. I age out in a couple months and no one in my troop has reached out to me in weeks about achieving Eagle lol feels kinda strange probably just me… but how have other eagles done it?

I’ve also been so busy with uni applications to even get on it but yea how do others set it up? In the past we’ve always had the veterans of foreign wars and American legion involved in my troop as well so that would complicate matters possibly for a COH kinda confused ngl

Local troop runs a tree lot as a fundraiser, get our tree from them every year.

New truck this year, after we loaded up the tree my wife got a weird look on her face then broke down laughing.

Let me know if you get it.

We are doing a complete overhaul of our Troop website. We haven't had a dedicated webmaster for a long time and not only was the information barest of bones, there wasn't anything particularly personalized for the Troop (pictures, outing info, etc.). We now have a parent that is experienced in web design that will help us make the site and train a Scout webmaster. I've been looking online a bit, but there are obviously a ton of Troop websites out there. Have any of you found some that you feel are truly outstanding (links?) What makes a great website, in your opinion? Are there areas that are often overlooked that you have appreciated seeing on your other websites?

Any help you can offer would be greatly appreciated.

Edit 1: I kept it a little vague on purpose in the original post. I really appreciate all of the comments that have been had so far. We used the BSA template from their website kind of a template and used Wordpress to design the site, and got our own URL. If anyone has any specific suggestions on the site I'd be happy to hear feedback: https://hockinson-scouts.org Note: you will not hurt my feelings.... any specifics on improvement is valued.

Can an eagle protect be done at a meeting. during a regular weekly meeting, can an eagle project be performed I’m not asking if there enough time. I’m asking about not organizing a time and place but just useding the weekly meeting as the time and place.

What are the ways your units get young people interested in scouting?

My troop uses our Klondike, a ‘fun meeting’, and a ‘fun campout’ to get them to join.

My son is filling out his Eagle Application, it’s asking for the date completed for merit badges. In Scoutbook is it the “marked completed” or “leader approved” date?

Our toop’s Eagle Coach has been less than helpful.

Thanks in advance!

So, I really want to give one of these as a gift. However, we live in Texas. There is no way this would be wearable more than maybe one month a year. Am I missing a hot weather version? Has anyone gotten something similar but not the official Jac-Shirt? Wool is just not gonna work for the majority of our life.

I’m planning on completing the twenty mile requirement this Saturday with some friends. However, one of them has work and is unsure if they should come or not. For the route we are taking, google maps says it will take 9 hours 37 minutes, which seems reasonable but I’ve never done a 20 mile hike before so I don’t know how long it will take.

I know the total time will vary from person to person but I’m just looking for some time references outside of google maps.

Edit: Because I didn’t mention where I’m hiking at all, I’m adding it here. It’s mostly a flat route on roads and sidewalks because my counselor approved doing what he called an “urban hike”.

Edit 2: I’m going to talk my friend who has to work about either taking off work or to not go on the hike. Thinking about it more and reading through the comments helped me realize that the hike is something that is going to require the entire day, whether it be from actually hiking or resting after it’s done.

Heyo. I’m at Dad’s house for Thanksgiving (Happy Thanksgiving to you!) and I found his old Scout knife. Obviously, the handle is falling apart. Any thoughts on how to add a handle that’s close to the original? Pics of your similar knife, but intact, would also be appreciated.

Thanks all, Will Spotts

Requirement 3: Prepare a list of your regular home duties or chores (at least five) and do them for 90 days. Keep a record of how often you do each of them. Discuss with your counselor the effect your chores had on your family.

If a scout already has a list of chores that they complete every week and has done that and kept records (through GreenLIght app) for 90 consecutive days prior to getting a blue card, would that meet the requirement, or do the chores have to be done after getting the blue card?

Edit: just to clarify, I am a merit badge counselor and I’m curious how others approach this.