Take Training, especially a "Wilderness Fist Aid Course", and pack extra clothing and Good/Redundant Fire Lighting Gear always.

Another hint... On an overnight outing I sometimes put a chemical light stick at the outhouse and another at the campsite, so Scouts don't get lost going to the bathroom in the night (they should have a buddy anyway, but, hey, even two can get turned around at night).


We used to tack one, on a short piece of string, at the top of the outhouse door: leave it out for homing, flip it inside with you, so you can see what you're doing. Please, no magnifying glass jokes. ;-)

I've marked the Latrine and the support lines when we are using tents that require support lines.

I was a Cub Master for three years, I have been an Assistant Scout Master for five. I had had the please of being an adviser on a Philmont trek.
As far as training goes I was an EMT for 7 years and currently teach OLS (outdoor leader skills) and OWLS outdoor WEBELOS leader skills), WFA (wilderness first aid), and Orienteering at our University of Scouting.

It is not what I carry that decides the outing. It is what the boys carry that is the key.

There is noting you or the boys can carry that is lighter or more versatile than knowledge.

I made a point during my time as Cubmaster to lay the foundation with the boys starting as early as possible. Even Tigers can impress us if given a chance. Although the boys should carry no more than 10% to 15% of their body weight in their packs they can do there part and learn to use the ten essentials. I carry a full complement of the ten essential systems with me on every outing. I ensure the boys at minimum have enough water to avoid serious problems and the key systems to cover our plan and the weather.

The earlier the scouts and their parents learn the personal in personal first aid kits and personal gear the earlier they will be able to truly enjoy their time outdoors.

I was given a 2 up 2 sided set of medical forms what I became Cubmaster and I have kept current medical forms with me for all youth and adult leaders since. I also have the parents provide any listed medications in individual snack bags per administration and in a clearly labeled larger bag with the scouts name. The key is knowing the parents wishes and having them is writing on the scouts forms. You are wise to try an steer clear of becoming "that guy". It sounds like the unit has a valuable resource available. Take the training you can and continue to help out where needed. One hour a week only works if we all do our part and accept the assistance available within our units.

Yours in Scouting,
Jim

Good points bpj, too many Scouts these days come from broken homes. When DS and I moved on to the Troop, the Pack we left behind folded because all that was left were 4 Scouts, 3 of them from broken homes and had Grandparents taking care of them and bringing them to meetings. The Grandparents couldn't step up to run things. The last remaining Scout had Parents who worked all the time just trying to make a living and didn't have the time to take over. It was a sad time, but there really wasn't anything else we could do to keep it going.

At the Troop, I also find many parents of scouts who seem surprised they have to provide ANYTHING for their sons. As a new troop, we have virtually no troop equipment, so we NEED the boys to provide a great deal of their own personal equipment, at least for now. It surprises me that a lot of the boys don't have a lot of the equipment already, and that their parents are not really willing to get it for their sons. I guess I see it differently than they do. I recognize that the gear I buy for myself and my son will be useful for much more than just scouting. I wish they would too, and have as much fun getting new equipment as my son and I do together.

I can totally relate to your situation, Mark. Although my troop is more than 50 years old, it had dwindled to almost nothing, almost dying, before I was placed as the Scout Master. We are still small, but most of the boys are fairly motivated. the trick has been in getting the parents involved more. This has been part education (benefits for the scout), part making the participation enjoyable (we have activities for the parents, joint activities for scouts and parents, and just good company for the parents during camp-outs as we have some good cooking going on). Involving the parents more has been the most difficult part of the job.

We still have some that do nothing, and I am generally the one who must do what is necessary for the scouts in that situation. I have built up a stock of camping gear that I issue to the scout and make them responsible for. It is not cheap, but I will not stand by and see a scout suffer for something that is not their fault. That alone has helped get some parents more involved, out of gratitude if nothing else.

For some of the parents it is necessary to see the tangible benefits of scouting before they really become motivated to get involved. The look on the faces of some at a court of honor when they see their son receive a promotion and some merit badges in front of the rest of the troop is an indicator of how it affects them. When the scout proudly tells their parents of how much work was involved and how much they learned is one of the most motivating things for many parents.

Our cub scout pack folded for about a year, due to the same reasons you mention, but I went out and recruited a cub master, and he went out and recruited more scouts. It is a small pack, but growing.

I like what the program can do for the boys, and I believe in the program. there are times, as in any large organization, that I get frustrated with the larger scouting organization. It seems that the district and council levels, and even higher, lose sight of the real purpose, the boys, and demand more organizational support than they give to the troops. I saw that in the Army as well, with the headquarters demanding more support from the subordinate units than they gave to those units. It is a natural progression, but not a positive one, and it must be fought.

