Infographics

With apologies to my past and future tent mates I offer this slightly risque, yet truly funny infographic from the Adventure Journal via Walter Underwood

Any good outdoorsman knows how to make a fire in the rain. Once you’ve mastered the skill of building fires when the weather is dry you’ll want to hone your skills for starting a fire when the weather goes bad. The infographic explains a few strategies for getting a fire going when you have nothing but a match and no fire starters. I always carry fire starters but I won’t use them unless it’s absolutely necessary, I’ll save them for an emergency or when it’s otherwise impossible to light a fire without them....

This ranks pretty high on my list of Scout games. On a recent trip we retreated to a cabin for a few hours when it started raining. The Scouts played this game too many time to count! The scenario presented to them is that A highly radioactive isotope has been discovered and it must be contained before it contaminates the area(!) Each participant has a square of cardboard from a cereal box....

The constrictor knot is a way of making a secure, temporary or semi-permanent binding (it’s a good temporary whipping for a rope, closing a bag, or holding a punch of poles together.) A close cousin of the clove hitch the constrictor knot adds an additional crossing of the ends under the full wrap. It’s easy to learn with a little practice. Once drawn up tight the constrictor knot jams and may have to be cut to release it....

There are many ways to start a fire, and every experienced camper will have their own favorites, but here’s my list of top ten fire starters: Good strike-anywhere matches are increasingly difficult to find. I stock up on my favorite brand (Redbird from Eddy Match in Ontario) when we are in Canada for our canoe trips. Here’s another brand at Amazon with good reviews if you have trouble finding them elsewhere....

Give this pioneering-themed game a try. An alligator infested river, a few Scout staves and some ropes, one Scout must get across the river without feeding the alligators! 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!...

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!...

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....

The Thurman Throw, named after Scouting’s own John Thurman, is a great game recommended by Walter Underwood Equipment: For each patrol, a Scout stave or broomstick handle. Procedure: The patrols line up in relay formation, with the patrol leader of each holding the stave about 5 feet in front of them. On signal, he tosses the stave to the first Scout in line, who tosses it back to him and ducks down....

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”....

A simple camp seat made from a piece of closed cell foam will provide a bit more comfort around camp, you can recycle an old foam sleeping pad or buy a new one to share with two friends. Either way you’ll have a cheap, lightweight camp seat, a dry place to stand when you change your socks, a tabletop for games or cooking, and you can even roll it up into a pillow....

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)....

The merit badge blue card serves many purposes: Certifying the unit leader has helped the Scout locate an approved counselor. Tracking requirements completed Checking that the badge was recorded and presented Serving as a record for the Scout, counselor and unit that the badge has been earned Here’s a basic look at the process of earning a merit badge and how the blue card is used along the way. The official name for the blue card is “Application for Merit Badge” and it consists of three parts....

Take this sky tour infographic with you and the next time you are out camping take a few minutes to conduct a tour of the circumpolar constellations. You’ll learn two methods of finding the north star and how to identify the constellations along with some astronomy facts and folklore. Whenever we have good seeing conditions I try to take the time go through the visible constellations with Scouts, they get pretty good at identifying them once we’ve done it a few times....

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....

Youth leadership goes through developmental stages. As youth become more capable and adults more comfortable with these capabilities higher levels of youth leadership are possible. Can you find your troop on the ladder? Where would you like to be? What do you need to do to get there? Scouting places the responsibility and authority to lead on the Scouts , we need to keep out of their way, and supply the resources they need to get to the top rung....

Here’s fifteen thoughts for Scout leaders that I hope you find helpful. 1. Trust the Program. 100 years of proven results – Follow it! Seek to understand and embrace changes. 2. Conduct Activities that are Age Appropriate. Respond to the specific needs of each developmental stage: don’t push Scouts into activities for older, or hold them back in activities for younger Scouts 3. Be prepared to work with different family standards and expectations....

I am not a scientist, so tell me if this makes sense. There are about 40,000 Scout troops in the B.S.A., they go camping (this is a very conservative average) of six weekends a year. 40k * 6= 240K weekends I’d guess, conservatively, that two-thirds of these troops own stoves or lanterns that use disposable gas canisters or disposable propane cylinders. 60% of 240K = 144k weekends The average troop has 20 Scouts....

Here’s a simple formula for how to build a campfire, it’s easy to remember. (here’s a video that illustrates the technique) ‘Gather’ and ‘Build’ are the key concepts: GATHER …everything before you strike a match. The sizes and amounts are rules of thumb, don’t over-engineer things. For some reason my Scouts always seem to break the sticks they gather into tiny pieces, keep them close to the sizes specified and you’ll have a better chance of succeeding....

Don’t assume your Scouts know how to sleep warm while camping, it’s important to instruct them and be sure they are properly equipped. In especially cold weather changing clothes before getting in a sleeping bag can make a big difference, as can having a pair of loosely fitting wool or fleece socks just for sleeping. Sleeping bag insulation will be compressed when it is packed ss fluffing it up and redistributing the insulation is important....