Cub Scout survival presentation

mneedham

mneedham

Joined
Jul 8, 2006
Messages
2,776
I'm an Asst. Cubmaster with my son's pack and we have been doing a series of presentations on wilderness hiking/camping skills over the last few months. I did a presentation on Friday on not getting lost in the woods (I attached a pdf of it). Scouting magazine published an article on the subject based on an interview with Laurence Gonzales (author of Deep Survival) and we based the presentation on that and Equipped to Survive info. A lot of the kids are 7-9 years old so we kept it pretty simple, I was surprised how interested the parents were. We showed examples of kits and equipment, contrasted adult and kids kits etc. A whole lot of fun!

My son won a red pocket folder at the meeting as a reward for popcorn sales. I told him that I would post it, hence the the pic... The knife above it is a Larson Forge knife (5160 I think) that I just picked at a show. Sorry about the pic quality.
 

Attachments

thats really cool, I miss the scouts! I got up to 1st clas then I quit because I moved and just never rejoined in another group...but I regret it, I have the most fun in scouts as a kid...Thanks for sharing!
 
I was in a very good cubscout group unlike the boyscout group which I left after a year ! We had lots of fun though the 'wilderness' to us Brooklyn kids was the wilds of Staten Island !! One trip there started out as a typical fun trip but quickly turned very serious when a large brush fire started. We were not evacuated but the scout leaders went off to fight the fire. You never know !! So knowledge of how to deal with emergencies is important. ..Your presentation is excellent !!
 
Mete,
Thanks.

Cutlerylover,
Yep, the Scout program is a great experience for boys (and us adults). It's a real challenge for me though, I grew up in a very rural area down south, and didn't have ready access to scouting. I am probably taking over as the Cubmaster in January and my ignorance of scout protocols and tradition makes it hard work.
 
That is a good and sensible presentation. How long does it take you to deliver it? Do you provide a short period of training right after the presentation - e.g. like building a shelter from items in your survival kit and such?

I think it is a very worthy cause devoting time as a scout leader. Keep up the great work and valuable community service!
 
You're doing a good thing for the kids. :thumbup: Hands-on training would be a good idea to follow up with.
 
KGD & Troop,

The presentation was about 45-50 minutes long (8:30 on a Friday night is about the latest the parents want to be out with 7 year olds..). The closest we got to hands on was handing around some of the equipment like AMK bivies, tube tents, heatsheets, match safes, etc. We discussed the uses of the kit components, I was surprised how many uses for a bandana these young boys could list (one boy even mentioned filtering sediment out of water!) This is a series of presentations, some of them are being provided by buddy of mine who is a SERIOUS hiker/camper. We will be doing some hands-on stuff with with the individual dens (we'll have more time that way and it is broken up by age group). I think that this stuff is important. Wilderness skills are lost knowledge for many of us. I cut my most of my own firewood and know a little about trees, a lot people who come to my place can't identify one hardwood from another. I am sure that 100 years ago most people knew a lot more about wood. Imagine having a guy like Magnussen come out and talk to young men about natural tinders... I hope to do a lot more.
 
mneedham said:
Mete,
Thanks.

Cutlerylover,
Yep, the Scout program is a great experience for boys (and us adults). It's a real challenge for me though, I grew up in a very rural area down south, and didn't have ready access to scouting. I am probably taking over as the Cubmaster in January and my ignorance of scout protocols and tradition makes it hard work.
Click to expand...


there are sokme basics to get use to, but once you get it its smooth saling from there, and very enjoyable! I wish I could get involved as a scout leader...maybe some day when I have kids...:D
 
I have only daughters, and so no boy scouts for me. My girls are in daisies and brownies right now, but so far there's been no talk of actual camping trips. I already put my wife on notice that I'll be teaching my girls camping skills the right way since, from what I can tell, even the boy scouts around here look at fixed blade knives with horror. IMO, anyone who thinks that people should venture off the pavement without a good strong fixed blade (at the very minimum) probably shouldn't be venturing off the pavement.

