Have you ever looked at your Boy Scout collection and struggled to figure out what the small differences among common rank and position patches mean? In this episode of the show we go into a deep dive on how to identify and sort your BSA rank p

#107 Building A Traveling Scout Museum

Jan 25th, 2023 32m 47s

This episode is packed with knowledge and an awesome unboxing. Ryan Losonsky returns for the final installment in my interview with him. This time we are talking about nuts and bolts….literally! Ryan has created a 90+ panel traveling Scout muse

#106 Traveling Boy Scout History Displays

Dec 8th, 2022 29m 18s

In this episode you will see how Ryan Losonsky has developed his model for a traveling Boy Scout history display that is adaptable to the audience. He also shares ideas for how you can get invited to display which in some ways is a challenge as

#105 Sourcing Uniforms For Steven Spielberg's Movie The Fabelmans

Dec 7th, 2022 50m 51s

OK spoiler alert! Today I'm telling the whole story of how I came to work with a Hollywood Costumer named Danielle to help outfit the actors in Steven Spielberg's The Fabelmans. I took my family to see the movie on Thanksgiving Day. I had reall

#104 Ryan Losonsky Boy Scout History Displays

Nov 25th, 2022 33m 50s

#103 Russell Smart Eagle Scout Display

Nov 10th, 2022 38m 12s

In this episode of the show I am back with some great content. The highlight is an interview with Russell Smart at the Charlotte Trade-O-Ree. He came to the event with an amazing display of Scouting history. His focus was the 20 plus iterations

#102 Patch Trading @ 2023 National Scout Jamboree

Oct 7th, 2022 38m 26s

Patch Trading at the Jamboree! Listen in to Scouting Hot Finds Live to get the story on visitors and patch trading at the Jamboree from Tico Perez. This episode includes a new giveaway (and the live picking of last week's winner!). You can a

#101 Adult Participation Opportunities for the 2023 National Scout Jamboree

Sep 29th, 2022 47m 14s

In this episode of the show you can here more from the 2023 National Jamboree Chairman Tico Perez. In this segment Tico discusses innovative ways the BSA has thrown out the old rule book about how a Jamboree is run. This includes the opportun

#100 2023 National Scout Jamboree with Tico Perez

Sep 22nd, 2022 38m 11s

If you are a Scouting memorabilia collector this is the show for you! This is the first episode of my new weekly show Scouting Hot Finds Live. You will not want to miss everything I have packed into a 30-minute livestream including an unboxing

#99 2022 Pre-NOAC Trade-O-Ree With Chris Jensen

May 18th, 2022 24m 15s

Chris Jensen is once again hosting the Pre-NOAC Trade-O-Ree and in this interview he shares all the details of the event coming up July 23-25 in Knoxville, TN. The TOR runs Saturday - Monday which means the last day is when all the contingents

#98 Camp Book V2021 With Bob Sherman

Jun 1st, 2021 18m 1s

Version III of the Camp Book II has been published and my guest is Bob Sherman who is the lead author on the project along with Dave Minnihan and Kevin Doyle. This latest version now tops out at 1600 pages identifying each known Boy Scout camp

#97 The History of Cataloging Order of the Arrow Patches with Bill Mulrenin

May 18th, 2021 31m 49s

Order of the Arrow cataloging going back 50 years is the topic of this month’s Scouting Hot Finds Insiders Round Table. Bill Mulrenin served as the New York State Editor on the Blue Book project for the last 3 editions. So in the discussion we

#96 Creating Scouting Memorabilia Collecting Guides With Wiatt Williamson

Apr 6th, 2021 35m 14s

Wiatt Williamson has cracked the code on how to write a Scouting memorabilia guide book. In his years in the hobby he has written over a dozen guides for Order of the Arrow lodges, councils and camps. In this interview he shares the blueprin

#95 Dating And Identifying Boy Scout Memorabilia With Mitch Reis

Mar 22nd, 2021 39m 48s

Mitch Reis has just published the 5th Edition of A Guide To Dating And Identifying Boy Scouts Of America Badges, Uniform, & Insignia. This book is one of the reference "bibles" that all Scouting memorabilia collectors should have on their shelf

#94 Clothtalk The Original Scout Memorabilia Podcast With Chris Brightwell

Mar 8th, 2021 24m 52s

Perhaps the first podcast I ever listened to back in 2006 was an ambitious project that was launched by some guys out of Coosa Lodge 50 in Alabama. Clothtalk was their idea for an audio podcast that would focus on the hobby of collecting Scout

#93 NY State OA Trader Bill Mulrenin

Feb 22nd, 2021 31m 16s

For about 15 years Bill Mulrenin has been a constant on the Internet for the Boy Scout memorabilia collecting hobby. His website at www.NYOATRADER.com is the prototype for what a niche blog site in our hobby should be. As the New York OA Blue

#92 Refurbishing Vintage BSA Knives and Axes With Bill Chadek

Feb 8th, 2021 24m 34s

A decade ago Bill Chadek took a gamble on a Boy Scout pocket knife. He cleaned up a beat up old knife and brought it back to life with elbow grease, sandpaper, and lots of polishing. This was the beginning of a side business refurbishing vint

#91 Collecting Early OA Odd Shapes With Russell Smart

Jan 26th, 2021 41m 17s

For several decades Russell Smart was on a mission. He came up with a simple enough goal. Can I get the first patch issued by the oldest lodge in every state? That rabbit hole of collecting led him to add other needs to the list but eventual

#90 Spirit of Jamboree with Doug Schwab

Jan 11th, 2021 28m 3s

At the 2019 World Scout Jamboree held in the United States Doug Schwab helped to staff the Spirit of Jamboree Museum. In this interview we talk about his experience and the book he published that documented the once in a lifetime display of Sc

#89 Roots: Looking Ahead To Building A Consistent Boy Scout Memorabilia Podcast

Jan 4th, 2021 43m 38s

The first episode of the Scouting Hot Finds Radio in almost a year should be the launching pad for a real rebirth of the podcast. I know I am guilty of saying that a few times over the last couple of years but I'm laying down roots to make thi

#88 Boy Scout History Museums With Rick Stewart

Jan 27th, 2020 34m 10s

Rick Stewart has been writing a quarterly article for the ISCA Journal on the topic of Scouting museums going on four years now. During a 20+ career as a professional Scouter and more as a volunteer he can also claim to have visited the Natio

#87 History of Boy Scout Merit Badge Pamphlets With John Smilek

Feb 5th, 2019 32m 44s

John Smilek says this will be the year. On the 100th anniversary of the first Boy Scouts of America merit badge pamphlet being published he and other collaborators will publish a full reference guide for collecting this niche in the hobby. Th

#86 Patchvault.org Interview With John Athayde

Jan 21st, 2019 47m 48s

John Athayde and his collaborators on Patchvault.org are ready to turn back control of Order of the Arrow memorabilia listing to the people. With a background in software and a core group of collectors supporting the effort they have expanded

#85: Scouting History Data Crunching With Mike Clinch

Jan 8th, 2019 48m 42s

http://www.scoutpatchcollectors.com Mike Clinch is a great example of a Scouter and collector who is willing to invest hundreds of hours of his own time into building something for others. A few years ago he published an amazing two volume se

#84: Teaching Scouting Heritage & Collections Merit Badge With Stuart Tucker

Dec 17th, 2018 22m 19s

Scouting collectors who have spent time learning about Scouting history have an obvious way to give back to the program. Collections merit badge allows a Scout to take a patch collection and with the right coaching fulfill the requirements. S