On my honor, I will do my best to do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law; To help other people at all times; To keep myself physically strong, mentally awake and morally straight........... A Scout is Trustworthy, Loyal, Helpful, Friendly, Courteous, Kind, Obedient, Cheerful, Thrifty, Brave, Clean, and Reverent.

Wednesday, February 14, 2018

Recap of January/February Fundamental Skills Development

A quick note of thanks to Mr Aleks Nowiski for his work since January to work with the scouts on their fundamentals. The goal was to practice these,  just like any sport or skill, and to work on mastering them, which will be an ongoing process through your sons time in Scouting.  

Aleks was assisted by Mr. Jim Aieta, Mr. Chuck Nardo, Mr. David Chase, and Mr. John Reichardt, and others, and this effort helped lay the groundwork not only for the Klondike Derby in January but for competitive exercises within our group.

Great fun was had by all, and you should ask your son to discuss and describe the things he's been learning.



A week to week breakdown of the curriculum is below


Week 1 & 2 
Warm up activity: bowline practice. 

Cold weather first aid. Wilderness hypothermia and frostbite prevention and treatment. 

The science of fire. The fire triangle. The chemistry of matches. Proper use of matches. Fire safety. Boiling water. DIY outdoor cookware options. 

Types of emergency cold wether shelters. Using a snow saw. Igloos, quinzee and snow trench shelters. 

Scouts broke into teams and competed for fastest time. Dug snow trench shelters and lined them with space blankets. 

Teams competed for fastest time to build fire, boil water and make enough hot cocoa for each of their team members. The Scout's wood fires beat a propane burner

During the second week focus remained on these skills, including work on knots and three man snow shoes. This was an optional meeting (Martin Luther King Day) and we did not run a full program.


Week 3
Wet weather/survival firestarting. Finding dry wood in wet conditions. 

The importance of proper tinder preparation for no match fires. true flint and steel vs. ferrocerium rod (firesteel). How to process birch and cedar bark. How to combine a short burning "flash tinder" like cattail fluff with a fire extender such as dry grass in a "bird's nest"

How fatwood is formed and how to find it in the wild. Fatwood's advantages over magnesium bar: longer burn time, ease of making shavings and easier to ignite. 

Being Prepared by bringing a tinder supply in case of emergency. DIY survival firestarters. 

Review knife safety. 

Feathersticks. Making tinder by shaving wood. The importance of being able to control your knife. Igniting feather sticks with a ferro rod. 

Making survival  kindling by battoning the knife. Different types of knife construction and grinds. Benefits of full-tang and Scandinavian grind for bushcraft. 

The scouts then practiced batonning and feathersticking using a variety of different types of knives. 

The Mors Kochanski twig bundle method. The bundle can be prepared under a shelter and then lit by being held off the wet ground. Scouts then constructed their individual twig bundles and sisal fiber birds nests. 

The Scouts then went outside in a light rain and competed to light the bundles with the fewest amount of matches. As a final challenge they used fire steels to light their sisal. 

The Troop 2 Klondike team went on to win 1st place in the fire starting competition that weekend. 

Week 4 

Scouts were issued their  Mora  Robust Pro knives. These durable knives have the Scandinavian grind best suited for wood craft.  A troop quartermaster was designated and each Scout received a numbered knife that they will be responsible for maintaining throughout their career in the troop. The knives are collected after each class.  

The Scouts challenged themselves by carving feather into chopsticks and Popsicle sticks. Then they learned how to carve three important notches. The seven (tent stake), log cabin and pot hook notch. 

Week 5

The last week we learned how to connect wood without cordage or glue by carving dovetail joints. 

The Scouts then broke into teams to construct geodesic Popsicle stick catapults. Scouts learned engineering concepts,team building and problem solving strategies. Then they tested their creations in head to head battle!