Unofficial Scout Parent Handbook

09/01/2022

Need to buy 10 or more copies of the book for your unit? Contact me for bulk pricing at a 30% discount from list.

Any units that would like to purchase copies of The Unofficial Scout Parent Handbook can do so with bulk purchases directly from me, for $9.44 per book, plus tax, but including shipping.

08/29/2022

Nalgene bottles: the best water bottle for Scouts.

Canteens and water bottles are a major thing for Scouts. Staying hydrated is critically important, both in hot-weather climes like Central Texas, whence I am writing this, and cooler climes where Scouts may not realize t...

08/27/2022

Here's the book on an actual brick-and-mortar Scout Shop shelf. In Wisconsin, but still. Pretty pleased with this.

First photo of the book on a shelf in the wild. Thank you Samoset Council!

08/26/2022

I love this phrase: "If you have to ask what it costs, you can't afford it." That describes most "ultralight" camping gear nicely. Unless you light your ci**rs with Franklins, or you're a super serious backpacker heading out on the Appalachian Trail for two months, it's a good idea to avoid "ultralight" camping gear. It's too expensive and not up to the abuse kids will dish out.

When a parent is looking at the web, trying to figure out what kind of gear to buy for the Scouts in his or her life, there will be a lot of gear called "Ultralight." That must be good, right? Carrying less weight is a g...

08/24/2022

First real money that's come in for my books. It's not a lot, but it's a start!

08/23/2022

Temporary patches using fabric loops have a nasty habit of falling off (and thus getting lost). Here are some ways to combat that.

The term “temporary patch” refers to patches made to memorialize various Scout activities, and which can be worn, one at a time, on the right front pocket of the uniform. The idea is that the Scout will change these out ...

08/21/2022

Veteran Scouters - Been There, Done That. They'll tell you all about it too! Take advantage of them as a resource.

Something any new parent will quickly discover, especially on campouts, is that the veteran Scouters will spend what seems like an inordinate amount of time telling ‘war stories’ about Scouting. This happened on that cam...

08/19/2022

The Boil-in-Bag Omelet. A great and simple way to make individualized, easy to clean up breakfast.

Easy content today. A few days ago I mentioned an easy job for new parents is to offer to cook on a campout. I mentioned the “zip bag omelet” which is actually more commonly described as an “omelet in a bag”.

08/16/2022

BSA needs a Power Tool Chip to let older Scouts who have taken appropriate training use normal hand power tools. The current rules are too restrictive and silly and unnecessarily complicate lots of service projects, especially Eagle projects.

One of the more frustrating things about Scouting in general is the rules. There are so many rules. Rules for lots of things. Sometimes it feels like the BSA is more interested in telling Scouts what they can’t do rather...

08/14/2022

Isobutane Fuel Canister Stabilizers - a key piece of equipment when using backpacking stoves.

Today’s “Easy Content” blog post is about making little backpacking stoves more stable. These are the little stoves (including Jetboils and knock offs) that just screw onto the top of an isobutane fuel canister.

08/11/2022

The Alpine Butterfly Loop. My vote for 8th required Scout knot.

The Alpine Butterfly Loop or just Butterfly Loop is a great knot. I believe it should be the 8th required knot for Scouts. I know this will come in super handy both in Scouting and in life. Outside of Scouts, I’ve used t...

08/07/2022

How do you make a mess kit better? In this case, you take away all the stuff a Scout wouldn't use and sell the remaining bits at a lower price. The sporks are still fragile, though.

I don't really know how long ago the Light My Fire brand mess kits were introduced to the United States but they have been a big hit. For a variety of reasons, I didn't like these - of course I found that out after buyin...

08/07/2022

Parents: Equip your Scouts some basic cooking skills. This will really help them in Scouting.

Parents, your Scout is going to be expected to cook. The rank requirements have increasingly harder cooking requirements, going from just assisting to planning and acting as the primary chef for a campout for the patrol....

08/05/2022

Learn more about my daughter's project to sell patches to raise funds to support Scouts in Ukraine.

My daughter created and is selling these "temporary" patches to support Scouting in Ukraine during the war there. Patches are $7 each, including tax and USPS shipping. We hope you will consider supporting Scouts in Ukrai...

08/04/2022

My first gear-related blog post on the unofficialparenthandbook.com website! This is a great little tool for parents, not for Scouts.

The Ge**er “Dime”: An Exceptionally Useful Tiny Multitool.

08/04/2022

I would like to introduce you to my new book: The Unofficial Scout Parent Handbook. This book exists to help parents of Scouts, especially parents new to Scouts BSA (even former Cub parents), get the lay of the land for the program. It can be very opaque, with a whole dictionary of specialized terms and acronyms, and difficult to understand procedures and processes. Most of you reading this will, I expect, agree with me. I hope this book makes it easier for those parents to 'get it' and as a result for their Scouts to go further in the program and get more out of the program.
264 pages including glossary and index, $13.49 for softcover and $6.79 Kindle on Amazon. "Look inside" feature shows the table of contents and introduction so you see what you'll be getting.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B6RQLVPL

Working to get these into the brick-and-mortar Scout Shops.

Of course I am hoping that units will recommend my book to new parents, perhaps as an adjunct to their new parent introduction efforts.

The second photo here is a jpeg of a one-page flyer for the book.

I am an Eagle Scout, parent of an Eagle with another (daughter) on the way. Founder of Scouts BSA troop and Assistant Scoutmaster. Former: Den Leader, Cubmaster, District Committee Recruiting Chair and Vice Chair, OA Brotherhood, Wood Badge, etc.

p.s. Thank you to the administrators of this group for allowing me to post this here.
p.p.s. In case it's not clear, this is not an official BSA publication and I am solely responsible for the content of this book.
p.p.p.s Just because it's cool to know this: the cover art was created by one of the Scouts in my troop, Grace Y. She's 14.

08/03/2022

Good news: copies are on their way to the first local Scout Shop who will be selling the book in the shop. Samoset Council in Wisconsin placed the first brick-and-mortar store order yesterday. A journey of 1000 Scout Shops apparently starts in Weston, Wisconsin.

08/02/2022

I would like to introduce you to my new book: The Unofficial Scout Parent Handbook. This book exists to help parents of Scouts, especially parents new to Scouts BSA (even former Cub parents), get the lay of the land for the program. It can be very opaque, with a whole dictionary of specialized terms and acronyms, and difficult to understand procedures and processes. I hope this book makes it easier for those parents to 'get it' and as a result for their Scouts to go further in the program and get more out of the program.
264 pages including glossary and index, $13.49 for softcover and $6.79 Kindle on Amazon. "Look inside" feature shows the table of contents and introduction so you see what you'll be getting.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B6RQLVPL

Working to get these into the brick-and-mortar Scout Shops.

The second photo here is a jpeg of a one-page flyer for the book.

I am an Eagle Scout, parent of an Eagle with another (daughter) on the way. Founder of Scouts BSA troop and Assistant Scoutmaster. Former: Den Leader, Cubmaster, District Committee Recruiting Chair and Vice Chair.

p.s. In case it's not clear, this is not an official BSA publication and I am solely responsible for the content of this book.

07/31/2022

The Unofficial Scout Parent Handbook is live and available for purchase on Amazon.com. Surely every home in America needs a copy, right?!

Cover art by Grace Y., one of my Scouts in my troop.

Please let me know if you have any questions or issues with the book or this site. I invite suggestions for the Second Edition! Obviously for the moment this page is pretty thin with content, but I trust that will change over time.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B6RQLVPL

The Unofficial Parent Handbook: A Compendium of Practical Information on Scouts BSA for Scout Parents