sweet baboo Posted June 22, 2005 Share Posted June 22, 2005 Great advice there parents, you almost got your son killed since he ran and hid from every rescuer he saw. A couple more days of that and years later a skeleton would be found hiding behind a bush with his hands over his eyes. I hope all the donations they took on their website went to the rescue effort...an effort that could've been over in a day had he simply said "yo! i'm lost"... Edit: for some reason, they're still taking donations Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Tate Posted June 23, 2005 Share Posted June 23, 2005 He went up instead of down where water was. I've heard that these days, one can get a merit badge in "It' ALL about ME!". Can't say for sure; I heard that on an AM radio show several months ago. Back in da OLD days, we were taught how to use a wristwatch to point the hour arm at ther sun at 3:45 PM, and the 1:30 position was more or less south (in the Northern Hemisphere. IF you did not carry your compass. ). You ALWAYS carried your knife and your canteen.. always. One generally carried the standard BSA mirror, to flash rescue aircraft, a dinky magnifying glass for fire, a knife, some string. We wern't allowed out in the woods unless we could recognize the bad berries, and the succulent plants etc. We were taught to trap for food, fish with a flexible branch and how to make both string and hook, and to use animal brains to smear on pelts (squirrels) to tan them in the sun, and save the tendons to bind arrowheads tight with the sun, and overcook meat to get a glue to bind the fletch. Were tasught what boughs to cut for a bed and warmth. The Girl Scouts got pretty much the same stuff. My oldest sister could pick out a good maple sapling, hew it, strip the bark and lick the liquid, split it and make a barbed fish trap spring spear out of that flexible youngwood, and set out the bark shavings in the sun to give tinder and thread. We also learned the Indian stick and dirt markings for bad water, due north at sunset, dangrous trails and so forth. I won't blame anyone who has the urge to slap the dayights out of me after that tedious walk down memory lane... LOL, our resident curmudgeon, you contribute some of my favorite posts. Were you in the BSA or raised by Grizzly Adams? First thing I was taught about if I were ever really, really lost in the woods, was STAY PUT SO WE CAN FIND YOU! And half the fun of going out camping was having all the gear - no way we were leaving canteen, compass, knife, etc back in camp. I don't know about trapping and fishing so much, water being more important than food in the short term anyway, but an 11yr old scout should at least have some clue about making a shelter/bed, starting a fire, and what is safe to eat around there. I always figured I'd go the plants/insects/lizards/snakes route myself, but that's just because I never learned the trapping/fishing from scratch stuff. Everyone involved is lucky that kid didn't keep walking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghost of BiB Posted June 23, 2005 Share Posted June 23, 2005 LOL, our resident curmudgeon, you contribute some of my favorite posts. Were you in the BSA or raised by Grizzly Adams? First thing I was taught about if I were ever really, really lost in the woods, was STAY PUT SO WE CAN FIND YOU! And half the fun of going out camping was having all the gear - no way we were leaving canteen, compass, knife, etc back in camp. I don't know about trapping and fishing so much, water being more important than food in the short term anyway, but an 11yr old scout should at least have some clue about making a shelter/bed, starting a fire, and what is safe to eat around there. I always figured I'd go the plants/insects/lizards/snakes route myself, but that's just because I never learned the trapping/fishing from scratch stuff. Everyone involved is lucky that kid didn't keep walking. 364825[/snapback] They have an I-Pod merit badge yet? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Tate Posted June 23, 2005 Share Posted June 23, 2005 They have an I-Pod merit badge yet? 364838[/snapback] No, but they do have one for computers now. A Software System Engineer friend of mine taught it for his son's troop. Most of the old merit badges would sound familiar to old scouts. Here's their current list. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghost of BiB Posted June 23, 2005 Share Posted June 23, 2005 No, but they do have one for computers now. A Software System Engineer friend of mine taught it for his son's troop. Most of the old merit badges would sound familiar to old scouts. Here's their current list. 364849[/snapback] Cool. Reptile Study is still there. So is canoeing, swimming, lifesaving and marksmanship. I had cooking as well. It's been a long, long time...but I am not ashamed of saying I was a Boy Scout. I didn't make Eagle. What's the one in between? "Life Scout"? I still have a hard time believing that this country has PC'd and stigmatized the Boy Scouts. Where's the ACLU badge? This is, after all, 2005. We should NEVER have any organization for our youth that teaches principles, manners and how to live in the woods should one have to. That's un-American. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Tate Posted June 23, 2005 Share Posted June 23, 2005 Cool. Reptile Study is still there. So is canoeing, swimming, lifesaving and marksmanship. I had cooking as well. It's been a long, long time...but I am not ashamed of saying I was a Boy Scout. I didn't make Eagle. What's the one in between? "Life Scout"? I still have a hard time believing that this country has PC'd and stigmatized the Boy Scouts. Where's the ACLU badge? This is, after all, 2005. We should NEVER have any organization for our youth that teaches principles, manners and how to live in the woods should one have to. That's un-American. It's still worthwhile from what I gather. My friend also taught Astronomy, a hobby of his. I regret I didn't spend much time in the scouts as a child. I hope to make up for that when my son is old enough to join. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghost of BiB Posted June 23, 2005 Share Posted June 23, 2005 It's still worthwhile from what I gather. My friend also taught Astronomy, a hobby of his. I regret I didn't spend much time in the scouts as a child. I hope to make up for that when my son is old enough to join. 364876[/snapback] It's not a bad thing, I don't think, in spite of all the folks who will say it's lame and not cool. Stay involved. Another thing I would give serious consideration to, is the Civil Air Patrol. I had the good luck to join it, back in the 70's. I learned to fly for just about nothing - money wise. I had a pilot's lisense at 17. That's probably considered lame and boring now too, isn't it? Definitely not watching reality TV. There's opportunities that don't cost a lot of money out there for kids to learn cooperation, social values and discipline beyond the house. This day and age, as good as a parent one is it doesn't hurt to have a back up for those sorts of things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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