I guess it's kind of good that I didn't have a boy, since I don't know how long my attitudes would allow me to last as an adult in scouts given the "PC-nature" of this area. Of course, when I was a kid growing up, I was in scouts and I had a troop leader who didn't like to see us wandering around the woods without a good strong knife or a hatchet. Times sure have changed.
 
bulgron, the big change is the unwillingness of adults to give time to Scouting - boy or girl. The typical Troop in this area has an average of less than two active adults. Lack of adult resources means less selectivity ("Is he breathing?") and less exciting program.

Thanks to all who give their time. Please give them some help.
 
Thomas Linton said:
bulgron, the big change is the unwillingness of adults to give time to Scouting - boy or girl. The typical Troop in this area has an average of less than two active adults. Lack of adult resources means less selectivity ("Is he breathing?") and less exciting program.

Thanks to all who give their time. Please give them some help.
Click to expand...

Hi, Thomas- You're right. As a society, we've become very selfish with our time and overly preoccupied with sports and mindless video games. I looked around our troop meeting the other night and we had 7 adults! I'm on a one-man mission to end the unfounded prejudice against fixed blades.

GB
 
i too teach survival to cubscouts and really have fun doing it. the thing that really gets the scouts attention is when we make our own tinder and use a "flint & steel" to light and keep a fire going. in the end when everyone has their small fire going, i put them all in the firepit and we have a bondfire and marshallows.

also taught them to make tent-like shelters with 55 gal trashbags, duct tape and paracord. also taught them about water warmth and signaling along with some other stuff.

my wife is the den leader for both our boys, one's a new Bobcat, the other is just about to enter boy scouts. unfortunatly, there isnt a great deal of help for our pack, the district is short of leaders and administration, so its mostly done by the seat of the pants. but the dens my wife runs really have intersting meetings. the one thing that REALLY torques me off badly is that our school pushed out the pack. we no longer meet at the school which means that it will be harder to recruit. i guess we weren't politically correct. i am not officially a scout ;eader, i just do talks on survival, fishing, safety, etc and help run the campouts. :thumbup::thumbup: for the scouts! - Eric

PS. as for the fixed blade knives, i always take one with me on every outdoor scout function just in case the SHTF. i guess the scouts have a HUGE problem with fixed blades. i dont understand it and wish they would lighten up and not be so PC with the big, bad sheath knives.
 
I was in scouts, all the way to eagle. Not only did it spark a huge love of the outdoors, but it's lead to jobs that I otherwise wouldn't have gotten. Get involved and keep your kids active until at least boy scouts. That's when all the real fun happens, if the adults are interested enough.

The thing that pisses me off the most is how the scouts are now viewed as being "incorrect" or whatever. This is bad for scouts, bad for kids, and bad for the close-minded adults that won't let their children around "bad kids" that like the outdoors.

Oh well, I guess it's just a sign of the times, huh?

And great presentation! I also have all the old SAKs that I won as a scout, through fundraisers, challenges, whatever...
 
Boy, it sounds like issues are the same everywhere... We held a an Executive Committee meeeting yesterday where I accepted the Cubmaster role (if we can't find anyone else by the Blue and Gold). We have a hard recruiting adults as leaders. One of the things that do like about the Cubs is that we hand out folders and multi-tools as awards (in public!) and everone clap and cheers. In this PC world you don't see that much. BTW at the same pack meeting, some of our webloes showed off the sheaths they made (folder sheaths) and their knot boxes, so good stuff is still happening!
 
mneedham said:
I'm an Asst. Cubmaster with my son's pack and we have been doing a series of presentations on wilderness hiking/camping skills over the last few months. I did a presentation on Friday on not getting lost in the woods (I attached a pdf of it). Scouting magazine published an article on the subject based on an interview with Laurence Gonzales (author of Deep Survival) and we based the presentation on that and Equipped to Survive info. A lot of the kids are 7-9 years old so we kept it pretty simple, I was surprised how interested the parents were. We showed examples of kits and equipment, contrasted adult and kids kits etc. A whole lot of fun!
Click to expand...

