More Knots!!!!

[biglou]

Did anybody read the new Scouting magazine in regards to the Knot Patches? I see they have added 4 new knots for recognition. I think some of them are very interesting. I am very curious about the Life Member for NESA. Would you wear 2 knots for being an Eagle Scout? Also did anybody pickup the mistakes in the knot patches? I found 2 but they were very minor.

Big Lou
Scoutmaster Troop 40
Advisor Crew 40
FFI/EMT-P

[PaulSWolf]

The Life Member of NESA knot is just a REPLACEMENT for the standard Eagle knot. You would NOT wear both.

[mt_goodrich]

Welcome to the forum BigLou!

The NESA knot is in place of the regular Eagle knot. Do not wear both.

[biglou]

I was thinking that about the NESA Eagle knot. I have also found a couple more mistakes. I hate being fish retentive about that but it did take me a little bit of time. Has anybody else found any?

Big Lou

[Billiken]

Does anybody know if Scout Shops have these or do I need to contact NESA?

[smtroop168]

I almost had them all until they added the new ones.

I was waiting on Wagion to finish my Silver Buffalo write up and for the new administration to take over so I can get the George Meany one.

I don't get excited about knots unless I'm teaching them to my guys. The only two I think are good are the Eagle Scout one (not the one you buy) and the SM (or other equivalent) Award of Merit because your guys have to nominate you for it.

[scoutaholic]

...I see they have added 4 new knots for recognition. I think some of them are very interesting. ...
...Also did anybody pickup the mistakes in the knot patches? I found 2 but they were very minor....

I didn't see any new knots. All 41 listed here were familiar to me. Which ones were new to you?


You mention mistakes you found, but seem to be keeping us in the dark. I didn't notice any mistakes, but I didn't pay real close attention when I skimmed through the article the first time. What mistakes did you see?

[wagionvigil]

Yep come up with answers. On this board we do not looking kindly on this type of activity. Please do tell

[biglou]

I am sorry and please accept my apologies. I was just trying to see if anyone looked very closely at the pages. I had to do several "double takes" to make sure they were incorrect. The ones that are incorrectly shown are the Scouter's Training Award #31, the Scoutmaster's Award of Merit or Advisor Award of Merit #33, the Webelos Den Leader Award #27, and the Cubmaster Award #29 as printed in Scouting Magazine. You have to look very closely at them. They are shown backwards. I had to pull out some older literature (Insignia Guide, older Scoutmaster's Handbook) just to make sure. But, to the untrained eye, you cannot really tell because the knot is one color versus a 2 color not like the Silver Beaver or Silver Antelope.

I do have one question that someone might possibly know the answer to. Why does the William D. Boyce New Unit Organizer award knot look different from what is printed on the New Unit organizer packet? If you look at all the other BSA Knot patches, it doesn't quite fit the "grand scheme of things" so to speak.

Big Lou

[biglou]

I forgot to add, the four new knot patches are on the first page, The NESA Life Membership Award, The Doctorate of Commisioner Science, the Philmont Training Center Master's Track Award, and The Speakers Bank Award.

[Billiken]

Does anybody know if Scout Shops have these or do I need to contact NESA?

Resolved/answered....

I was able to purchase NESA Life Member knots at my local (Cleveland) Scout Shop yesterday.
I did have to show my NESA Life membership card and the knots were kept behind the counter.

[Cowboy]

If you are reading this post then you already probably know about the knots and what they stand for. When I first came into Boy Scouts with my oldest boy back in '03 I asked one of the "old timers" what the knots meant, he said "I don't know". About 2 weeks later I saw him with his other uniform on and he had two rows of knots. Kind of ticked me off, must be some kind of secret deal. Soured me on a few of our Scouters and I did not get active with BS. I stayed active with the Cubs though. My oldest dropped out of BS as 1st Class. When the youngest became a BS I stayed there with him and became active. Bought a uniform and everything. Then I decided that I was going to find out about those knots. Turns out it isn't a secret society or anything. One of our older Scouters decided (back in the early 90's) that we should concentrate on the boys and not worry about knots. When I decided to be the "Official Adult Awards Coordinator" I started talking to the Scouters who had been in the Troop for several years and they did not even know that they were eligable. We will be recognizing 4 people with 6 knots at the next CoH. They go all the way back to a Tiger knot in '02. The point of this diatribe:
Get the new folks on the knot bandwagon and recognize them ASAP. This may just be what they need to stick it out a little longer. The longer you can keep them the more likely they are to keep coming back even after Johnny is gone. I regret letting my irritation with 1 person keep me from being more active 6 years ago. Maybe (probably) if I had been more active my oldest would have stayed in.

[jr56]

I had the same experience when I first joined Scouting as an adult leader. Nobody knew anything about the knots, or would offer any information. Thanks to the internet, there is inofrmation available out there.

[kwildman]

also one of the recent scouter magazines had a couple pages on knots. Good info.

[cballman]

If you also look at the knots in a different way. Alot of them are training awards. WOW here we are again Training. What a way to learn the program and how it works and also how to teach the boys. Yes I have a few knots but I also like to explain to people on how to earn them. Its almost like adult merit badges but you just cant say no to some things to earn them.

[jr56]

Very true. Another added incentive to try to get adult leaders trained.

[WVBeaver05]

What about the aspect of setting a good example for your Scouts?

It has been my experience that they notice a new knot (or anything else) on leader's uniforms. Someone will ask what it is and that provides an excellent opportunity to discuss it with the Scouts (since they pay attention better when they bring it up). I have had Cub Scouts ask quicker, but when a Boy Scout asks several more say "...I wondered what that was...".

So, even if an adult is not interested in recognition (or says s/he isn't) you can still use it to help the youth.

YiS

[jr56]

Very true. Excellent point.

[kwildman]

it is important to show the youth that adults are active and are working to improve themselves too.

Also, is there supposed to be some rule about only three rows of knots? I have seen some with 4 and 5 rows and they look absolutely ridiculous.

[FieldSports]

The 3 row rule is only for staff while on a Wood Badge course. See a CD for rule. There is a 5 medal rule for everyone. See uniform guide for rules.