The Bloggers
Original site: ropesandpoles.blogspot.com (opens in a new tab) ↗
Pioneering projects, lashings and Scouting history, from South Africa.
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I'll be travelling to Iceland for the World Scout Moot from the 25th of July to the 2nd of August this year. I don't have any plans to do pioneering while I'm there (Iceland doesn't have too many trees and bringing my own poles from South Africa would be tricky), but I'm keen to meet…
I've featured gateways built by Harmellia Gardens Air Scouts before , and this Lego-inspired gateway at KonTiki 2017 is their latest design. Harmellia are using a synthetic hawser-laid rope, which, unlike braided polyprop ropes, behaves in a similar way to traditional sisal cordage.
In rainy weather (and KonTiki frequently brings rainy weather), it can be a good idea to get your tent up out of the mud. Bush Hill Scout Troop built this four-tier stepped tent platform for their campsite at KonTiki 2017.
KonTiki 2017 took place recently, and was the coldest and one of the stormiest KonTiki weekends in some time. In spite of the rain, wind, hail and frost, 55 teams arrived to camp, taking part on this year's theme of "Let's Play!"
The KonTiki organisers have launched the website for the 2017 competition, and along with it, a series of timelapse videos from last year's event . These videos give you an idea of the work that goes into the weekend (and also of the unseasonal rain we had last year).
Most pioneering projects (but by no means all ) use rope or cordage, so understanding how rope is made is a useful part of pioneering. There are some simple ways of making rope, but these Lego projects by Nico71 take ropemaking to another level.
Following on from the vote earlier to choose a badge design ,I've had badges produced here in South Africa, and they are available for sale- by clicking the Paypal button on the top right of the page. I'm really happy with how the design came out, and the quality of the badges that Precision Embroidery…
Photo courtesy Shane Anderson 1st Halfway House , a Scout troop in Midrand, South Africa, recently built this tensegrity cube suspended between A-frames. The cube is supsended at 4 points- two underneath, and two at the top of the structure. Photos courtesy Shane Anderson Shane Anderson, ATS at 1st Halfway House, says: The planned outcome of…
Greg from West Australian Scout Pioneering wrote in with photos and a description of the awesome bridge, supported by A frames on each end and a raft in the centre. Here's Gregs description: Photo courtesy Greg Barbera Project : Build a Rope bridge for the West Australian Cub Scout event – Enduro Location: Manjedal Activities Centre (M.A.C)…
Sean from Mosta Scout Group in Malta shared these photographs with me- of a raft sitting in this stunning location against the cliffs in the Mediterranean. Sean says: "With 100 lashings, 40 staves, 30 barrels and 10 Marine Ply, a massive Double Floating Raft Camp served as our home for the past weekend.
Thanks to everyone who voted in my earlier poll to help me choose a badge design for the blog. As you can see below, the Hy-par pavilion was by far the most popular design. I have sent the badge off for quotes and will have news soon about where and how you can purchase the…
Photograph copyright Baerbel Mueller This bamboo stage pavilion was built for The Haduwa Arts and Culture Institute in Ghana by [applied] Foreign Affairs , an architecture lab at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna . A group of students built the project as part of their architecture classes, after researching the project in Austria and on…
I've been contemplating having badges made, which would be available for sale here on the blog. Some designs are shown above, featuring various projects from the blog archives , and I'd like your help choosing the first one to have embroidered.
I found this suspension bridge article written by L.C. Sands in the February 1937 Scouter magazine: No special credit is claimed for having succeeded in building the bridge described here, as it involves a principle in common use, but as the writer has not seen anything similar described in any of the books on pioneering…
At the recent Akela 2016 camp, I was involved in running outdoor activities for the Pack Scouters, alongside the community service and crafts bases that were run. Alongside a tensegrity cube , I ran this challenge- to build a raft using staves, light cord, cardboard boxes and dustbin bags, and float a member of their team…
I recently had the privilege to spend some time at the international Akela 2016 camp outside Pretoria, and this is the main gateway to the campsite - built by Harmellia Gardens Air Scouts . The camp was held to celebrate the centenary of the establishment of Cubs , and the gateway was designed to resemble the head of…
KonTiki 2016 came to a close yesterday morning, after 60mm of unseasonal rain left the campsite waterlogged. The majority of rafts spent the night on the water, and the competition went ahead- congratulations to 1st Morningside who were all the overall winners!
