Leave No Trace is not simply a program for visiting the backcountry, it is an attitude and a way of life.

I plan to expand this area considerably, I have lots of material to share on this topic.

Here’s one that is pretty good - an extensive powerpoint done on the entire program:

Leave No Trace Powerpoint (large size (35MB) but a very comprehensive, useful download. Credit: Blaine Boxwell, Connecticut Yankee Council)

Here’s BSA’s comprehensive training doc: LNT BSA Training Doc (pdf)

Here’s LNT’s Trifold handout: LNT Trifold Doc

Her’s another good powerpoint (b&w unfortunately, but good intro material):Intro LNT powerpoint)

Here’s a link to listings of LNT Master Educator’s Courses:

http://www.tcfroar.org/boyscoutofamerica2009mastereducatorcourses.html

Here is a cub handout along with a card I created (for reqt 5):

cubscout-lnt.doc

(from LNT.org)

A fun knot that takes just a little practice. If I can do it, anyone can. Here are instructions:

make-a-monkey.doc

Here is the best, simple, one page (2 sided) handout on the most important knots   your troop needs to learn:    boyscoutknotguide.pdf

I’ve tried to introduce this to many scouts including my own son, but never got much traction at all. I even had the Environmental VP of my company on board to be an advisor. 

I am mentioning this to keep the spirit alive. Good luck taking this on.

http://www.scouting.org/awards/hornaday/

This council seems to have something going on this:                                     

http://www.hornadaybsa.org/  

As you would expect, there are many traditional boyscout tunes. Some are worth remembering, some are just really dumb. You’ll find many, many websites with all these tunes in it. Some kids (and adults) like the silly ones and that’s fine.

This website is actually pretty good for things traditional to boy scouts so if you are looking for those type of songs (as well as skits), try this out: http://macscouter.com/Songs/ScoutingSongs.asp

My preference has been to cover a few of these to keep the tradition alive, but I really wanted to introduce to the kids those great tunes we used to sing, like Clementine, Rosin the Bow, Jambalya, Home on the Range, Golden Slippers, Put Another Log on the Fire, etc. etc.  as well as a few old irish tunes I know and love.  A few of these are better sung with a guitar at the ready (and some, if I had to rewrite, I may not include again).

I can’t find the original ppt, so here’s a pdf. We used these at summer camp. It is meant to be copied two sided, folded, and the stapled as a booklet. I was hoping to keep the spirit alive with the kids and do it year after year, but some of the parents in troop 4 were horrible people to deal with and we had to leave. Camp Wah-tut-ca up in NH was a wonderful, wonderful place. Best summer camp I’ve ever seen. Great memories for my son.

lyrics2004.pdf

Funny how kids are. Some remain locked in their boyscout ‘john jacob jiggleheimer schmit’ silliness, others, well, you do make the connection with, and you can tell they appreciate learning something new, interesting, and meaningful. Its a matter of maturity of course and as a scout leader you have to smile and just be there for all.

[Technically, I mislabelled this book. A tune is a song without words.]

I had this idea to have the kids make useful survival kits (that is of course if they ever really needed them). Those Johnny Rambo kits with the fishing hooks and the other misc they will never use just did not make sense. I wanted something as light weight as possible they could easily and always slip into their day pack and know they are hiking safely. Everything they needed to survive 48 hours in the woods and help themselves in getting un-lost.

I was contempting some type of orienteering scavenger hunt with a bit of wilderness survival MB work worked in as part of the building process. The troop committee decided they would rather have the adults assemble and give to the kids for Christmas, which we ended up doing. I’m hoping the troop continues to give out to the new scouts as soon as they make a meaningful achievement – such as the first good white mountain hike.

Logisitically, to do it right, it consumes quite a lot of material for a large troop (we made 45 in the first batch) – and there is cost involved – $16 each, and scouts had to put their own spare knife in (this was a very good discount price and well worth it, thanks to the Natick Outdoor Store for support). We had a very nice Christmas get-together and just worked for a few hours putting these together.  I wanted  a nice velco sleeve that went around the plastic bag holding all the material. I purchased some digital brown camo material cut it, sewed it including the velco, sewed the troop numeral on it, and had ready for this meeting. It took weeks. I don’t think anyone realized how much effort went into these. I hope the kids value and keep for a long time.

You have to do this right or what’s the point. I started with this vision of a small Altoid’s mint tin, but you can’t get anything inside that. I wanted the scouts to have a really useful kit. I did want the cost, weight, and size to be minimized as much as possible.

The survival kit comes up in the Wilderness Survival MB requirements. I have not taught this again since, but hope to work it all in.

Here are two card I made up to include in the kit as well as the supply list -

survival-card.ppt

still-need-to-include.ppt

survival-kit-supplies.xls

If you still want to try to do this in an altoid tin, here are instructions: altoid-survival-tin.doc

This is probably one of the best sites for map reading I have ever seen. Lots of downloadable powerpoints. The author also covers the use of the military compass (brings back old memories).

