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165 posts, oldest first.
Sometime between 2012 and 2015 Time to make: 1 hours Finishing: 1.5 hour Whittlin Jim originally called for sumac, walnut or red ceder for this slide but I happened to find a good example in maple. While there wasn't much carving in this, lots of sanding produced a mirror finish when the poly was applied.
Sometime between 2012 and 2015 Time to carve: 2 hours Finishing: 1.5 hour Pease porridge hot, pease porridge cold, Pease porridge in the pot, nine days old; Some like it hot, some like it cold, Some like it in the pot, nine days old Oh, how I believe that when I see how some of…
Sometime between 2012 and 2015 Time to carve: 2.5 hours Finishing: 1.5 hour This is another slide where I really like the expression of the face of the moose. If you have ever seen one in real life you know they have a bad attitude.
Sometime between 2012 and 2015 Time to carve: 2.5 hours Finishing: 2 hour Carved from maple and painted with craft paints. The mounting board is also maple with a one step stain/poly finish I'll be honest I don't remember which bass I was making when I painted this slide so ...
Sometime between 2012 and 2015 Time to carve: 1 hours Finishing: 1.5 hour A quick little slide with a piece of scrap wood, a dowel, a pin, a toothpick, and some cloth. Painted with craft paint and a couple coats of poly.
Sometime between 2012 and 2015 Time to carve: 2.5 hours Finishing: 2 hour Boy this one is fun to wear! So many people think it's real. Carved from maple the rivets are made using a nail punch a light tap of a hammer.
Sometime between 2012 and 2015 Time to carve: 2 hours Finishing: 1.5 hour Carved from maple and painted with a semi-gloss black paint. Gold modeler's paint was used for the highlights. Finally, the end of a red feather is glued into a hole in the helmet. Tis merely a scratch
Sometime between 2012 and 2015 Time to carve/make: 3 hours Finishing: 2 hour This is a great slide both for the challenge of making it and the simple enjoyment of wearing it. It's carved from maple and painted with craft paints. The hoops are brass and connected together with solder. Hoop dancer
Sometime between 2012 and 2015 Time to carve: 2.5 hours Finishing: 2.5 hour So a lot of parts to this one and some assembly required. The body is white maple and the hole was painted with black craft paint. The sides and back have a one step stain/poly coating.
Sometime between 2012 and 2015 Time to make: 2 to 5 minutes Finishing: got a match? Nevermind, I'll fray the ends. So your at a court of honor and you forgot your neckerchief slide but you have some paracord or light rope?
Sometime between 2012 and 2015 Time to make: several hours Finishing: 1.5 hour "Don't you often wish you had somethin' to recall that trip you took a couple o' years ago?" wrote Wittlin' Jim. Heck I wish I could remember how to tie these.
Sometime between 2012 and 2015 Time to make: .5 hours Finishing: none Sometimes slide take time to gather the right materials and so was the case with this slide. I had the counter top sample and the waterproof paper but where do you find a clip like this today.
Sometime between 2012 and 2015 Time to carve: 2 hours Finishing: 1.5 hour Well Whittlin Jim was right when he called this one "you name it" because I couldn't for the life of me remember what it was called. Carved from maple and painted with craft paints.
Sometime between 2012 and 2015 Time to carve: 2.5 hours Finishing: 1.5 hour This poor sap is either to tall for the tent or too big for the sleeping bag. At least he changed out of his wet socks. The Tenderfoot Camper is one of those fun slides that generate so many questions and comments…
Sometime between 2012 and 2015 Time to make: .5 hours Finishing: 1.5 hour Does anyone remember these? It seem like when I was a Scout (and suddenly Scouts stopped paying attention) we used reflector ovens quite often. Made from some aluminum flashing, wire a couple of dowels and a couple of scrap pieces of wood.
