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Lashings, spars and the knots that hold everything together. Scouters built towers, bridges and camp gadgets, then shared the plans.
242 posts · 2007–2020
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(click pic for larger view) On my afternoon hike this weekend, I ran into what very well may be the perfect Eagle Scout service project! This is a hands-on Knots and Lashings kiosk and can be found at Lowry Nature Center west of Victoria, MN.
A Bundle of Scout Staves For those interested in starting a pioneering program in their unit, one of the first things often suggested is to procure a supply of Scout Staves. The BSA Supply Division’s Scout Hiking Staff is still the best deal on the market for Scout Staves.
This is the tenth post in a series that will eventually comprise an activity-based, unit pioneering program curriculum. Double Floor Lashing Floor Spars and Platform Supports X. This lashing is useful when building any kind of raised surface for a: platform, deck, raft, table, bench, chair, or Chippewa kitchen.
In the ever-important pursuit to pair each knotting and lashing instructional session with a fun activity that puts the newly-acquired skill into action, here’s a simple one that can be used as an entertaining culmination in conjunction with learning the Double Floor Lashing .
This is the ninth post in a series that will eventually comprise an activity-based, unit pioneering program curriculum. Trestles are often used to support bridge walkways. IX A. The Diagonal Lashing gets its name because the wraps form a diagonal where they cross the spars.
Here's two relatively little-known Scout pioneering methods that are well worth investigating. CatDrill This new (to me at least!) Scout pioneering technique originated with the Italian Scout Group Trento1 . CatDrill combines classic pioneering and froissartage (see below). This technique uses smaller diameter wooden poles or branches and lighter cordage to make sturdy joints that can…
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.
Camp See-Saw as a Festival Exhibit CAMP SEESAW VIDEO AND PHOTO MONTAGE UNDERWATER See-Saw We were introduced to and adapted this project thanks to the great Pioneering Made Easy website. It was inspired by Fun With Ropes and Spars by John Thurman who, with his inimitable approach to providing pioneering challenges and robust Scouting activities…
7:1 Rope Tackle Monkey Bridge Configuration We’ve seen how block and tackles and even commercial-grade come-alongs have been employed to tighten hand and foot ropes during the construction of various monkey bridge projects, especially those spanning longer distances and using larger diameter ropes.
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…
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.
The Drawing A design for this table has been on the drawing board for quite some time. Well, a day before the site was set up for a special Scout Campcraft program , it was decided to build one as a functional showpiece.
During Woodbadge Training at Gilwell: A Raft with a Sail and an Outrigger Raft Building rafts stands out as one of the most fun-filled Scout Pioneering activities. It incorporates all the planning, preparation, and Scout engineering that contribute to the richness of the pioneering experience, but when the structure can actually float and carry the…
Click on the above photo for a large view. For a description of the “Real Deal” Pioneering, Camp Cooking and Campcraft of this special Scouting program, proceed to the Frontier Days Website . Enjoying Eggs Francois for Breakfast at the Large Camp Table / Baking a Dump Cake on the Chippewa Kitchen Using the Hand Washing Station…
How many of these ten common knots can you identify? What knot is this? Taught line hitch Clove hitch Two half hitches What knot is this? Sheepshank Timber hitch Taught line hitch What knot is this? Bow line Overhand knot Square knot What knot is this?
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.
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…
Single Fire Bucket Holder One of the essential mandates in the BSA’s Outdoor Code is: BE CAREFUL WITH FIRE. I will prevent wildfire. I will build my fires only where they are appropriate. When I have finished using a fire, I will make sure it is cold out.
May, 2014 Vol. 6, No. 5 HIGH SPEED EDITION Scout's Pace Ranger Marathon Speed Knots BSA Racing From dusty backcountry trails to the Indianapolis 500, there's speed out there, and Scouts are enjoying it all. How fast are you? It depends on how you achieve maximum velocity, starting with the Scout's Pace, one of Scouting's…
A Swing Boat is a fairground ride in which pairs of riders pull ropes to swing back and forth. At the national jamboree, it’s one of the pioneering area’s favorite features. Click here for more information. This is a smaller, more boy-sized version, but still lots of fun.
