Skillzzzzz and kids.

HAKnPocket

HAKnPocket

Joined
Mar 2, 2008
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OK so in the last few months I have been trying to practice my outdoor skillzzzzzzz. I have been able to make a few different traps, fire with a steel, collecting fatwood, and last but not least bow and drill happenings. I can get smoke, I can get char but no coal or ember. I have been using cedar as my practice wood. Any tips on wood choice? Also I have been thinking of different materials to use as a socket. I have seen the bearing set ups and antler sockets but I was thinking, would a metal spoon work? This is one of the areas I have been struggling with. I am not just getting smoke from the board but from the socket as well. I was thinking that the spoon would get hot but by insulating it with my bandanna it may work. Enough about fire.

Traps are fun... I am a high school agriculture teacher in a rural area and have been able to incorporate some skills into a class a time or two. Its really cool to see a kids eyes light up when they get a trap or something to work. Here is a picture of their work using items from the room to create the back breaker trap that was shown last week.

IMAG0042.jpg


I know its not outdoorsy but at least they got the concept. It worked well and then they wanted to go out and build one, but the weather was pretty bad. I have been able to incorporate fire craft, traps, knots, food id, navigation, and shelter building materials into my Natural Resources class. Any other cool things I can take to the classroom? When the weather gets a bit better I plan on trying to add some other cool stuff to my class. The projects or ideas just need to allow them to succeed. Enough rambling...
 
Outstanding. First, thanks for being a teacher.

I grew up in the very rural South, and had 3.5 years of vo-ag in high school. Lots of FFA involved there too. State Farmer. District officer. Somewhere I still have the cool corduroy jackets to prove it. :p We did a lot of hands-on stuff in vo-ag. Lots of shop time, including woodworking and welding. Lots of farm time, including all manner of judging (plants, soils, animals) and the one that stuck with everybody--pig castration day.

Even though I went down a very different path eventually, I wouldn't trade those classes for anything. Sounds to me like you're integrating a lot of cool curricula into your lessons, and I'm glad to see it.
 
On the fire question... I'm a novice, but Moose did advise me that, to get the wood good and dry, one could even try "cooking" it in a low-set oven. And I recall Ethan posting that the white parts of cured red cedar work better. This may be why some folks prefer white cedar to red cedar. As for the spindle tip and socket, mine is pretty glossy and smooth in the little kit I made. I used green vegetation (Moose suggestion) and spit to lubricate the socket. Later on, when playing with the kit, I've used dish soap, which seemed to work well. Been thinking about using a chunk of deer antler that's been hanging in my storage barn forever.
 
I just wish I had a shop. I have been at this school for five years, starting the program back up from a 20 year hiatus. The shop was given to the new wood shop teacher when the program dissolved and being a rural town there is no money to build a second shop. Boy would it be nice to weld and do some traditional ag. hands-on activities with my students. As for the blue jacket. Mine is hanging up in my classroom and our FFA is slowly getting started. It pretty hard to get kids to realize they don't look stupid in official dress. State convention helps a lot though.
 
Map skills seemed to keep our kids attention at our latest Troop meeting. A good topo map and a decent compass and how to use 'em, as well as the explanation on declination could make for a good learning experience.

I might suggest some of the merit badge projects they have for scouting. A good number of the merit badge books are available online for free, and there are a ton of projects out there. There are also a ton of projects on various BSA sites that are a lot of fun.

One of the things they have to do for one of their rank requirements is use various knots to make a "camp gadget" and my favorite one so far is the "weather rock".

Imagine a tripod with a rock hanging from the middle.

If the rock is wet, it is raining. If it is swinging, the wind is blowing. If it is white, it is snowing. And if it glows, it is nuclear fallout. Kinda fun IMO.
 
ah, there's no Becker's in that picture, shoop some in quick!

nice little trap there. have to try those out soon.

nice, make a fire bow with a pencil :> well, at least the drill part ;)

"make fire with items commonly found in the office"
 
I like the idea of map skills, Derek. Just don't lose a kid, HAKnPocket. :D Seriously, a lot of educational research right now is looking at so-called "spatial intelligence" (with some serious NSF grant dollars), and researchers are finding that many students lack the basic mechanisms to translate from two-dimensional maps to three-dimensional spaces. Cultivating those skills would be quite admirable and could benefit students for the rest of their lives.

I was also thinking about shelter building and woodworking. Any chance you could round up some hand saws/folding saws and do a more ambitious shelter build?

On a smaller scale, in the RAT forum right now, there's a challenge to build an emergency trundle (or "transport stretcher") from natural materials. This seems like a project that kids could work on in teams and then have a little competition to see whose stretcher works the best.

I'm years and years out of FFA, but I wonder if the contests/competitions offer you ways to incorporate outdoor skills. I remember being on cattle judging teams, horticulture teams, soil judging teams, etc. Horticulture, in particular, seems connected to valuable plant identification/taxonomy. In addition, I remember doing pace counts (another spatial skill) and quite a bit of woodland assessment on a soil judging team or two. Does FFA still have forestry team competitions? There's another possible outlet for bringing in outdoor-oriented material.
 
DerekH said:
Map skills seemed to keep our kids attention at our latest Troop meeting. A good topo map and a decent compass and how to use 'em, as well as the explanation on declination could make for a good learning experience.

I might suggest some of the merit badge projects they have for scouting. A good number of the merit badge books are available online for free, and there are a ton of projects out there. There are also a ton of projects on various BSA sites that are a lot of fun.

One of the things they have to do for one of their rank requirements is use various knots to make a "camp gadget" and my favorite one so far is the "weather rock".

Imagine a tripod with a rock hanging from the middle.

If the rock is wet, it is raining. If it is swinging, the wind is blowing. If it is white, it is snowing. And if it glows, it is nuclear fallout. Kinda fun IMO.
Click to expand...

In Florida, we say: "If it's missing, it's a hurricane."
 
Hak, cedar is the best, IMO, for a bow drill, others will argue that its not, but it does work very well. Even fresh cut Cedar will work, doesn't have to be seasoned, but it works better if it is. If your bearing block is getting hot, not warm, but hot, then you have too much friction at the top and your energy is being divided between two points. Green vegitaton is what I use as a lubricant in the field, and it works well.

Good lookin trap, I bet the kids had a blast. Check the thread in the Becker forum called Ethan's December Challenge and Becker Bow drill. They should give you a good headstart on building a functioning bow drill kit.

Moose
 
Hak- Thank you for taking that trap lesson to the kids you are teaching! Getting the next generation interested in traditional woodsmanship is what its all about. Keep it up!
 
We have done the back breaker, spilt ring, and L7. I am going practice the fig.4 and the paiute before taking it to them. But heck I just remember I get a completely new group of kids next week. Oh well maybe I can work this stuff into my small engine repair class this semester. :)
 
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