Steven Karoly’s blog Round the Chuckbox features this recipe with a story about camping with his family: After a quick inventory, I realized that flour was in short supply in camp so I prepared the hotcake batter with ingredients on hand. Quick cooking rolled oats filled in for most of the flour. OAT HOTCAKES IN CAMPThese are approximate measurements as I eyeballed each ingredient. For a richer flavor, substitute molasses or dark brown sugar for the white sugar....
Supplement your B.S.A. Hazardous Weather Training with the free National Weather Service’s SKYWARN training. (Rick Jameson suggested this after reading Ten Causes of Scouting Disasters in the Wild – thanks Rick!) To obtain critical weather information, NOAA’s National Weather Service established SKYWARN®, a volunteer program with nearly 290,000 trained severe weather spotters. These volunteers help keep their local communities safe by providing timely and accurate reports of severe weather to the National Weather Service....
A wall cloud like this is never good news. (The storm that followed caused tornadoes, thankfully a good distance from where we hunkered down!) Scouting disasters in the wild loom when things start to get sketchy, the hairs on the back of your neck stand up, you get that feeling that something is not quite right. It’s time to stop, sit down and think. Bravely pushing ahead against all obstacles, having the grit and determination to keep on going, not giving in are all qualities we’d like to see in our Scouts....
Going camping? Go light! Here’s an infographic of the collective wisdom of a number of my favorite authors, Nessmuk, Aldo Leopold, Horace Kephardt, Ellsworth Jaeger and more. Click the go light infographic to see full-size You can get this infographic along with OVER 50 other infographics and helpful PDF documents here If you’d like to print this infographic download the PDF file below BEFORE YOU CLICK THE DOWNLOAD BUTTON Consider joining all the other great folks who have become Backers!...
If you want to serve a memorable campfire meal I can’t imagine a much more flavorful or impressive dish than this paella. Dave Herzog (the chef who developed this recipe) is a real dutch oven impresario – you can get his recipe collections through the Cook’n recipe organizer, this requires purchasing the Cook’n software – something you may consider if you are a dedicated cook. Make sure you like Dave’s Facebook page to keep up with his excellent advice and recipes....
This Pioneering Camp Seat infographic was generously provided by reader and listener Roger Thor Roop – Thank’s Roger! The Infographic is available as a PDF document formatted to print on 8 1/2 x 11 paper. (see the download link below) Get dozens of Scouting resources like this one (infographics and other helpful documents in PDF format) Get the PDF package and support the creation of these resources for $5.00 by clicking the purchase button, $5....
Backpacker Magazine’s Complete Guide to Outdoor Gear Maintenance and Repair is your ticket to becoming a camping gear repair guru. Author Kirstin Hostetter’s well illustrated, carefully explained directions return your investment with the first piece of damaged gear you save. Maintaining and repairing modern clothing, sleeping bags, backpacks, stoves and tents is not a simple as slapping on a bit of duct-tape. You are much more likely to find siliconized nylon, GoreTex titanium and Fastex buckles rather than canvas, brass or leather in a Scout campsite these days....
These incredible pioneering structures built by Israeli Scouts are a real inspiration (here’s the website). Obviously a lot of planning and modeling went into creating projects on this scale. It looks like a tremendous amount of fun doesn’t it? I’ll have to show my Scouts these pictures – who wouldn’t want to build a giant Spongebob or Dragon? I can see how this could turn into a great camping weekend or even a themed camporee....
Freeze-dried food is convenient, lightweight and packs well for extended trips. A hybrid menu of bulk freeze-dried food and grocery store ingredients is a more versatile and less expensive alternative for a patrol or high adventure crew. For our week-long canoe trips we’ve developed a hybrid menu of freeze-dried and grocery store food that our Scouts enjoy. Cost A traditional freeze-dried meal costs about $3-5.00 per serving (slightly less per serving if you can find group sizes)....
A “bend’ in knotting terminology is a knot used to join two ropes. The carrick bend is consider superior in strength and utility to the square or reef knot (which is not classed as a bend). In 1783 the carrick bend was mentioned in nautical dictionary. There are several possible explanations for the name “Carrick”; Ormonde Castle in Carrick-on-Suir shows numerous Carrick bends in its plaster reliefs, Carrick Roads anchorage by Falmouth in Cornwall,England, or the medieval ship called a “Carrack”....
