Don't look at the national rules, look at the local council, troop, and (summer) camp rules. Between them there is usually some rule. Plus camp staff love to confiscate things just so they can play with them. I got a bali confiscated in a bali legal state a few years back when I took it out to cut some rope. I later heard the same guy who took it was playing with it. I did get it back, though with some perminant wear marks and edge chipping.

I looked too for a national rule, but this is all I could find:
"While there is no official national rule against scouts carrying a fix blade most Boy Scout camps do have a policy of no fixed blades. Older Scouts might remember when the Boy Scouts sold fixed blade knifes which had about four inch blades. Many scouts decided they wanted bigger knifes so they started to bring seven and eight inch knifes. In the interest of safety scout camps forbid them. In most cases only small knife is needed. "

I figure, if the scoutmaster says it is okay and the kid uses it the way it is supposed to be used it is fine (I myself carried a small fixed blade for the last two years of scouting, though I was a totin chip/paul bunyon/wood tools instructor). However, from my experience this is only maybe 5% of scouts, so the folder rule seems to work very well. I've had hospital runs with a 1" blade SAK, I wouldn't want to have a 6" blade hospital run. <img src="/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />