Scouting Together

Want to solve a membership problem in Venturing?

2015-08-13T17:44:00.004-04:00

The Pocket Crew, a feeder troop into Our Venturing Crew.

Boy Scouts have feeder packs full of cub scouts, Crews sometimes have a strong link to their troop and have a ready supply of boys, but since Venturing is for young men and young women, where is the feeder group for the Venturers. Let us reintroduce the Frontier Girls, formed under our BSA Chartered Organization
A few years ago we wrote a piece on our Girl's Frontier Girls Troop and how our Venturing Crew supported them: Young Girls - Future Venturers.

This Spring two of our girls have crossed over to the Crew. Shown is one of the two girls being inducted by the Crew President as they raise their hands in the scout sign and repeat the Scout Oath and the Scout Law.

So be creative and find something that works for your Crew, but more importantly find something that works for the younger girls in your area of influence.

	Boys	Girls
Cub Scout Aged Youth	yes	?
Boy Scout Aged Youth	yes	?
Venturing Aged Youth	yes	yes

http://frontiergirlsclubs.com/

New Venturing Awards - what might they look like?.

2014-05-23T20:09:00.002-04:00

Update: Bryan on scouting just posted on these awards at http://blog.scoutingmagazine.org/2014/05/23/leave-your-feedback-on-these-venturing-award-prototypes/
Comments due May 28...

By now most everyone knows that Venturing has introduced four new awards to take the place of the Bronze, Gold, and Silver recognitions. The new awards are named Venturing, Discovery, Pathfinder and Summit. Here at the BSA National Annual Meeting, the folks at the Venturing booth were asking for feedback on some prototype awards on Thursday May 22 which I picture below. I emphasize that these are concepts and that they have indicated that no decisions have yet been made and the awards might look completely different. For our "voting" we had three sets of patches A, B, and C and four medals to choose from. The patches were in three segments representing Venturing, Discovery and Pathfinder. The summit award then would be a medal.

If a medal was chosen for all four levels were chosen, they might look like the once in the picture below.

As to the voting, many expressed the desire to see more of a medal on a ribbon, especially for the Summit award. We expressed our desire that the Summit be similar to the Silver and Eagle in that it would be a pendant on a ribbon on a bar that had the same type of clasps that the current Eagle medal has. The folks working the booth said that many had indicated something very similar and that they were certainly going to use our opinions. That is, the decision is certainly not made. Send in your comments to program.content@scouting.org this week only as a decision will be made "within 7 days."

they are under a lot of pressure to get the awards approved since this is the primary decision holding up the release of the

Handbook for Venturers

Venturing Advisor Guidebook, and the

Venturing Awards and Requirements Book

Official announcements are included in links on our Central Region Area 4 site.

Off to the BSA National Annual Meeting

2014-05-21T13:29:00.000-04:00

Silver Antelope

Kimberly and I are heading to Nashville for the first time. We will be staying in the Gaylord Opryland hotel with all of the other participants at the BSA National Annual Meetings. We are excited of course since this is the first time we have been to a National Annual Meeting. What got us to attend was two things. First our good friend and great scouter from the Great Trail Council and current Area 4 Membership VP, David Weyrick, is receiving the Silver Antelope

Venturing, BSA

and we are honored to be there with him for that. Secondly, the announcements of all the changes in the Venturing Program are being announced Friday Morning and we wanted to be there for that.

In the mean time I am trying to keep all of the changes posted for our Area 4 Central Region Venturing Councils at our Resources for Councils page. Much has been released already and more will be forthcoming. For our purposes in supporting the Area (me) and the Great Trail Council (Kimberly) we want to have a good one stop place as we try to understand and then report and train on these changes.

Here is what is on the Resources for Council page so far. I won't update the below, so check the link.

What's New in Venturing?

The Venturing Announcement will be made at the Venturing Spark Session of the BSA Annual Meeting Friday morning May 23, 2014 in Nashville, TN

Changes will be announced at

http://www.scouting.org/scoutsource/programupdates.aspx

New ALPS (Adventure, Leadership, Personal Growth, Service) Program Model and Requirements

2014 Program Update -

New Award Requirements from scouting.org

better version for printing from USScouts.org here

note Tier II and III adventures in the requirements are defined in the Handbook for Venturers (and here is a preview)

Here is a list of the trainings mentioned as part of the requirements in the new award structure.

Books - Drafts of books seen at the National Annual Meeting

Handbook for Venturers
Venturing Advisor Guidebook
Venturing Awards and Requirement Book

New Adult Training Materials:

Venturing Advisor Position - Specific Training instructor syllabus

Crew Committee Challenge instructor syllabus

Here are the documents from the 2013 New Program Announcement at Scouting.org/venturing

Spread the Word: The New River Experience May 9-11, 2014

2014-02-28T09:01:00.001-05:00

C4VOA is having a great fun event called the New River Experience for all Venturers (youth and adults included). You might want to check your Venturing registration or find a place to sign up so you can come and have a great time with us. Details? Click on the poster or shoot the QR code. cost is being determined now, but might be around $105-$110 for the Whitewater trip and about $95 for the Canopy Tour option.

Share this by hitting one of the share buttons below or by using the link in your email to your friends or on Facebook and Twitter.

Steve

University of Scouting - Our Opportunity to Share

2014-02-28T08:12:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow in our BSA Council the annual University of Scouting takes place. It is a day of classes offered by dozens of scouters and attended by over 1,100 scouters. Kimberly and I have the opportunity to teach there and I always find it a lot of fun to interact with other leaders in the informal classroom environments. I always learn something too. Two of my courses are supporting Boy Scout programming (The Annual Planning Conference and the Delegating Scoutmaster). The former is nuts and bolts, but the latter is a critical course since all too often Scoutmasters have way too much on their shoulders and learning to share and how to find help is a secret of a long and happy scoutmaster life.

On the Venturing side, Kimberly will be helping crew leaders understand what is a quality crew using the Journey to Excellence award process. In addition, she will tie Excellence in Council Venturing to Excellence in Crews through the council Venturing Officer Association.

I will offer a third course on Mentoring. I have taught it just three times (counting this Saturday) and I was surprised as hit hung out there on my slideshare account that it had been downloaded 53 times and viewed by over 1,800 pairs of eyeballs. Clearly there is interest in mentoring which is good since the New Roadmap for Venturing and the national roll-out scheduled for May 2014 has mentoring at the top of leadership and service and a new BSA mentoring course is being developed.

You can see our presentations and "borrow" them for your own use at http://slideshare.net/campnmug.

If you like them or if you don't let us know.

Steve and Kimberly 2/28/2014

First post in a long time - 22 Essential Camping Diagrams from buzzfeed.com

2014-01-01T20:00:00.000-05:00

From BuzzFeed here are 22 essential diagrams you need for camping. Some of these are really clever.

Had to post something, it has been too long since we have posted. Both of us have gotten more involved in Venturing beyond the crew and that has taken our time. The 2013 National Jamboree at the Summit Bechtel Reserve was fantastic. We returned happy and tired and ready for our next adventure -- Grandchildren. Two of them: a boy in August and a girl in September. It has been a busy fall, but our resolution is to start posting again in this new year.

Steve and Kimberly
1/1/2014

2014 Summit Bechtel Reserve style High Adventure

2013-05-24T11:27:00.003-04:00

High Adventure Summit Style

Which of these four high adventures are you going to do at the Summit Bechtel Reserve NEXT year in 2014 in our beloved, beautiful and wild wonderful West Virginia?

Learn more at http://SummitHighAdventure.org

Steve and Kimberly Myers

The Osprey Transporter BSA 115 Duffel bag is HUGE!

2013-05-23T16:12:00.000-04:00

All Packed for the 2013 National Jamboree (sort of)

Everything I want to take (sort of)

Tonight we wanted to show some Venturers going to the jamboree what we are taking to the 2013 National Jamboree to some friends. You see in the picture the Osprey Transporter BSA 115 (reviewed or presented in our blog here) and the REI Flash 22 (reviewed here).

Let me say this clearly. There should be no problem with anyone getting everything they need for 2 weeks in this bag.

Osprey after the two large pillows and
the REI Flash 18 (black) were removed

Looking into the pack. Everything except clothes
and electronics and the two stuff sacks you see
are Kimberly's Sleeping Bag and Pad and will not
make the trip with me. This bag is huge.

Everything I (Steve) intend to take is currently in one of these two bags (sort of). OK, to be honest, the idea was to gather all of the non-clothing items I want to take to the Jamboree and to see how much room I had left over for clothing. So everything that isn't clothing (and isn't electronic) that I currently intend to take to the 2013 National Jamboree is in one of the two bags that you see.

So if there is no clothing in the transporter why is it so full? What is in the bag that counts as clothing (wearable stuff) is my rain gear, two pairs of shoes (my Merrill's and my Keen Newport H2s), a large fleece that takes up too much room, swim gear, and a few misc. things. OK, again, if there is no other clothing such as uniform, t shirts, underwear, socks, why is it so full? There was room for both of my large bed pillows and Kimberly's Big Agnes sleeping bag and Sleeping Pad. Oh and I threw in the REI flash 18 in case I want a even lighter day pack. The Flash 22 you see has 1.8 L of water in the platypus Big Zip SL and two Camelbak bottles on the side, a coffee mug and a Stanley Drip Proof Coffee Mug all inside. In the brain are my glasses, sun glasses, headlamp notebook, pen, and Benchmade Mini Griptillian knife.

As I update this posting I will detail what is in the duffel and provide links where I can.

See you at the Jamboree
Steve Myers (SM Troop B326)

The Ideal Day Pack for the 2013 National Jamboree

2013-05-23T12:19:00.003-04:00

Exciting to open boxes with new gear inside

REI Flash 22 Day Pack & Go Bag

Yesterday the box from REI arrived and inside was two new ultralight day packs, the REI Flash 22, one in Parrot and one in Titanium. We believe that these are our day packs for the 2013 National Jamboree. (Update: to add sale link to REI, $33.99 (regularly $49.50) sale on until May 27, 2013)

Two packs in a box: The
REI Flash 22 in Titanium and Parrot

We have lots of packs and a couple of favorite packs we use most often. Kimberly's favorite is a 2010 Camelbak (in about the 30L size) and Steve's is a REI Lookout 40. The size of the lookout is great and with heavy straps and waist belt any load is well managed. However, the idea of hauling the heavy 3 lb. 3 oz. pack around in the WV heat during the 2013 National Jamboree is unbearable.

The 18 bag and the 22 bag on the right showing both
cinch at the top and showing 2 water bottle pockets on the 22

So at Christmas Kimberly got Steve a REI Flash 18 (see the black bag in the picture to the left). A super lightweight bag (11 oz) that holds 18L, has a hydration port and hydration pocket and reverses to a stuff sack. The straps are quite lightweight and comfortable. Steve has started using it for almost everything. The drawbacks include no pocket for a water bottle and no small outside pocket for easy to grab items and the biggest is the top cinches up to a pucker that is covered only by a small slip of leather. Basically that top of the REI Flash 18 says if it rains, your stuff gets wet.

The 22 has a top "brain" with outside
zipper pocket that covers the cinched bag.

So enter the REI Flash 22 which has all of the great qualities of the 18L and solves all of the problems with it as well. The Flash 22 is only 1 lb. and the 22L bag is much larger than the 18L, that extra 293 cu inches seems to make a huge difference. The 22 includes a full flap with pocket to cover the top, shield from the rain and add a much needed outside pocket for small quick to need/grab items. It also includes two water bottle outside mesh pockets that seem generous in size. It includes the same daisy chain strapping as the 18L for clipping on gear and includes a tool hook permanently attached, perfect for holding the hiking poles we might want with us.

One neat feature of both bags (18 and 22) is a backing that slides out of the back of the pack and gives you a "sit-upon" or is discardable giving you an even lighter bag, but with out the padding the backing gives you. The backing in the 22 is heavier and stiffer than in the 18 giving a little more support to the bag, but also not allowing it to roll up to almost nothing like the 18L. If you want to roll up the 22 and put it in your larger duffel or pack you might pull out the backing first.

Both bags have identical straps, very comfortable
and the sternum strap and waist belt do come off.
The 22 on the right also seems like the "holes" will
add comfort in the heat.

We have encouraged our Venturers and Scouts to maintain Go Bags for camping and for those times you just have to grab and go. I like the idea of keeping this pack packed and ready to go. You can see a list of what should go in our Go Bags at http://trooponeakron.org/gobag.html.

We may have to create a post on what goes in our go bag too. for now here is the list of what is on page 264 of the Boy Scout Handbook:

pocketknife
first aid kit
extra clothing / insulation layer
rain gear
water bottle
flashlight /headlight
trail food
matches
sun protection
map and compass

To that we would add insect repellent and our 1.7 lb. BSA UL Chair (ultralight-camp-chair-1.7-lbs-of-pure-pleasure.

See you on the trails of the Summit Bechtel Reserve
Steve and Kimberly Myers

Love the Platypus Big Zip SL Hydration System.

2013-05-21T13:03:00.003-04:00

In today's box on my porch!

Platypus Big Zip SL Hydration System

I love looking out front of our house and seeing a box on the porch. Today's box included a battery powered razor (to test for Jamboree), 2 more pair of Exofficio Men's Give-N-Go Boxer Briefs (definitely for Jamboree) and the star attraction is the Platypus Big Zip SL 1.8 liter hydration system. I wanted a smaller system to fit in my REI Flash 18 pack (love it) and to fit in my REI Flash 22 pack which ought to hit my porch in a day or two. The 3.0L is way too tall and takes up too much volume for the little day pack. I love using the 3.0 L in the full backpacks. (Platypus does also sell a 2.0L version, but the bag is the same size as the 3.0 L.

You are going to love the large
opening and easy to use big blue clip

I have used a Platypus Big Zip 3.0 Liter system for over a year (possibly two) and absolutely love it. The other bladder(s) I had in the past suffered from one or more of the following maladies: the mouth valve leaked, some did not have a turn off setting and still leaked, the flow was so hard I was working to suck water in, the hose did not detach, and my biggest peve is they were difficult for my old fingers to open or were hard to fill.

The 1.8 L is 7.5 x 13 inches and weighs 4.0 oz.
The 3.0 L is 18.75 x 7.75 inches and weighs 5.8 oz.

None of that is true with the Big Zip. Filling it is a breeze with the top clip sliding off, the zip-lock bag like opening easily open and spread leading to few spills and messes. It locks by first zipping the bag and reapplying the big blue clip (which is tied on so you don't drop it in the mud while you are filling up). The printed instruction on the bag says "slide shut to secure, invert to test." Testing is a great idea. I have never experienced a leak under that blue clip.

Older 3.0L bite valve on the left and
new 1.8L bite valve on the right

The hose detaches with only a drop or two of leak, if that. Once detached there is no leaking. Detaching helps thread the hose through the pack hydration port and means you do not have to pull out the hose to pull the bag out and fill it up. the hoses are identical in length between the 1.8 L and 3.0 L systems.

Once difference seems to be the bite valve is redesigned. Gone are the ON and OFF words and a plastic stop keeps you from rotating it the wrong way. (The new bite valve is on the right of the older one) I expect the bite valve will be as comfortable on the new as it is on the old one. You can't go wrong with this system. Buy it here at REI or check out our store for each model available via Amazon.

You can get a cleaning kit here.
Steve

The Summit: October 22, 2010 to July 15, 2013

2013-05-15T10:56:00.001-04:00

What a difference two and one-half years make

In under 60 days our contingent will start down I77 from Summit County Ohio to The Summit Bechtel Reserve. We will move from the shadows of the Cuyahoga Valley National Park to the edge of the New River Gorge National Park; from our current home in Akron, OH to Steve's boyhood home in Mount Hope WV.

Join us there at the 2013 National Jamboree.

I signed in and let my heritage be known.

The sun and colors and excitement of that day will remain with me forever.

I met Jack Furst and he told me how important Mount Hope Mayor Michael Martin, my first SPL in Troop 91, had been to getting to October 22, 2010

Something shiny. Wonder if they got to keep these or are they in a case at the National Scouting museum?

Governor Manchin, Steve McGowan, Jack Furst, Bob Mazucca, the Adj General and more in the ground breaking party.

As a boy growing up in Mount Hope, it thrills me that The SBR as we now know it calls Mount Hope home too. My Scoutmaster Mr. Joe Bragg would be so proud.

More about Mount Hope and my Scoutmaster Joe Bragg -- click here

Here are more pictures of that ground breaking day:

See you at the Summit

Steve (Toop B326) and Kimberly (Foxtrot Venturing Commissioner staff)

A Glorious Weekend for Beginning Backpacking

2013-05-07T10:04:00.002-04:00

Troop One Backpackers on the trail at Ohio Pyle State Park
(picture by Bob Biggs)

Can 11 year old scouts go backpacking? A few intrepid souls from our favorite troop just did.

Our patch for the
first backpacking trip.

On the first weekend in May it was beautiful in the Ohio Pyle area of SW Pennsylvania. While it was a perfect weekend for backpacking there and possibly everywhere, a few scouts set off on their first backpacking experience. They joined a few experienced scouts and set off to walk their first 9 miles with packs that were too heavy or didn't fit their small frame just right.

The patch we would like to make
design by Gabe Hunt, all rights reserved)

Welcome to the Akron based "Troop One Backpackers." About a year ago we recognized a problem: The Boy Scout Troop had essentially left the high adventure to our close sister Venturing Crew 2001. After all, all of the troop trips to Philmont and elsewhere were Crew trips since the older scouts and the coed Venturers would make up the participants. This means that no one backpacked until they were 14 and while there are a lot of good reasons to have scout's wait (such as expense and upper body strength), it is a loss not to get the youngest excited about this fabulous sport. And excited they are.

About a year ago, Eagle Scout Sam Hyde and backpacking "pro" and assistant scoutmaster Bob Biggs helped plan out a way to engage the youngest in hitting the trail. Our idea is that each young scout that wants to sample carrying a pack should get a chance and when they are older they will enter the Venturing Crew raring to go. This trip represented our second trip in recent years with young scouts. Listening to the scouts we will be doing this again very soon.

Perhaps, in the future, we can engage our pocket crew (see our story on the pocket crew) so the girls will also be ready for the backpacking lovers in our outdoor Venturing Crew.

On the way back from Ohio Pyle, these scouts were very attentive to the presentation on choosing the right backpack when they visited REI in Pittsburgh.

Steve and Kimberly Myers

A Venturing Celebration by Hundreds of Youth in the Woods of Pennsylvania

2013-04-24T15:08:00.002-04:00

Crew 2001 at the Venturing Summit: Central Region Area 4 plays in Area 4 of the NE Region

Crew 2001 at the Medieval Festival
of the 2013 NE4AVOA Venturing Summit

Imagine 350 high school and college-aged young adults from perhaps a dozen states all converging on a patch of woods in Pennsylvania wearing chain mail and all manners of medieval dress. What you just conjured up is a typical event for Venturing.

Everyone had fun, some did not want to leave, all wished they had more time to enjoy the fun of the Venturing Summit sponsored by the northeast region area 4 Venturing Officers Association at the Heritage Scout Reservation in Farmington, PA.( see @NE4AVOA)

Crew 2001 in the
Medieval Spirit

Our crew, Crew 2001 from Akron OH, backpacks, camps, goes climbing, caving and other typical outdoor activities. However, the weekend of April 19-21, 2013 was truly unlike anything we had ever done. Our planning complete and 180 miles later, 20 Venturers and their Advisors pile out of five cars and on to the grounds of the beautiful Heritage Scout Reservation of the Greater Pittsburgh Council.

BSA's Program
for young adults

After checking in at the Keystone building, we were given our "knights of Heritage" t-shirts, patches, and maps. We were directed to our cabin, actually a five bedroom, 2 bath house with kitchen, dining room and living room, named for George Washington, and the last one on the lane. A special weekend was about to begin.

We spent the evening playing games and meeting other venturers at Pathfinder Lodge. Games of Twister, pool, ping pong, DDR, Rock Band, and so much more kept our youth laughing and playing until the building closed. Back in our house, card games began and we quickly got comfortable and settled down for the night anxious for the next day.

Live Action Role Play
at the Venturing Summit

Our venturers then climbed, COPEd, shot pistols, threw tomahawks, did AtLatl, Archery, played video games and board games, branded leather and other things, learned to dance, LARPed, and much more. The highlight of the day was when the youth and adults donned costumes for the Highland Games,

NE4AVOA Staff for the Venturing Summit

Canterbury Feast, and the dance and party Saturday night. Sunday morning was given to devotions and waffles.

NE Region President Luczka
& National President Readenour

We got to meet and hear from the Northeast Region Venturing President Christine Luczka and the National Venturing President Dustin Readenour. While we would have liked to hear more about what venturing changes are coming, we heard that the Venturing Pants are redesigned and about to be released. (If they only change the side pockets that would be fantastic.)

Crew 2001 at Venturing Summit

This was the first Area, Regional or National event that our crew have attended. As we did a thorns and roses on Sunday morning it was obvious this won't be our last. Thanks to the staff at NE4AVOA and all the others for showing our youth what Venturing can be. Venturing is more than just what happens in the local crew. Everyone went home pumped.

Crew 2001 helping with
Sunday morning devotions

The camp was beautiful, the facilities outstanding, the programming was quite good, the food was the only low point. OK April is supposed to be warm and lack snow, but it did not deter the young adults of Crew 2001 nor anyone else.

Check out the pictures below and we may have more available for you to see later.

Most of these pictures are of Crew 2001.

Good Scouting, Venture onward
Steve and Kimberly Myers
See us at the National Jamboree (Troop B326 and Crew F610)

2013 National Jamboree App Available

2013-04-24T11:25:00.002-04:00

"Download version 1.0 of the Jamboree app on Android; coming soon to Apple

"24 April 2013

"They say this summer’s National Jamboree will be the most-connected ever. Well, this is a great start. Version 1.0 of the Jamboree Summit App is available on Android devices. The app clocks in at just over 10 MB and costs $0.99 in the Google Play store. The iOS version for Apple’s iPhone and iPod Touch should be available later this week."

Read the rest at http://blog.scoutingmagazine.org/2013/04/24/jamboree-app/

Initial Review

Well it will not let me sign in, but it has identified me as the scoutmaster and shows the names of all of the members of my troop. There is a section to add friends, so I can keep track of Mrs. ScoutingCouple. Links to activities, daily schedule and times that areas are open readily appear. The map appears not to load for me yet, but under "more" you can sign-in (I couldn't), and find links to their Facebook, twitter, YouTube, Flickr and blog sites.

My first impression is very favorable.
Steve Myers

Young Girls, Future Venturers

2013-04-22T21:28:00.000-04:00

Venturing for All

Two Venturing Guides "guiding" the Pocket Crew
and celebrating a new Eagle

Update: Our female crew guide pictured to the left has received one of the three Council Venturing Leadership Awards to be given at the council annual meeting on May 13 in part for the work she has done with these future venturers.

Second update (June 2013): a good explanation of Frontier Girls Clubs is published in the Daily Caller.

Venturing is typically for youth 14 to 20. Now two Venturers guide the next generation. In a Boy Scout troop the older scouts are Troop Guides to the younger, now older Venturing Crew Guides are working with the youngest girls who want to be in venturing, but are not yet old enough. How do you make sure the young ladies can hold their own in the outdoors against highly skilled young men?

Imagine how hard it is for a young lady to join a Venturing Crew when she knows nothing about surviving and thriving in the outdoors. Imagine how hard is it to camp and backpack alongside young men highly skilled in those same skills.

Our Pocket Crew & Crew Guides at the Great Trail Council
Old Portage District Klondike, 2013

Venturing is for young adults in high school and college, both boys and girls. Boys get to be Boy Scouts and camp from age 11 and as they age they can join a Venturing Crew. Boy Scouts who enter at 14 have three years of experience and can demonstrate their proficiency in outdoor scout skills at the drop of a hat. So when girls join an Outdoor Venturing Crew like ours, they have from zero to little outdoor skill experience. In short they are at an immediate disadvantage. This is changing. It can change for you too if you act to support a girls program affiliated with your unit.

So how do you get the inexperienced girls, experienced?

First, you can just dive in and start learning by doing at age 14. This of course works and is how scouting has progressed for years, but who likes being the novice next to the Eagle Scout? Second, you can schedule weekend first timer camp outs and run courses like backpacking 101, but what if they can't make that one or are not ready? Third, you can approach your council course director for Introduction to Outdoor Leader Skills (like Steve) and bring those Venturers who have never had the Boy Scout Outdoor Experience to the training. Throughout a busy weekend the youth can learn a little about a lot from tenting to compasses to axes.

Venturing Crew Guiding Frontier Girls

A Venturing Leadership Position Patch.
A guide is typically older, skilled, experienced and
passionate about helping new venturers learn.

But the best we have seen is point four. One parent of two boys in our troop and crew wanted the same experience and skills for her daughter that her son's received. The fourth way is to form a young Venturing-type crew. Our girls (ages 8 to 13) are chartered as a Frontier Girls Club (Troop 201) precisely because their program allows the Pocket Crew to use Boy Scout and Venturing resources. Further, the Frontier Girls actively encourage such a partnership.

Frontier Girls FAQ:

"8. Are Frontier Girls troops allowed to partner with Boy Scouts troops or other local scouting organizations?

"Yes. Frontier Girls is a very flexible program and we encourage interaction with other scouting programs. We will also honor badge requirements from these other programs as long as they are age appropriate. This way if you have a Boy Scout troop that you would like to work with for a particular activity, you may use the Boy Scout badge requirements for earning your badge rather than the Frontier Girls ones, making programming easier for all involved. We also

encourage Frontier Girls to be active in any local all scout activities such as community service projects or jamborees."

Venturing Crew guides with
Pocket Crew at Raccoon Creek in PA
photo by Teresa Michaels

Critical to the successful merging of the Pocket Crew into Crew 2001 is the guides appointed by their advisor upon request from the Frontier Girls leader. We even went so far to have our Chartered Organization, The First Baptist Church of Akron (Akron, OH) to be the sponsor to the Frontier Girls. While not required by the Frontier Girls organization, this brings them into the First Baptist Family of Scouting with the same status as our three BSA units, the Cub Scout Pack 3001, Boy Scout Troop One and Venturing Crew 2001.

Can you spot the two Venturing Crew Guides to these girls in each of the pictures? He is an Eagle Scout and past SPL of the Boy Scout Troop and current VP Administration in Crew 2001. She is a director at the Great Trail Council summer camp, Camp Manatoc, and a past VP of Program for Crew 2001. He is active in the Order of the Arrow and attended the 2011 SummitCorp and the 2012 Shakedown at the new Summit Bechtel Reserve. Both are popular with the girls and setting extremely important examples of what each girl should want to become. Each of these girls wants to be in the crew and will be soon. They chose the name pocket crew because they wanted to be in the pocket of the crew and the pocket crew is growing in numbers. Oh how the crew will change when all of these arrive. It's kind of exciting don't you agree?

Frontier Girls Facebook page
Venturing, BSA Facebook page

Steve and Kimberly Myers

Summit CamelBak® Podium Bottle - an excellent addition to our stash

2013-04-13T13:50:00.000-04:00

Summit CamelBak® Podium Bottle

We love this bottle. It is branded for The Summit (@BechtelSummit) and made by Camelbak. Picked it up on a lark since we like to review gear and have a room full of gear, this bottle has surprised us. Not only is it unbreakable, it is truly leak-proof even when open. That needs some explanation, you can see in the image of the top, you can dial it from closed to open. When open it is still hard to spill. You can squeeze and it will come out, but the bite valve works to keep the water in your mouth and not one everything. Turns out we have used these on our night stands. Sure beats knocking over a glass in the middle of the night! Water does not taste like bottle from these which is a real bonus.

The shape is comfortable and the size fits in the side pockets of our day pack and the side cargo pocket on our scout pants. (That is why we have cargo pockets isn't it? Steve has a 16 oz Stanley leak proof coffee mug that is usually there.) These bottles might make the cut for water at the jamboree, but we are not yet sure.

As of April 9, 2013 it was $7.99 at http://www.scoutstuff.org/bottle-podium-21oz-sbr.html. Non-BSA versions can be had at amazon here. From scoutstuff: "Stay focused to maximize performance when you hydrate with the ultimate insulated bike bottle! High-tech Zeroloft^® insulation makes the bottle ultra-lightweight while keeping water cool four times longer than standard bike bottles. Also keeps beverages warm for your cool-weather rides.

Made of BPA-free TruTaste™ polypropylene with HydroGuard™ so all you taste is fresh, clean water! Innovative, self-sealing Jet Valve™ eliminates splatters and spills.

Great-looking 21-oz. bottle features the new Summit logo, so carry it everywhere! It’s a great way to start conversations about the Summit Bechtel Reserve™—Scouting’s exciting, new high-adventure base."

As of April 9, 2013 it was $7.99 at http://www.scoutstuff.org/bottle-podium-21oz-sbr.html. Non-BSA versions can be had at amazon here.

Try it, you will like it.

Steve and Kimberly Myers

Ultralight Camp Chair - 1.7 lbs of Pure Pleasure

2013-04-13T09:41:00.003-04:00

This BSA Ultralight Camp Chair is Going to Jamboree!

The Lafuma next to the BSA chair.

Update (4/18/2017): Scoutstuff.com now offers a 2017 Jamboree Version. Rated at 300 lbs. I cannot say how it compares, but it looks like the original versions we love so much. It is slightly heavier at 2.25 lbs and more pricey than the 2014 version at $75.99. Here is the link

2017 Jamboree® Travel Chair—Red

Item: 636658
We took our original chairs to the 2013 Jamboree and they were the single best piece of gear we had for the duration.

Big Agnes / Helinox have really expanded their chair line from the ultralight to larger car-camping versions and even a rocker. Do check out Big Agnes / Helinox at this link.

Update (3/31/2014): The Chair is back at Scoutstuff.com. We have no idea how long it has been there, but it was there today. Here is the description.

"BSA® Backpacking Chair

~~Item: 618758~~

~~Availability: In Stock~~

~~$49.99~~

This BSA-exclusive, top-quality design combines affordability with strength and durability. The sturdy frame-with 250-lb. weight capacity-is made from anodized aluminum tubing with reinforced aluminum alloy joint hubs for added stability. Seat, back, and arms are made of 600D PVC with mesh inserts. Lightweight and portable, chair folds up quick and easy, and weighs just 1.9 lbs. Black. Imported."

These were the greatest comfort at the National Jamboree and has been on most of our camps and trips since!

Update (5/6/2013): We took the BSA UL chairs to the NE4VOA Summit in PA and toted and used these chairs in a number of instances. We can assure you that these chairs are worth it!..

Our review of the LaFuma Micro Popup Chair from REI last July is our second most popular blog post. We still like those chairs, but two new chairs from the Boy scouts of America are now here in our house and part of @scoutingcouple's favorite gear. We first saw them in the jamboree catalog and you can see them at scoutstuff.org where they currently sell for

Even holds a Jamboree
Scoutmaster comfortably!

$59.99. We showed these at our Jamboree Troop and Crew meetings and there were a lot of promises to run out and buy them. The fit in a duffel or a backpack and while 1.9 lbs packed is heavy by ultralight standards, it is so worth it to have a back and a comfy spot when you stop moving.

Turns out that Kimberly's National Jamboree crew (F610) will be camping about 2 miles from my Troop (B326) at Jamboree and it will be great knowing that when we meet in her camp or mine or at Summit Center or a ton of other places we can "sit a spell" in the beauty of those WV hills and watch the action of scouts and venturers having fun. (Or we might just find a quite spot in them their woods and sit and visit in solitude. Wondering if it is possible to visit in solitude when 40,000 youth as so near... ).

carrying case in the seat

As the ad in scoutstuff.or says this is "The ultimate camp chair!" It features "the same aluminum pole technology used by DAC in their trekking poles and tent poles, this camp chair is light, strong, and comfortable. With a carrying bag and breathable mesh backing, this chair is one to always keep on hand in your pack or gear bin." While they list the weight as 2 lbs, I pulled out the backpacking scale and packed the chair is 1 lb 14.2oz and without carrying case it is 1 lb 11.2 oz. Seriously ultralight - 1.88 lbs packed and 1.7 unpacked.

If fits sideways in my day pack,
yes completely inside.
I have it sticking out for scale.
It is a 40L REI Lookout Day Pack

We will be testing these out at the NE Region Area 4 Venturing Summit and will let you know how they worked out, especially in and out of our day packs and how they fit with all the other items we may want to carry daily at the Jamboree. I can already tell you that setup and take down is a snap. I even handed our two packed chairs to two scouts that had never seen them and asked them to set them up and they did so pretty quickly. then didn't want to get out of them. There is no way to set it up incorrectly since the pole structure is ONE PIECE where every link is shock-corded. The joints seem very heavy and strong plastic. The "feet" seem on tight and secure. I did worry when some of the scout leaned back in them, but while I was worried the chairs seemed to take it.

The BSA chair is 13.5" off the floor
compared to the Lafuma's 8.5"

Sitting in the chair is very comfortable, at first it doesn't seem firm and then you realize it is flexing giving you a feeling that is moves a bit with you almost like a bit of rocking. Not sure I am explaining that well, but the flex moves from worrisome to comfy very fast. The other night I sat in it for an extended time during a meeting (when I could get one of my assistant scoutmasters out of it). I love the Lafuma Micro Popup Chair, but this one wins hands down for me for two reasons. First is its smaller size (14" packed vs, 29" folded) and lighter weight (1.9 lbs. packed vs. 2.5 lbs folded). Second, the seat height of 13.5 inches vs. the Lafuma's 8.5 for me makes all the difference in how gracefully one can get up out of the chair. One of my 6'5" friends agreed, the seat height really helps. If the Lafuma gets better points, it has to be in the feet. If the ground is mushy, I think the rounded feet of the Lafuma will hold better than the sharp points of the legs on the Lafuma.

Specifications from ScoutStuff:

The BSA UL chair in its bag.

Best Use: Backpacking Chair
Frame Type: DAC Aluminum Pole Technology
Pack Weight: 2 lbs / 900g (actually 1.88 lbs packed 1.7 unpacked)
Pack Size: 14" H x 4" W x 5" D / 35 × 10 × 12 cm
Assembled Dimensions: 26" H x 21" W x 20" D / 65 × 52 × 50 cm
Seat Measurements: 13.5"/ 34 cm from ground; 13.5"/ 34 cm deep
Load Capacity: 300 lb/ 136kg

Here is a puzzle, the BSA chair looks exactly like the Big Agnus Helinox, but the specifications seem to be a bit different, for example the BSA chair is rated for 300 lbs, the Big Agnes at 350 lbs. I have included a link to the BigAgnus Helinox so you can see for yourself. Also, my favorite store REI carries a REI branded Flex Lite Chair that looks just like the BSA chair, but is rated for 250 lbs. It lists 1 lb 12 oz weight which is consistent with ours. I think a road trip to REI is in order to try theirs out. The REI and Big Agnus Helinox are both more expensive than the BSA chair. Good job BSA!The advantage of spending more is you can get them in their offered colors. For example here is the red one at our store.

Steve and Kimberly Myers

@Scoutingcouple goes Bridgewalk-ing in the New River Gorge

2013-04-06T13:11:00.000-04:00

What is the best 1.25 mile hike we have taken? Well most of the trail was steel and what we missed in having our @lowaboots Renegades in good clean dirt, was made up by the awesome view and our great bridge walk guide Doug. Doug took us on a private look on the underside of the bridge and was quite the historian about the structure. (Who knew Homeland Security regularly inspects it, who knew that those massive beams are all hollow, who knew that you can zip line off the underside of the bridge on Bridgeday?) We loved this trip and it was worth every dime of the $69 we each had to pay. In fact, Steve thought he had his money's worth about 100 feet onto the bridge. The remainder of the 3,031 feet length of the bridge cat walk was pure free fun.

@ScoutingCouple on a cold March Saturday high on (and in) the New River Gorge

From the Bridge Walk webpage:
"Walking on the catwalk through the interior structure of the New River Gorge Bridge gives visitors a whole new perspective of what an engineering marvel it really is. Spanning the New River Gorge required great design, engineering, and construction skills. It is truly amazing to be so close to the very bolts and beams that came together to form the Bridge." Head to their website for the story of the engineering and construction of the bridge. That bridge turned a 40 minute drive through the gorge on mostly one lane road into a 4 minute 4 lane trip and connected two halves of WV that rarely saw each other on a daily basis. Living in Mount Hope meant trips to Fayetteville to the west was possible and across the gorge to the east nearly impossible or impractical.

Standing 851 feet above the river is a truly awesome experience and everyone should do this. Watching the falcons and the pigeons was also lots of fun. (... so few pigeons because of the park service introduction of falcons and you have to ask Doug why that is a great thing for the Bridge.)

Follow @WVBridgeWalk and get your boots up in the air... 851 feet up to be exact!

Looking south to Fayette Station Rapids and the old bridge on the 40 minute trip through the gorge.

The shadow of the bridge on the North Side

See lots more pictures after this jump...

The catwalk

Lowa Renegades GTX at 851 feet above the New River

CSX heading south with a load of coal

The top of the arch of the bridge

CSX heading south with a load of coal

This view of the CSX gives a real sense of height

@scoutingcouple with their Lowa Renegade GTX's each on their half of the bridge. Exactly halfway across.

Steve and Kimberly Myers

Boy Scouts are Coming to WV with T-Shirts

2013-04-01T20:45:00.000-04:00

The @scoutingcouple stopped by Tamarack in Beckley WV to have a great meal by the same people that bring you meals at the world famous Greenbrier in White sulfur Springs. After we enjoyed our meal we took time to look around. There was a great display with Summit T-shirts that we had not seen in the catalogs or at scoutstuff.com -- we thought you would like to see them. And yes the Boy Scouts of America are coming to WV! Steve's favorite is "Change Your Perspective: Experience the Mountains" and Kimberly's was the flag colored WV shirt (although not a Summit Shirt... just really cool).

See @tamarackWV.

Steve and Kimberly Myers

Preparing for the 2013 National Jamboree (video)

2013-02-07T11:02:00.000-05:00

Last night Steve met with the scouts and parents of Great Trail Council's National Jamboree Troop B326 and elected our final leaders (the Patrol Leaders, the Senior Patrol Leader was elected back in September). Lots of preparation by the adult and youth staff was evidenced as we covered so much of what they can expect.

One highlight if the meeting was the presentation by our youth quartermaster the following video on what to bring and what will be provided at the Jamboree. Classy editing of footage shot at the Summit Shakedown and information from the Council Jamboree Guide leads to a perfectly well done video. Watch and enjoy.