Sometime between 2012 and 2015 Time to make: 1 hour Finishing: 1.5 hour It seems to me this use to be called the one match fire for the Scout who started a fire using only one match. A really easy slide to make requiring only a spare piece of wood, some wood putty to form…
Sometime between 2012 and 2015 Time to make: 1.5 hours Finishing: 1.5 hour This one hold some nostalgia for me as I had a neckerchief slide just like this when I finished my ordeal. I had bought it at the camp store and brought it home to paint.
Summer 2016 Time to carve: 2 hours Finishing: 2 hour So one thing I discovered, there were a lot of steer head neckerchief slides that were published by Whittlin Jim and by this time I'm a bit steered out. This slide is made from a pine sapling and the horns are the branches.
Sometime between 2012 and 2015 Time to carve: 3 hours Finishing: 2 hour This is a lot of fun to wear! So when people look at it you reach to the wire and all of a sudden the key-key bird moves.
Sometime between 2012 and 2015 Time to carve: 3 hours Finishing: 2 hour Carved from walnut and I struggled as walnut is very hard. The slide has a couple of coats of poly and the symbols were written on with a modeling paint pen. Whittlin Jim said this was the "God of Happiness"
I ran into a few slides that for the time they were published, they were socially acceptable. I could not make them in good consciousness so the following have my own spin on them. Cannibal Tribe of slides Snag-Tooth Charlie Chief Hangon
Fall 2016 Time to carve: 2 hours Finishing: 2 hour The same basic design as the Cannibal but I made it a clown instead. The head, arm and feet are carved from maple. The shield is a hobby plywood round and the pie tins are formed using a doming block and aluminum flashing.
Fall 2016 Time to carve: 2 hours Finishing: 2 hour The same basic design as Snag-Tooth Charlie but as a clown. Carved from maple and painted with craft paints. Sealed with poly and when dry, the fake fur hair glued on.
Summer 2016 Time to carve: 2.5 hours Finishing: 2 hour Same basic design as Footsie (In the Tribe of Slides) but with first aid spin. Carved from maple and painted with craft paint. This poor sap is wrapped head to toe with cloth bandages and tied to a backboard.
Summer 2016 Time to carve: 2 hours Finishing: 2 hour Same basic design as the Squaw Hang-on (from Tribe of Sides) but as a first year Scout on a winter campout. Carved from maple and painted with craft paints. Sealed with poly this poor sap is so cold, he is wrapped in this sleeping bag.
Summer 2016 Time to carve: 2 hours Finishing: 2 hour Same basic design as Chief Hang-on but this is a timid Scout climber. Carved from maple and painted with craft paint. Sealed with poly and the rope is 550 cord hanging his climbing belt.
January 2017 Time to carve: 3.5 hours Finishing: 2 hour A very tough slide to make as carving cow horn is very hard. First step was to cut the bonnet and expand the horn. The original article called for the horn to be boiled until the it was pliable.
February 2017 Time to make: 3.5 hours Finishing: 2 hour One of the hardest slides to make because the Eastern Snow Armadillo is one of the hardest creatures to find as they only come out in the winter hibernating the rest of the year.
________________________________________ Hi Andy, I’ve been our troop’s advancement chair for the past several years. In this capacity, I’ve had to deal with long-standing concerns about our Committee Chair (“CC”) and Chartered Organization Representative (“CR”), and their deviations from BSA advancement standards and principles of Scouting.
The Scouts of Troop 251 — now full-grown adults with Scouts of their own — wanted to host a reunion of their 1981 Sea Base crew. They read the Bryan on Scouting post about the Philmont crew from Tennessee that re-created a photo taken 34 years earlier, and they wanted to do the same.
Congratulations to Donald D. Shepard Jr. who will serve as Scout executive of the Michigan Crossroads Council in Lansing, Michigan, effective May 1, 2017. Don began his Scouting career as a district executive at Buckskin Council in Charleston, West Virginia.
