Never was a scout, but my high school had a program where, for gym credit, you could instead learn camping-type skills. The last part was staying outside in the woods by yourself for three days in the winter. We were given plenty of supplies, but instead of a tent, we were given a 10×10 foot sheet of plastic.
Anyway, the point is that we would get bored. The OTHER point is that the area we were brought had had a birch tree blight a year or two before, so it was basically a forest of standing deadwood. No, we didn’t end up burning down the forest, but we were able to push down entire trees, so, for fun, we found ourselves competitively building bonfires. The point was that each of us was supposed to be given an area to stay within such that we could never be in visual contact with any other human, so building a bonfire big enough to be seen by everyone else was a challenge in itself, let alone trying for the BIGGEST one.
The winner managed to get a tree to his fire STANDING UP. The forest rangers came for that one.
Ah yes, Scouts. I remember this one trip, we all had to spend one night in a shelter we made ourselves. The best was from a volunteer who had survival training through his military service. A few minutes after it was done, the ants moved in and made it unusable. It was at that moment where, as a child, I realized that nature hates us and that we should just go home to our ant free lifestyle to play Atari.
So, as a current scoutmaster, I’m afraid to teach my boys the sheepshank. Not because it’s a difficult knot (which it is), but because I’m sure that as soon as I say the words “sheepshank” one of them is going to try to stab a sheep. Scouting in the inner city is an interesting phenonmenon.
Right over left, left over right. Square knot. Learned that from you in your Boy Scouts days and have never forgotten it. AND have used it a million times.
Yeah, I can relate. We’ve all set our own tent on fire as we got ourselves stuck in a tree back in the day.
Half-right at least. Pine cones should make good kindling.
Never was a scout, but my high school had a program where, for gym credit, you could instead learn camping-type skills. The last part was staying outside in the woods by yourself for three days in the winter. We were given plenty of supplies, but instead of a tent, we were given a 10×10 foot sheet of plastic.
Anyway, the point is that we would get bored. The OTHER point is that the area we were brought had had a birch tree blight a year or two before, so it was basically a forest of standing deadwood. No, we didn’t end up burning down the forest, but we were able to push down entire trees, so, for fun, we found ourselves competitively building bonfires. The point was that each of us was supposed to be given an area to stay within such that we could never be in visual contact with any other human, so building a bonfire big enough to be seen by everyone else was a challenge in itself, let alone trying for the BIGGEST one.
The winner managed to get a tree to his fire STANDING UP. The forest rangers came for that one.
The winner sure deserved his win
You know you’ve won when the authorities get involved.
*thumbs up!*
Scruffy, the Scout Master…
No, you have to rub the pine cones together. That should… do something.
Ah yes, Scouts. I remember this one trip, we all had to spend one night in a shelter we made ourselves. The best was from a volunteer who had survival training through his military service. A few minutes after it was done, the ants moved in and made it unusable. It was at that moment where, as a child, I realized that nature hates us and that we should just go home to our ant free lifestyle to play Atari.
And then; you get home to find the ants playing the Atari…
What is this, a video game for ants?
To paraphrase Terry Pratchett, people that seek to return to nature find out why humanity has spent a lot of time getting away from nature.
This realization is often had in a muddy field in cold, cold rain.
At least he didn’t make a tourniquet WITH the poison ivy. Or better yet, use the PI as TP. “Leaves of three, good TP!”
Your math checks out.
So, as a current scoutmaster, I’m afraid to teach my boys the sheepshank. Not because it’s a difficult knot (which it is), but because I’m sure that as soon as I say the words “sheepshank” one of them is going to try to stab a sheep. Scouting in the inner city is an interesting phenonmenon.
You could just teach them the knot and call it something else.
If he calls it something else; then what happens when these boys are in the Navy and their Captain wants to know exactly what a “skoodle-doo knot” is?
The answer is simple: call it a number. “Knot #23”, for example. Then tell them the name after they’ve learned it, but also tell them the etymology.
Right over left, left over right. Square knot. Learned that from you in your Boy Scouts days and have never forgotten it. AND have used it a million times.