Whew! Here I am contributing again to the thread that just won't die. But I have a few comments about your last post.<br><br>1. There are good troops and there are bad troops. And it's usually the quality and quantity of the leaders involved that makes a difference. Remember that some of the volunteer leaders have no background in the outdoors. But they are volunteering and they are involved. BSA has training programs to help teach basic outdoor skills to leaders, but nothing compares to actual experience. My troop as a youth was not into wilderness or winter camping. So my skills in that area are weak, hence I'm trying to learn from my peers and resources such as this site/forum. But even without a high adventure program, I benifited greatly from the program and would not have given it up at any cost.<br><br>2. If your brother was active in scouting during the mid-seventies, then your comments make more sense. BSA changed the program in order to make it more accesable to inner-city youth. It's now referred to as a period when they took the "out" out of "scouting." A scout could actually reach the rank of Eagle without having ever learned how to light a fire. Membership took a huge nose dive frpom which they never recovered. They put the "out" back in during the early eighties. They even commissioned an earlier author of the Scout Manual, "Green Bar Bill," to rewrite the urban version.<br><br>3. I hate Cub Scout macaronni projects too!