Boy Scout Gear

Nighthiker · Joined: 05 Jan 2003 Posts: 1714

I visited a Boy Scout store in Mesa and noted the canteens are still aluminum, anyone know why ?

Daddee · Posted: 3/31/2003, 10:48 am Post subject:

They're cheaper to produce. The boy scout official gear hasn't changed in 20 years. I can still go in and buy the exact same stuff that I had when I was in cub scouts - 20+ yrs ago.

Kind of nostalgic, kind of sad.

They've added a bunch of new stuff - but the old standby's are still there. And still over-priced if I recall correctly.
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Canyon Dweller · Joined: 06 Jan 2003 Posts: 712 Location: Denver, CO

I personally dont see the need for a canteen. I never liked the thot of them. Water hanging around my neck could not be very comfortable. They don't seem to hold much water, they are awkward and my plastic soda pop bottles work just fine for me. I never had one break.
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maryphyl · Posted: 4/4/2003, 11:04 pm Post subject:

I sure like their esbit type stove--weighs half of what an esbit does and costs several dollars less.
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desertgirl · Joined: 19 Jan 2003 Posts: 3350 Location: Chandler, AZ

While on the boy scouts thing...
I was in Superstitions yesterday & I ran into a troup carrying sledgehammers and what looked to be a cross between tomahoks ( Not the misslie kind...) and claw hammers. I asked the why they were carrying it -- out of curiosity and the said they did not know but were asked to carry the ? Can anyone shed light on this "boy scout" ritual...
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Daddee · Posted: 4/7/2003, 10:29 am Post subject:

Not necessarily. It's not an "official" ritual, like say the "Order of the Arrow" initiation process (a two day thing involving several ceremonies and one day of fasting, manual labor and complete silence). However, a lot of troops have thier own individual odd rituals or whatever - sometimes they'er nothing but practical jokes.

By the way the interesting tool you saw was probably a type of hatchet with a hammer on it. Either that or a rock hammer. They may have been doing some sort of prospecting or trail construction. That wouldn't surprise me at all.
_________________
"Only small minds want always to be right."
- Louis XIV

"...haven't you lived long enough to know that two men may honestly differ about a question and both be right?"
- Abraham Lincoln

Daryl · Posted: 4/7/2003, 11:00 am Post subject:

Desertgirl,

We walked by those same boyscouts. On the Dutchman trail, right? There was another, much larger group a few miles ahead of them that was having trouble staying together.

Did you see a couple hiking with a Border Collie (that was us)?
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k9hiker · Joined: 09 Jan 2003 Posts: 390 Location: NW Phoenix

What's wrong with alum. canteens?

Also, can moms help out with some of the boy scout events or is it only a guy thing?
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mike t · Joined: 04 Jan 2003 Posts: 175 Location: Gilbert, Az

There have been some studies linking long term exposure to aluminum with alzheimer's. Cooking utensils, anti-perspirants, antacids etc. Bad news 'cuz I've been cooking in heavy aluminum pans all my life and love them. Don't know if this is what Nighthiker was driving at when he started the thread but that's my 2 cents.
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Daryl · Posted: 4/25/2003, 10:50 am Post subject:

I've heard, not sure if it's true, that aluminum cookware is not allowed in europe because of proven health issues. it may have just been a sales pitch though...
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Nighthiker · Joined: 05 Jan 2003 Posts: 1714

I was just wondering why the scouts have not switched to plastic, tradition maybe ?

J&S · Joined: 29 Mar 2003 Posts: 26

Tradition is part and parcel of the "Scouting Mentality."
It would probably be a great guess that "simple tradition" kept plastic water bottles from replacing alum-metal ones.
For all their warts, however, Boy and Girl Scouting is still one of the BEST organized youth activities available. (4-H, of course, counts a LOT but most urban kids don't know about 4-H.)
We feel, "LOVE LIVE SCOUTS!" (Boy AND Girl)

j&s

PS--Here's a quote from a website cited below the quote:

Aluminum, Alzheimer's Disease, and Breast Cancer

Q: In your response to a question posed by a person with an excessive sweating problem, you mentioned the use of aluminum chloride hexahydrate (Drysol). I have used Drysol myself, but worry about the effects of aluminum in the body. I've heard that it can cause cancer and Alzheimer's disease. What do you think?

A: The link between aluminum (in cooking pots, antiperspirants, baking powder, etc) and Alzheimer's disease has never been proven. There is even less evidence of any relationship to cancer. The American Cancer Society issued a statement that there is no scientific evidence to support the claim that antiperspirants increase a person's risk of breast cancer, and that the organization was not aware of any evidence that aluminum or any of the other chemicals in antiperspirants are mutagenic (cause DNA damage that can lead to cancer).

Article Created: 2001-01-09
Article Updated: 2001-01-09

Dr. Rebekah Wang-Cheng is a former Professor of Medicine at the Medical College of Wisconsin. Her medical advice column, which answers health-related questions from readers, also appeared in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.

SOURCE URL--http://healthlink.mcw.edu/article/979079376.html

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