Douglas Nelson has been named Scout executive of Northeast Illinois Council in Highland Park, Illinois, effective April 16, 2017. Doug began his Scouting career as a district executive at the Anthony Wayne Area Council in Fort Wayne, Indiana. He moved on to become a senior district executive with the Black Swamp Area Council in Findlay…
Story by Stacey Hull of Memorial Health System: Memorial Health System is a community-based, not-for-profit health care organization in Illinois, dedicated to patient care, education, and research. In October 2016, Memorial Health System partnered with Southern Illinois School of Medicine to design and implement a new program, offering Healthcare Explorers of Central Illinois.
If your council isn’t leveraging the power of social media for its marketing and recruiting efforts, you are seriously missing out on an excellent opportunity to reach thousands of new families that might not know about Scouting. But don’t worry – it’s never too late to dive into the world of social media, and we’re walking…
It happened a few minutes after 7 p.m. on March 14. Inside Room 126 of the Peachtree City (Ga.) United Methodist Church, Preston A. passed his board of review and became an Eagle Scout. The moment wasn’t just monumental for Preston and his family.
Since the BSA’s Lion pilot program launched last fall, hundreds of new Scouting families with kindergarten-age boys have explored the fun and adventure that comes along with joining Scouting at a younger age. When mom blogger Ashley of Ashley Glass heard about a local Lion get-together in her area, she jumped at the opportunity to…
Scouts and Scouters, meet your repeat champion: the First Aid merit badge. After losing its top spot to the Cooking merit badge in 2014, First Aid retook the crown in 2015 and defended its title in 2016. That means more Scouts earned the First Aid merit badge in 2016 than any other badge.
Ever wanted to be a Charity Trustee - I found this article on the Third Sector Website written by the voice of their youth trustees
Join us as we welcome Sonya Greene, who will serve as Scout executive of the Greater Yosemite Council in Modesto, California, effective May 1, 2017. Sonya began her Scouting career in 2000 as a district executive at the Baltimore Area Council in Baltimore, Maryland.
Looking for fun outdoor Cub Scout games? You've found them! The best part is that they are super easy and need only readily available supplies.
Evan Roe was a Life Scout when Madam Secretary tapped him to join the family. Producers of the CBS drama wanted to cast Evan as Jason McCord, son of the title character played by Téa Leoni. Slight problem, though. The show films in New York, so accepting the job would require Evan to leave San…
The description of Canyon Barry the basketball player looks exactly like the description of Canyon Barry the Eagle Scout. “He’s a quiet contributor, good teammate, happy for others’ success and he has a good heart,” said Brian Burnett, Canyon’s former Scoutmaster.
Emergencies happen when and where you least expect them. Like on March 22 in the high school cafeteria of Central High School in La Crosse, Wis. Freshman Ian Brown was enjoying lunch when his classmate began to choke. Other students thought Will Olson was being funny, but Ian spotted a change in the color of…
Tobias Ellwood, the politician gaining praise for his heroism after a fatal stabbing outside the U.K. Parliament in London, is an Eagle Scout. Ellwood, born in New York City to British parents, was a member of the Boy Scouts of America’s Transatlantic Council, which serves American Scouts living overseas.
March 2017 Time to carve: .5 hours Finishing: hour Through out this odyssey one page of slides always eluded me, the June 1950 issue of Boy's Life was missing for years on both the wayback machine and on Goggle books .
March 2017 Time to make: 1 hours Finishing: 1 hour So a good friend gave me some bones one day all cut up in neckerchief sized pieces and this is a slide made from one of the bones. I really have to ask him what animal it came from but I think it may have…
Sometime between 2012 and 2015 Time to carve: 1.5 hours Finishing: .5 hour Another piece of bone given by a friend which the bone was quite thick and this is a one piece slide. I sketched out the 8 on the bone similar to the 7 Ben used, rough cut it on the band saw…
March 3/26/2017 Time to make: 2 hours Finishing: .5 hour ...and now the final slide in this long journey. When thinking about the last slide, I thought this would be a good time to both finish the Whittlin Jim slides and transition into other Slide of the Month projects along with my own versions.
