So the scouts just have to plan the next time they will get lost so they can plan to have their gear with them

I guess my 30 year old BSA knife is a 'pre-ban'. Who knew?!

Lol, you're one lucky man. I hope you have a pre-ban sheath to go with it as well!

They sure as heck ain't ever gonna get mine unless they pry it out of my cold, dead hands.

Unfortunately Scouting took a hard right turn some years ago and it is difficult for those with fond memories of Scouting to identify with many of its current positions. But without going into forbidden political discussion, all we can do is watch and comment on preparedness-related follies now considered by Scouts to be politically correct, such as the pocket knife ban.

I agree with you. Even twenty years or so ago when I started in Cub scouts the political culture in the Boy Scouts was beginning to diverge from my current values. I suspect that has only gotten worse. Its unfortunate, the ideas, skills and ideals in much of Scouting are very good, but if I ever have kids I don't think I'll put them in Boy Scouts.

On a different note, I'd like to say knives are excellent gifts for girls. I regularly give knives as presents to women in my life, including my mom. I know positively of several who carry theirs regularly. A good knife is simply to useful to pigeon hole as a masculine or feminine tool. Of course they can also be very personal tools, and it sometimes takes a bit of effort to tailor a knife properly to the recipient.

Every time a woman/girl/female I've known has shown even a slight interest, I've responded with a knife they wanted/expressed an interest in having. One time it was a simple SAK for a girlfriend, this time it was for my young niece. Giving a knife to someone (male or female) who has no interest is a waste of good steel.

So how does this NOT tell the the Scouts they are not trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, nor reverent? Well, maybe reverent doesn't come into it, but....

Next thing you know, they won't be allowed to carry fire making tools either.

I can't say anything more without saying something that would have Doug and Blast wanting to make me into pinata.


Oh, and on the subject of knives for girls- great gift. My mother still has the dagger that was made for her when she was 9.

I guess I grew up in an age when a man was expected to carry a good clasp knife in his pocket, and I honestly do not understand all of the paranoia and fear around them now.
This anti-knife attitude with the Scout Troops is especially weird, but there has been a big shift away from letting kids do anything woodsy too.
The last time I had anything to do with a scouts event the parents were terrified by the idea of their kids leaving the sidewalk.

I will mention that I started noticing attitudes shift at about the same time as the Rambo movies were promoting Rambo type knives.
Why people should find that scarier than Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho with the kitchen knife I will never quite understand either.
Yet for some reason people never started calling for bans on kitchen knives did they?

A lot of women regard good paring, fillet and chef knives as great things to receive as giftware and are proud to have them in their kitchens.
A lot of women like having their own clasp knives and hunting knives too.
My ex used to swipe my pocket knives and put them in her purse so she could slice apples and stuff for our son. She would "find" them for me when they got dull. That was usually just after the one I was carrying had gone missing instead.

I gave a Classic to my sister a few Christmases ago. She didn't seem very keen on it at the time(which i anticipated, and paired it with a copy of Fiddler on the Roof), but wouldn't you know I spied it hiding in her luggage after she got back from a trip recently. It made me feel warm and fuzzy.

This stuff is getting ridiculous. What's next? They aren't allowed to go camping because it's too dangerous?