Saturday is the busiest day at KonTiki- rafts are completed, and after being checked for sea-worthiness, are launched and begin their competitions on the water. Meanwhile, on land, the Beaver Challenge competition has run for the Cubs and junior Scouts, campsites are being judged, and meals are competition meals are cooked.
KonTiki 2016 is under way, with most teams well into building their rafts. Here are some photos of then shorefront. Teams build three rafts deep in most places, and once ready tomorrow, will help each other launch. Experience Friday night construction in 360 panoramic view here: (on a mobile device, tilt and move to pan…
Image copyright Advocate Egerov From Russia, via Youtube, comes this technique for converting a PET soft drink bottle into a strong 'tape' that can be used for lashings. ??????? ?????? (Advocate Egerov) has two videos that explain how to build the Bottlecutter2.0 device to strip the bottles, and demonstrates how to use the strips to make lashings.
Catdrill 'lashing' details 'CatDrill' is an Italian technique for staving or lightweight pioneering , that involves preparing the staves to be used by drilling a small hole and notching the surface of the pole. Lightweight synthetic kernmantle rope is then used to tie the staves together, using stopper knots on the starting end of the rope…
Image courtesy of NLE via their Makoko Floating School press kit . Makoko is a floating slum neighbourhood in Lagos, Nigeria , built on stilts and rafts across the Lagos Lagoon. NLÉ is a Nigerian architecture firm who designed this floating school in 2013, to provide a teaching and learning space in this very crowded area.
1st Bothasig Rover Crew previously built a suspended tower , which fell a little short of their own high expectations for it. Having conducted a thorough SWOT analysis of the construction, the crew headed out to Hawequas Scout Ranch to build an improved version.
This weekend marks the 10th anniversary of the first post to this blog . Since that first post, I've met people from around the world, online and in person, and been reminded of how Scouting connects us together despite our difference Here are some of the most popular posts on the blog over the last ten…
Gauteng KonTiki is coming up next weekend, and the Gauteng Scout Water Activities Advisory Council , along with Puddle Pirates Rover Crew , has developed this Excel spreadsheet which helps calculate the mass of a raft, and ultimately calculate how deep a raft sits in the water.
Dissipate is a project being planned by a group of architects and engineers (including a few former Scouts) for the upcoming AfrikaBurn Burning Man regional event near Cape Town, South Africa. The tower consists of an hourglass tower with a tensegrity on top of it, gradually 'dissipating' into the sky.
Kontiki season is picking up here in Southern Africa, with Windhoek, Namibia hosting their event this weekend, and the Western Cape hosting theirs next weekend. The diagram above shows one way of fastening barrels that worked well for my troop .
Merry Christmas! If you're celebrating today, I hope you have a great day surrounded by family, and a blessed year ahead. This tree is decorated with Monkey's Fists , tied in 8mm sisal rope, with eye-spliced ends.
Day and night photographs courtesy Akela Joy For the East Rand District end of year Cub Christmas Camp, Puddle Pirate Rover Crew built this pioneered Christmas Tree. All of the guests at the camp bought gifts which were used to decorate the tree and these were later donated to a charity.
With the festive season upon us, I've put together a list of pioneering-related gifts that you might find useful. John Sweet's Scout Pioneering is a classic reference, and there are a few different editions in print. Your best bet is to hunt one down in a second hand bookshop, but there are a few online…
(Although I'm not American, being thankful is something I can get behind, and today seems an appropriate day to reflect on some of the resources that have helped me as a Scouter over the years) I've been fortunate to have great mentors, from Patrol Leaders as a Scout, to Troop Scouters, Group Scouters and training…
The largest annual Scouting event in the world, The combined J amboree on the Air and Jamboree on the Internet , starts today. Around 700,000 Scouts and Guides from around the world are participating. Last year, this tower, designed and built by Sandringham Scout Group in Johannesburg was voted the best JOTA tower internationally out of…
Scouts Carpe Diem Arendonk in Belgium built this obstacle course structure outside, around and over their Scout hall. This timelapse shows the construction process: While these photos from their Facebook page show the structure in use:
A simple treehouse, 6 feet off the ground in a willow with multiple stems. Tree houses are a fun and challenging pioneering project (if the safety rules of your Scout Association allow them) that provide a memorable adventure. But starting with a 9 metre high platform isn't easy.