Dan Baker shared an interesting 9 ounce reflector oven idea constructed of titanium foil, aluminum and bicycle spokes. I think this is a great design, it’s lightweight, collapsible and looks like a fun project. I cannot resist taking this on my trips. I have baked pizza, chocolate muffins, bread, etc… with this and it is always terrific! I use silicon baking trays and cups and mainly use ‘add water only’ cake packs and my recipe for bread and pizza dough....
Larry Green (no relation) has an excellent website and blog on the subject of Scout Pioneering: My name is Larry Green and for over twenty years, I’ve been a student of the late, greatly-loved and widely admired Adolph Peschke, author of the (previous) Pioneering Merit Badge pamphlet, and the acknowledged designer of thirty original “boy-sized” pioneering projects. Adolph’s way of presenting pioneering principles and projects is not only informative, but also serves to motivate and inspire....
Richard Francis “John” Thurman (4 April 1911 – April 1985) was Camp Chief of Gilwell Park from 1943 to 1969. In 1943, he introduced the Gilwell woggle awarded on the completion of basic training, and the Gilwell scarf and the Wood Badge beads were awarded on the completion of Advanced Training. Thurman wrote a number of instructional booklets, many on Scout pioneering. The folks at The Dump have scanned many of Thurman’s works and created free PDF versions of them....
I’ve watched Scouts who struggle with the traditional square lashing (especially getting it tight enough) learn the Japanese square lashing quickly and go on to actually building stuff rather than fiddling with lashings. The Japanese Square Lashing is a vast improvement over the traditional square lashing Scouts normally use that involves tying clove hitches. It’s simpler and faster to tie and can be drawn up much tighter. There are three versions of the Japanese square lashing, my favorite is the ‘Mark II’ pictured below:...
In the never ending search for the perfect chuck box here’s another interesting chuck box design by lupinsea found at the Expedition Portal. Looks like a lightweight, compact and functional idea (there’s a video below showing how it is set up. I could not find any plans for this box, so you’d meed to reverse engineer if you’d like to build one. Features Include Table height work surface, 29.5″ high Work surface area of approx....
A minor miracle in the world of knots the icicle hitch won’t slip on a smooth and/or tapered surface (like an icicle). When tied and arranged carefully the icicle hitch is surprisingly slip-free when pulled parallel to the stave or pole or icicle it is tied on. I first learned the icicle hitch years ago in Geoffrey Budworth’s The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Knots and Ropework available on Amazon. Budworth’s encyclopedia illustrates 200 different knots with excellent photographs and clear directions....
The trucker’s hitch is a compound knot that functions as a kind of pulley affording a 3-1 mechanical advantage effectively tripling the amount of pull on the working end. I use the trucker’s hitch when tightening up tarp lines, securing loads or making bundles. See my tarp knots infographic for more tarp knots The hitch begins by forming a loop using a marlin-spike hitch (alternatively you can use an alpine butterfly or just about any loop knot)....
For some reason the amazingly useful zeppelin knot has been forgotten. Like many knots, it is stronger than a square knot, but it is unique in that it can always be untied easily, even after it has been loaded heavily. In other words, it will not “jam”. It is also easy to tie and easy to verify. Supposedly it is called the Rosendahl or “Zeppelin” knot because American airship commander Charles Rosendahl insisted on its use in mooring lines....
Rigging a tarp or dining fly provides shelter from the wind and rain and shade from the sun. I often use a tarp rather than a tent because there’s plenty of room to spread out and they can be rigged in many different configurations. My favorite tarps are tundra tarps manufactured from lightweight, strong siliconized nylon by Cooke’s Custom Sewing. I use brightly colored paracord, it’s terrifically strong, lightweight and highly visible....
Horace Kephart was born in Pennsylvania in 1862 and found his way to Hazel Creek in western North Carolina (later to become part of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Kephart campaigned for and is considered one of the fathers of the national park. He helped plot the route of the Appalachian Trail through the Smokies. Mount Kephart was named in his honor two months before his death in an auto accident in 1931....