Hey, that's a great little class. Don't mind if I borrow it do you? We really need to get a sticky on Scouting classes/activities to share. I've been in Iraq for the past 14+ months, so I'm just getting back up to speed with the Scout Troop my son is in. His Pack Leader is a nice guy, but all my son's Wolfpack does is arts and crafts:barf: I can't complain until I start volunteering to teach a few classes and getting more outdoors-oriented activities incorporated...wish me luck. I know my son gets bored with what they do, so I need to get involved more.

Great looking blade BTW!

ROCK6
 
Troop said:
You're doing a good thing for the kids. :thumbup: Hands-on training would be a good idea to follow up with.
Click to expand...

You doing a good job for everyone who needs to know the basics of what one needs and what to do in the event one gets lost mneedham. Good job! :thumbup:
 
firesignalkit7sn.jpg


Ironically, I can't find my Boy Scout pocket knife, but here is my BSA sheath knife. :)

A few months ago I taught a knife safety class to several groups of Girl Scouts. One of the hits for those looking for Cub Scout projects was a carving session after the course using bars of Ivory Soap and plastic knives. Results varied widely, but it seemed that everyone enjoyed the carving. I was in Boy Scouts when I was a youth, but have two girls, the younger of which is still in Girl Scouts.

So Cutlerylover, are you anywhere near Valley Forge, PA? I would love to get you involved in "scouting" out a few pictures of a Girl Scout fixed blade! :D The reason is evident in a prior post I made, which I am going to see if I can paste in here.

I demonstrated batoning to several groups of Girl Scouts with a SWAK (actually the TriFlex). No problems. :hammer-1: :whistle1: :lol:

-------------------------

P.S. As I recall this is the Girl Scout knife my sister had (& has).

http://www.rubylane.com/ni/shops/gumspring...ml/ghs-696#pic1

I want to go here :hyper: :

http://www.worldofscoutingmuseum.org/collection.html

Knives - Over the years, many companies produced official Boy and Girl Scout knives, and many different designs appeared. We have examples of nearly every one of them. And, be sure to see our Girl Scout sheath knife. Most boys can't believe that girls were permitted to have one.
Click to expand...

Here is an interesting article linked on the site:
http://www.scoutingmagazine.org/issues/031...test.html#sbara

If I am ever near Valley Forge, PA, I'm going to try and go. If anyone else is, post some pictures! :)

----------------------------------------
The pasting in worked fine, but I get a red x for my initial image. I'll try again. It was just an extra http, it works fine now in preview. Below is another image including the BSA fixed blade and some other BSA items. (The brass K & M Matchcase, brass reproduction candle lantern, bird call, and deer skin gloves are not from Boy Scouts. The red vinyl case was as BSA fire kit, containing a ferrocerium rod, put together I believe by a troop as as fund raiser.)
p2130012640ed2gr.jpg
 
Mike, that looks like that was a good presentation! :thumbup:

--------------
For scouts in other areas:

scout14.jpg



Scouting Magazine article from the same 2003 issue has a list of Scouting Museums. I believe this picture is from the Dick Lange collection. There is also a mention and picture, in the same issue, of the Tilley Hat.
------------------

The material between the lines is another paste in for the link, in the event anyone is interested. There is, by the way an online index to the Scouting Magazine. I mentioned the Tilley hat as I have one, errrr..., OK, have two, which I appreciate for the brim; as opposed to the cancer ear caps, i.e. baseball caps. Unless one has a lot of long hair covering their ears, one starts to appreciate a brim, after seeing a few ears with the top lopped off by a surgeon. :eek:
 
Rock 6,

Yep, use it. I wold have posted it as a power point but the file was too big.

CitizenQ,

Thanks.

Donald,

Awesome pics. I agree about the sticky..
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top