There does seem to be less interest in scouting now, and much more competition for the time of the scouts and their parents. This will never end, and maybe get even more difficult. Most of the scouts we have came to scouting because of a direct relationship with one of our scouts. Other types of recruiting does not seem to work very well. Most of ours required a hard sell to the parents of a prospective scout, along with invitations to visit activities and watch the scouts in action.

Bottom line, I am in it for the boys (and yes I have two of my own in the troop), and most of the my troop I have known since they were very young, so we have established relationships with the parents. All of our parents have a great deal of trust in me and my assistant scout masters. This is a rare thing though. But as the troop gradually grows, more boys are attracted to the troop.

Too long winded, I know. It is a passionate subject for me. I have found that talking to other scout leaders does help. There are many ways of solving any problem, and most of the ways have been tried before by someone you probably know. Talk to them.

I can relate as well Montanero. In spite of some recent bad publicity the scouting program still has much to offer. Everything from citizenship to outdoor skills to learning about possible career paths. I can get rather long winded myself.

Part of the problem with the old pack, was that the previous leadership did nothing but run off parents and scouts. When DS's leader quit as well, I had two choices: 1) Let the pack fold then, or 2) Step up and work within the bounds they created to make it the best experience I could for the boys. I chose the latter. Sadly, we never had much in the way of pack camping supplies, or much of anything else, other than bows and arrows and bb guns which we weren't allowed to use anyway. I operated with no budget, planning activities with materials I could scrounge up at home, or borrow, or ... well, you get the idea. That was my sons Bear year, and I continued this for his first year as a Webelo. The Cub Master's son aged out so I was promoted to Cub Master for my son's second year as a Webelo. I had to recruit two former leaders to come back and help, and also enlisted the help of our remaining grandparents as well. If it hadn't been for them we would not have had a scout year.

By this time we had dwindled down to a much smaller group, we had 5 returning scouts and 8 new scouts come to recruitment night. After the dust settled we ended up with only 9 altogether. By Christmas we had dropped to 7. By spring, we still had the 7, although one had already planned on transferring to a different pack for the fall, so that essentially left us 6. All 7 came to the advancement/crossover ceremony. We planned an elaborate ceremony, complete with parts of a native American Indian chief's head dress and accessories borrowed from the local museum. I had some imitation eagle feathers and home made arrows for the arrow of light ceremony (two received that including my son) and face painting for all the advancing scouts during the ceremony. The leaders AND parents/grand parents were all involved in the ceremony in some way. A few other packs heard about it and wanted to borrow the ceremony (which I had borrowed from several different sources off the internet and combined with mine and the other leader's own ideas into one). I later heard that many of the boys slept that night without washing the paint off their faces.

I thought we had the best year ever. We started a Webelos Woods event for our district. We had a HUGE flag retirement ceremony at the school. A lock in "camp out" at the school. Camping at the district events. The best and most elaborate obstacle course we had created to date. All culminated with the advancement ceremony. After it was over, and we were packing stuff up to go home, one of the grandparents I was pretty close to told me one of the other grandparents asked him, "Now why didn't we ever get a ceremony like that when the other guy was in charge?" As good as the year was, it just wasn't enough to inspire anyone to keep it going. One year was just not enough time to repair all the damage the previous leader had done over the previous four years. I once overheard his wife say to him "Oh no, another summer ruined by scout activities." There just wasn't enough interest or support left to continue the scouting program there.

The pack has been gone for almost a year now, but the troop we moved to is local, with a strong local pack to keep feeding new scouts into it. The boys who were left in our pack were supposed to transfer to the same pack, 2 of them did not, 1 paid but never came back, another came to meetings until Christmas break and never came back after. My son is the only one from our original bunch that is still active in scouting, but the pack/troop we are involved in now is actually more centrally located, and a much bigger and more involved group so the adults get more help and the kids have LOTS more fun. We recruit at and get scouts from the school our old pack used to operate at. It seems to be easier to keep the scouting program going from a central location like we have now. All in all it has worked out for the best.

paper and phone list of all the scouts and their contact info; When we're out I'm responsible for all of them - and this includes getting them home or to a parental unit. ( which might involve as many as 6 possible contact phone numbers)

Great point. On outings we're supposed to have all the membership information, which includes contact info, as well as a hard copy of our emergency plan (and a couple other pieces of paper I'm probably forgetting!).

Spare whistles (they wear them all the time on hikes),

spare leaf bags for shelter/rain coat.

Extra water

two way radios


In snowy weather I bring a batch of bread bags for lining boots.