Santee Lodge 116, Order of the Arrow hosted this year’s Dixie Fellowship at Camp Coker. With the input of the Dixie Design Team comprised of Pioneering Crews from Chicora, Iswa and Attakwa Chapters, Arrowmen erected a 24 foot six flag, banner gateway flying the American flag, the Order of the Arrow flag, the World Scout…
Suggested Materials 4 10′ x 3″ spars for corner uprights 4 12′ x 2″ spars for lateral supports 12 6″-diameter wooden discs, four of them painted with the numeral “5,” four with “10,” and four with “20″ 1 6″-diameter log, 20″ long with a large eye hook on one end and a flat, even surface…
Scout Stave Dish Washing Rack Background and History. Washing cooking and eating items on a camping trip can range from using paper plates (no washing) to “Philmont-style” (lick ‘em clean and sanitize in boiling water). Through the years, Scouting has come up with a variety of “dish washing assembly line” configurations.
The concept for this gateway originated from the bamboo version placed at one end of Peschke Field at the 2013 national jamboree. Just like the name describes, this gateway flies a banner in the middle surrounded on each side by three flags.
In Scouting For Boys , B-P refers to the Imperial War Office's 1905 Manual of Military Engineering for more information on Pioneering. 106 years later, that same manual is freely available online, and while some chapters are not really relevant to pioneering (eg.
Ploeg Technieken in Belgium originated the clover-leaf lashing . I've written before about using supporting jigs to hold the poles in place , but Ploeg Technieken have a YouTube channel that has this excellent video showing how it's done. The captions won't help if you don't speak Flemish (or Dutch, or Afrikaans) but the video is fairly…
Larry sent in this helpful suggestion for those looking for pioneering projects If you haven't acquainted yourself with scoutpioneering.com , I invite you to do so. Myself and other members of the Jamboree Pioneering Area Staff take pioneering very seriously and the site is available as a resource for any and all who are interested in…
Once I learned the Scouting Program should be active I changed my strategy as a Patrol Leader. Instead of bottling up the energy of Scout chaos until it exploded, I decided I was going to beat the Scouts to it and lead the chaos .
Each of these four lashings can be used to join two spars together to make an extension. With each there are no frapping turns. The manner in which these lashings need to be applied results in the spars being in a position where they are already tightly touching.
An Opportunity Identified: Last spring, on April 12-14, a Scout Expo was held on the extensive grounds of the Myrtle Beach Speedway in Myrtle Beach, SC. for the purpose of increasing public awareness and celebrating Scouting throughout the eleven counties of the Pee Dee Area Council .
Getting those Hand and Foot Ropes Nice and Tight! This is the seventh post in a series that will eventually comprise an activity-based, unit pioneering program curriculum. VII. The rope tackle is a major player when there’s a need to add guy lines to stabilize a pioneering structure, or to increase the torque on a…
3-2-1 Anchor This is the eighth post in a series that will eventually comprise an activity-based, unit pioneering program curriculum. VIII. For a wide range of pioneering structures, anchors are crucial to their stability and safety. When nature doesn’t furnish natural anchors as in trees or boulders in just the right location, it becomes necessary…
Interpatrol FUN! New Market Ballista (top) Everyone on the Tripod (bottom) What makes a really good interpatrol competition? Depending on what’s involved, an interpatrol competition or challenge can be the highlight of the Scout meeting. Does it incorporate the use of relevant Scout skills?
credits (clockwise from top left) Amazon , Scoutwiki , Scouts-Europe , Carton, Bricolage, Decoration Discussions around the setting out posts led me to something new: the French practice of building pioneered projects with carpentry joints instead of ropes. The construction is inspired by traditional rural furniture and farm equipment, built without nails.
