What is BALOO, and why is it good for you?

What is BALOO, and why is it good for you?

(This story originally appeared in the March-April 2018 issue of Scouting magazine.) A few years ago, longtime Cub Scout training experts Matt Markham and Jessi King-Markham found that volunteers who willingly attended Basic Adult Leader Outdoor Orientation to learn...
Get to know the BSA’s founding fathers

Get to know the BSA’s founding fathers

Their names are splashed across Scout councils, camps, museums and awards, but who were the men who helped create the Scouting program? Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell (1857-1941) In October 1899, several thousand Boer fighters laid siege to the South African...
How to prevent and overcome heat exhaustion

How to prevent and overcome heat exhaustion

Emergency Situation: You’re hiking with some friends in July at Zion National Park. It’s high noon when you begin to feel faint. Sweat pours down your forehead and into your eyes, causing you to stumble down the trail. You’re dizzy. You open your canteen for a drink...
The 10 essentials —  A 21st century update

The 10 essentials — A 21st century update

Navigation A topographic map for identifying landscape features on your hike remains required navigational gear. With a printed map, you don’t have to worry about battery life or electronics failing or getting dropped. Likewise, a compass is foolproof and simple;...