Scouts and Scouters are limited to what they can pack in a Jamboree Edition Osprey Transporter BSA duffel and a day pack. Here is a update of the duffel (including links to the scouting magazine announcement) and ideas about what must be in your day pack.(hint -- the 10 essentials).

Stop by and introduce yourself to us at the 2013 National Jamboree in Mount Hope WV
Steve and Kimberly (Troop B326 and Crew F610)

Our 100 Liter Duffel Bag by REI and the Osprey Transporter BSA Jamboree Edition

2013-02-07T10:30:00.000-05:00

Update: May 23, 2013 I actually packed the bag with all I want to take and it is HUGE (see here).

Republished and upgraded (from July 2012): For those that asked to see our 100L duffel bags. Here is the link to REI Cargo Adventure Duffel. (That link is no longer at REI, here is a close substitute at REI) It is huge and also convenient. Best parts: large expandable side pockets and the backpack straps zippered away on the bottom. Somewhat awkward to carry on your back, but so much easier than lugging it at your side. Highly recommended for car camping and regular travel. We took these to the Summit Shakedown since they require one duffel and one day pack for each participant. Additional great feature is our Lafuma chairs (see our review)fit inside since they are only 29" long. The National Jamboree will provide a duffel to all participants.

Update: While the REI is our personal duffel, the National Jamboree will provide one made by Osprey (see a picture of the 115L duffel here).

From blog.scoutingmagazine.org, Photos by W. Garth Dowling/BSA

Second Update: On February 7, 2013 Byran at Scouting Mag posted a link to the actual Osprey Transporter BSA 115 liter duffel. And here it is ... (size corrected -- see response from Bryan below)

From the blog: "The bag measures 27 by 18 by 12 inches (length, width, and depth). The capacity is 5,797 cubic inches, or 95 liters. There are three compartments: the main pocket, one at the top that also holds the backpack straps, and another on the flap of the main pocket." [Response from Bryan February 7, 2013 @ 9:15 am
Good news — I measured wrong! Bigger is better, and these are definitely 115-liter bags. Thanks for pointing that out, Steve.] Yeah! [But Chris on the same site posts a link to something that looks the same. (Osprey Transport 95). So time will tell.

We will have more comments when ours arrive. The first comment is our 29" chairs will no longer fit inside. I know leaders can take a chair to the Jamboree now, so that is not a real problem, but a disappointment all the same. Still two more packs to hang in the closet with care.

S&K Troop B326 and Crew F610

Our top 8 posts of the year based on your views

2013-01-05T14:50:00.000-05:00

Our little blog is growing. Started in June 2012, we had 1400 hits by early December and 300 in the last month alone. so what were our highest viewed posts? Here are the top in order with the labels used with each.

#1 with 287 views
Lafuma Micro Popup chair
gear review, Jamboree, Lafuma, Summit Shakedown

#2 with 169 views
Area 4 Conference for Central Region BSA - What's Ahead for Venturing
BSA, Jamboree, Mount Hope, Summit Bechtel Reserve, Venturing
(Thanks to our number 1 referrer: www.sageventure.com/venturing/informed.html

#3 with 158 views
Big Agnes Copper Spur 3 UL Tent Review
backpacking, Big Agnes, gear, going light, product review, REI, review, Ultralight

#4 with 119 views
Our 100 Liter Duffel Bag by REI
Osprey, product review, REI, review

#5 with 111 views
Search and Rescue with Troop One Akron
backpacking, hiking, SAR, Search and Rescue, Wilderness First Aid

#6 with 99 views
Post summit Shakedown thoughts (and Photos) Part 1
hiking, Jamboree, Mount Hope, New River Gorge, Summit Bechtel Reserve, Summit Shakedown

#7 with 73 views
Customize Your Griptillian - And We Both Did
Appalachian Outfitters, backpacking, Benchmade, CVNP, essentials, gear, gear review, hiking, Knives

#8 with 53 views
First Entry and About Us
Introduction

Why 8? Well primarily there is a massive "tie" for entries from #9 to #12, and if you read this far we are grateful and know you will see more on your own. Thanks to all who are reading and we hope you continue to find value.

Winter is here.

2012-12-30T12:17:00.001-05:00

Happy New Year everyone.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Gear!

2012-12-21T19:40:00.004-05:00

What gear is on your Christmas wishlist?

Customize Your Griptillian -- And We Both Did

2012-12-12T12:17:00.001-05:00

Updated with pictures of both of our knives.

A very few weeks ago we reported reported on our trip to the Medina Gun Show where we held and fondled for the first time a Benchmade Mini-Griptillian EDC knife. Steve ordered one that evening for Kimberly (in Pink of course) at "Customize Your Griptillian" on the Benchmade website. All along he had hoped to give it to her for Christmas, but when it came he had to give it right away and see her reaction. She was thrilled with the plain edged sheepsfoot/thumb hole blade with the pink handle. Turns out Kimberly was looking for an orange one for Steve and had not found what she knew he wanted. When pointed to the Customize You Griptillian website she placed a custom order for Steve. And now it is here and Steve's turn to be thrilled! It is a thing of beauty and balance. It is exceedingly sharp and fun to open and close. It cut through some reinforced cardboard boxes like a "hot knife through butter." Clearly the finest knives we have ever owned. Steve's knife is a drop point thumb stud plain edged blade in 154CM steel. We were both able to designate the color of the screws, that axis and the liner, as well as choose the type of clip.

And the best part, if we misplace or lose it, the words on the blade can have it speeding back to us. When we ordered it we had to designate a warranty service center and our own excellent outfitter here in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Appalachian Outfitters came up and we selected it. They have Benchmade knives. Go take a look. Tell them we sent you.

Here is our customized mini-griptillian EDC (everyday carry) knives by Benchmade.