Copyright Scouter Mom - A resource for adults and youth involved in Scouting Boy Scouts can practice their knot skills and build amazing projects when they work on the Pioneering merit badge . This is another one our Scouts often earn at summer camp.
Tripod Lashing With Plain Turns This is the sixth post in a series that will eventually comprise an activity-based, unit pioneering program curriculum. VI. The tripod is the most simple and most easy to erect self-standing pioneering structure. It frequently comes into play in the construction of simple camp gadgets as in providing a stand…
South African Scouter Peter Le Roux maintains the excellent Ropes and Pole s blog. Here's a recent post on expanding the use of pioneering projects: Pioneering projects are great fun to build, and there is a good sense of accomplishment that can be achieved, but I'm always looking for a pioneering project to be a…
Pioneering projects are great fun to build, and there is a good sense of accomplishment that can be achieved, but I'm always looking for a pioneering project to be a bit more useful in the long term. When I was a Troop Scouter, if a Scout proposed a project, I always looked for another angle…
This is the fifth post in a series that will eventually comprise an activity-based, unit pioneering program curriculum. V. With the square lashing under their belts, Scouts can start to actually build pioneering projects. Though the basic and oft-used A-frame can be readily completed using three square lashings, the Two-Spar Shear Lashing is most frequently…
Scouts Lash the Tops of Their Shear Legs with a SHEAR LASHING to Begin Their Single A-Frame Bridges DEFINITION: ambiguous |amˈbigyoōəs|adjective(of language) open to more than one interpretation; having a double meaning; unclear or inexact From the 1981 Printing of the Pioneering Merit Badge Pamphlet One Thing is NOT Ambiguous!
A Smaller Double Tripod Chippewa Kitchen for a Single Patrol Basically, this is a mini version of the full-sized Double Tripod Chippewa Kitchen . Same procedure, just scaled down, and a perfect fit for one patrol. The only things different here are the dimensions: 2 6′ x 2-1/2 to 3″ platform support spars 6 6′ x…
Scouts from Santee Lodge wave from a Single A-Frame Bridge built during OA Week at Camp Coker. A member of Santee Lodge, 116, Order of the Arrow, helps Webelos Scouts cross the monkey bridge his chapter built during a District “Webeloree.”
Pioneering tower challenge; build this tower using this sketch. Send me a picture of the result! It won't be easy, certainly, but is it possible? You may want to refer to this book for a little help. Pioneering Tower Challenge
photographs by Liesl de Weerd click to see full-sized image This pioneering sculpture was created by a Scout named Ruan from 1st Horison , a Scout group on the West Rand near Johannesburg in South Africa (map below). Ruan is working towards Springbok Scout – the highest rank in Scouts South Africa, like our Eagle Scout.
The 'incident hike' is a pioneering exercise for the whole patrol. The general idea is that a patrol of Scouts will hike along a predetermined route, in the wilderness, in camp or in town, and solve a series of 'incidents' or 'obstacles' along the way,using pioneering equipment carried with them, or provided at the scene.
Once upon a time there was a Patrol Leader. He was smart, he was a good Scout, his Patrol admired and trusted him, and he could do no wrong. One day that changed, though. It was a camping trip that was not unlike any other, and the Patrol Leader wanted to build a Pioneering structure…
Wooden poles are the main ingredient in building a pioneering structure. Everyone knows what a pole is. Depending on the project at hand, we use them in all different lengths and diameters. But, what are all these references to spars?
This is the fourth post in a series that will eventually comprise an activity-based, unit pioneering program curriculum. IV. Simply speaking, Pioneering can be seen as building structures by lashing together spars. In most cases, the lashing that is used is the square lashing.
Getting Ready to Race Chariot races are fun and here’s about the easiest version around. Once Scouts are familiar with the two-spar shear lashing and square lashing , they can make an A-Frame to serve as a simple carrying structure (chariot).
Here are two videos that will reveal something of what went on in the Pioneering Area up on Garden Ground Mountain at the Summit. MUCH better when viewed in Full screen!
