The Ropes and Poles Blog features a friction lock table design that I am anxious to try: “Friction locks the whole table together. There is one rope stopping the entire thing from spreading out and falling apart, running across the table (from left to right,under the table top). No lashings are used at all in this construction.” I have seen friction bridges but adapting the concept to build a table is a new one on me....
I put this pioneering book together for our scouts when we were working on pioneering merit badge. Knots, lashings and methods that were absent from or poorly explained in the official merit badge book are included. The average merit badge book is rather dismal; hopefully this one is a little more engaging. The booklet includes the revised requirements as of 1/06 The PDF is set to print the booklet on 8 1/2 x 11 paper, two sides, folded in half and stapled on the spine....
Campfire building can be an elusive skill. Books show us tidy pictures of tepees and log cabins, extol the merits of exotic fire starters and generally make the job unnecessarily complicated. This little film explains how to collect the three things needed to build a fire; tinder, kindling and fuel. Gathering the right kind of material in sufficient quantities assures quick, reliable campfire. Here’s a campfire building infographic that explains the method....
Kneel always when you light a fire – John Oxenham Sit at your camp fires conscious that it gives us more than heat and light. We have passed on the simple skills required to kindle a warming flame for millennia. We are united with the past around this common hearth gazing into the embers, dreaming dreams. Archaeologists study centuries-old fire pits. Evidence of fire remains for tens of thousands of years – use it reverently knowing that the signs it leaves will long outlive us....
Towers are tired, bridges are boring, camp gadgets are colorless, tripods are trite. Here is something new in improbable pioneering design. Please send me pictures of your completed structure.