Leadership development is one of Scouting’s most important effects on its members. Ask anyone who was a Scout as a youth and they’ll probably tell you that in addition to learning how to camp, hike and respect the outdoors, one of the most important takeaways is that it helped them become a better leader.
Estrella-Wells (middle) shared plenty of laughs with her fellow Buffaloes. After her first day of Wood Badge, Renee Estrella-Wells was tired and more than a little overwhelmed. “It felt like not just one fire hose of information drowning you, but three,” she said.
We are pleased to announce the selection of Bill Garrett as Scout executive of Del-Mar-Va Council in Wilmington, Delaware, effective May 1. Bill began his Scouting career as a district executive at Buckskin Council in Charleston, West Virginia. He then served in various positions with Simon Kenton Council in Columbus, Ohio, as well as at…
March 2017 Time to design: 2 hours Time to print: 2 hours (your times may vary Finishing: 1 hour Original design: NASA Original designer: Michael Carbajal. NASA Headquarters Try it yourself: Mercury capsule slide Greetings, and welcome to the new Slide of the Month from Channeling Whittlin Jim.
Even the small actions like giving someone the chance to shine even for a very limited time can make their day for the rest of their lives.
We’re mere months away from the summer, aka the Greatest Scouting Season. And while it’s too early to pack your bags and load the trailer, the time is right for one essential step in summer Scouting preparation. It’s time to get your physical.
It’s no secret that I’m an outdoor enthusiast. Lately, I’ve been thinking about the reasons why Scouting provides fun, life-changing outdoor experiences young people can’t get anywhere else. I recently saw a news story about how kids and teens are spending time with friends through video chat on their smartphones rather than in person.
Hi Andy, Any ideas or resources on recruiting for Venturing crews, especially female crew members and advisors? (Ed Millington, Teen Programs, Washington Crossing Council, NJ-PA) If we’re talking about increasing membership in existing crews, I think your best resource will be the current Venturers themselves.
For the past several years, BSA Communications has engaged bloggers to help tell Scouting’s stories through the lens of a mom. The experiences detailed in their blog posts have influenced many other moms and put Scouting on their consideration set for their children.
In the nautical world, a boatswain (pronounced “bosun”) is the officer in charge of the ship, equipment and crew. In the Sea Scouts world, the National Boatswain is the youth leader in the charge of the whole Sea Scouting program.
The 2017 National Jamboree is just around the corner, and we are looking for volunteers like you to help create this once-in-a-lifetime experience for Scouts. We want you! We invite you to join us as volunteer medical staff to provide Scouts with an incredible experience at Scouting’s main event.
Make an easy and inexpensive marble maze! Your Bear Cub Scout can quickly complete one of the Marble Madness requirements by following these instructions.
Wash, sanitize, rinse. With the three-step dishwashing system, you can finish camp dishes in no time. That means you’re back to having fun faster. Here’s how to wash dishes at a campsite, courtesy of the BSA Fieldbook (pages 91-92) and the 13th edition of the Boy Scout Handbook (page 308).
It’s midnight, you’re in pajamas and you’re sitting on the couch scrolling Facebook on your tablet. Sounds like the perfect time to get trained. With the launch of Scouting U’s eLearning content for Boy Scout leaders, Scouters now can get trained on their own schedule — anywhere, any time.
The Fox reality show Kicking & Screaming pairs hardcore survivalists with people who have, let’s say, far less experience in the outdoors. Now that Eagle Scout and Washington Scout leader Terry Fossum is in the Top 6, I’ll recap every episode until he’s eliminated or the finale airs — whichever comes first.
Be prepared to spend less time filling out forms and more time having fun. The Boy Scouts of America has eliminated its Tour and Activity Plan, shifting the focus away from paperwork and toward creating a safe space for Scouts to enjoy the program as designed.
________________________________________ Hi Andy, There’s a rumor running around my council about a new program called “Virtual Scouting” that’s going to be introduced in late 2017. Do you happen to have any advance information on what this is all about? (Dylan Marshall, Happy Trails Council) Yes, this is in beta-testing right now and is expected to be…