Following on from the Belgian music festival last week, Oppikoppi is the largest music festival in South Africa, held annually on Northam Farm. 1st Northam built this tower for the 2014 festival, and the five minute time lapse by Donald van der Westhuizen shows how it was built.
image courtesy Universiteit Hasselt This pioneered structure at Pukkelpop 2014 in Belgium was seen by thousands of people during the annual music festival. Designed by Jakob Ghisjebrechts, it was built with the help of Gouw Limberg , a regional Scouting organization in Belgium design model.
Photo courtesy David Boté Estrada Bamboo has been used for centuries to build scaffolding in East Asia, and is still in use today- everyday pioneering visible in every city. Where there are industries, there are standards, and the Hong Kong government publishes the document Guidelines on the Design and Construction of Bamboo Scaffolds , which regulates…
West Australia Scout Pioneering is part of Scouts Australia's West Australia Adventurous Activities team. The team runs a pioneering course aimed at Venturers, Rovers and Scouters, and also offers their services putting structures up at community events. I have featured the pioneering course before, with some photographs of an hourglass tower built by them, but…
1st Polokwane are a Scout troop in Polokwane, a South African city right on the Tropic of Capricorn. This 9m tower is a Springbok Scout construction project led by Courtney, one of their senior Scouts. These photographs show the construction process during the recent South African school holidays.
Today is Nelson Mandela's birthday. Over the last few years, South Africans have been encouraged to spend 67 minutes of the day serving the community - signifying the 67 years Mandela gave in service to the country. This post looks at a permanent pioneering project that serves the community.
Robin Hills Scout Group built this sliding portcullis gateway for KonTiki 2014 . Robin Hills entered two teams, who placed 2nd and 3rd overall. The segmented door folds up out of the way when it's fully open, and slides down to cover the entrance when closed.
Sean from Mosta Venture Scout Unit in Malta shared these photographs of various projects, including a raft, a ferris wheel, a carousel and a suspended platform in a valley.The suspended camping platform was made using abseiling ropes and a small hiking tent.
It's come up on Ropes and Poles before that being able to speak Flemish is a good way to improve your pioneering. This project showed up in my Facebook feed courtesy of Ploeg Technieken and I thought I'd share it with the English speaking Scouting world.
There were several interesting gateways at KonTiki 2014 , and I'll post some more info about those in the coming weeks. Here are a few little gadgets from the campsite that won the camping side of the competition, 9th Benoni . First up are these camp 'potplants' made from an old pair of shoes with succulents planted…
Hennie Hamman, the manager at Arrowe Park, has compiled three videos from hours of footage taken at KonTiki 2014 . Here they are- firstly, site preparation and raft construction, followed by the rafts seen by helicopter and from Arrowe Park, and finally the closing ceremony.
KonTiki 2014 is over, and 1st Horison won both the raft competition and the overall competition - congratulations! 9th Benoni (my former group) won the overall supporter's (land) competition. Over the next few weeks, I'll be posting some details about some of the rafts, gadgets and techniques I saw over the weekend.
Kontiki 2014 is running at Arrowe Park this weekend, and while I'll post some detail later about some pioneering projects I've seen here, I wanted to share these pcitures tonight. Firstly, the pictures above qwere taken bu Jenny Hamman from a Robinson R44 helicopter that got permission to do some flyovers.
Kontiki 2014 is under way. This year, the theme is 'Going Green', and so far teams are getting in to the spirit of things,with most teams using LEDs instead of halogen floodlights,and recycling bins for the sorting of waste during raft construction. More photos to follow when the sun rises tomorrow.
The Haymaker's bridge is a classic patrol challenge, and with the weather warming up in the Northern Hemisphere, now is a good time to try out this activity where at least one person is guaranteed to get wet. In principle this is simple- the bridge is supported by the mast, and each person crossing the…
The new SketchUp Mobile Viewer is the latest product from the makers of SketchUp, and allows SketchUp models to be viewed on iPad, by uploading them to the 3D Warehouse, from where they can be viewed. There are other solutions for exporting SKP files to be viewed on the iPad, but they all require some…