Scouting in my view does not adequately cover land navigation and compass work. Some time ago it was decided that scouting would cover orienteering, not map & compass. There is a distinct difference.  Orienteering is more map/terrain reading oriented. Orienteering itself is a spirited game where the objective is to get to relatively close control markers as fast as possible (compass work is not a big part of it). Orienteering is a lot of fun and there is challenge and map work involved, so I understand the switch. Furthermore, there really is very little time to cover map & compass in much more detail and by in large, most scouts don’t go out on remote, off trail, wilderness backcountry excursions. Those few that do have acquired these skills somehow. I’d like to see kids really learn about declination diagrams and the use of the protractor to develop azimuths and plot coordinates. Frankly, I think most scouts want to be better at compass use then they are. 

 http://landnavigation.org/

I had posted this previously – I will keep it up as it covers the more familar plastic compass. This is not mine, it came from someplace on the web. It is a start but not that good (yet). Take it and run with it if it helps. Send me back an improved version. I’m sure others can use.

map-and-compass.ppt

Here’s a helpful doc from the Purdue Outing Club:

orienteer.doc

Pioneering in many places is not like it used to be. You can’t just go and cut down trees anymore. Furthermore, the risks and liabilities are threatening, as is the cost for all the rope needed. Nevertheless, there is a time and place for this great scout activity.

There are a few free scout books floating around the internet, here are two that are better than most (the color one is from the Irish scout association).

scoutengineering.pdf

pioneeringprojects.pdf

The monkey bridge is probably the most common and really the most interesting project to take on. The books above provide a good resource to help you build one. If I come across something better that is more specific I will post. One trick to a good bridge is getting the large X end supports to incorporate small Y splits near the tops to hold up the guide ropes.

Note the monkey bridge is covered in the Guide to Safe Scouting, specifically:

Rope Monkey Bridges

When constructing monkey bridges, observe the following safety rules:

1. Always follow the steps for constructing monkey bridges outlined in the Pioneering merit badge pamphlet.

2. Before beginning the project, inspect your rope, looking at both the inside fibers and inner strands. Know the size and strength of the type of rope you are using, and its safe working load.

3. Monkey bridges should not be constructed higher than 5 feet above flat-surfaced ground nor longer than 40 feet. Initially, beginnersshould not span more than 25 feet.

4. Know the effect the knots will have in reducing rope strength and the proper care that rope requires.

5. Rope, especially rope carrying a load, should be checked each day before using. Rope carrying a load and left in place tends tobecome slack from fatigue and will break under stress. Tighten rope as necessary to maintain the integrity of the original construction.

6. Exercise special care when members of the public are allowed to use these monkey bridges. Establish controls when monkey bridgesare constructed outside the camp environment. Station Scouts at each end to control access to the bridge. Allow only one adult at atime on the bridge. Never allow unaccompanied children on the bridge. Shut down the bridge when any repairs are being made and donot reopen until the adult leader has approved the repairs.

7. Any activity on rope swings, monkey bridges, slide-for- life, or similar devices that are located over water must comply with SafeSwim Defense.

I always thought that this would be a cool MB for the kids to get. The merit badge goes hand in hand with the Bugler position in the troop. Of all the positions, I thought this one was a real badge of honor as it took some skill to achieve. All the other positions require just time in service and a willingness to do one’s best. I bought a bugle off ebay to try to get the boy’s inspired to play. ($35 or so - $20 for the bugle, $15 for shipping direct from India). I brought the bugle, music, and cassette tape to meetings, and with my musical background, I thought I could connect with a few kids and teach them.

Unfortunately, the bugle is a very difficult instrument to play and few kids really want to spend the time learning this from scratch. Seriously, don’t kid yourself, it is not the same thing as playing a finely tuned valved trumpet. Those kids who take trumpet in the school band are probably the only kids who will want to take on this challenge.   I would seek these kids out and talk to them about the special opportunity here they may be interested in.  Encourage them to pursue this on their trumpets. You may want to find an old beatup trumpet on Craigslist or ebay (or a cheapy new) for scout camp. My thought was to have the bugler do some leatherwork on it and make it old-school looking.

Here is a ppt file of all the music for you to download. This came from usscouts.org, probably the best scouting support web site I know of. Their site also contains midi and mp3 files for the music. It clearly states for these audio files they are not for redistribution, so while I am trying to stay away from links (they need mantaining), I have to give you this one.

bugle-calls.ppt

http://www.usscouts.org/usscouts/mb/mb032.asp

You have to be prepared for several different type of camping excursions. Often you need to unload your car and tote your gear into the woods quite a ways. You know, the treks halfway between backpacking and car camping.

I came up with this idea to buy these garden wagons as patrol carts. We had a few of those wooden old-school,  large, heavy, mess boxes, but these were really inefficient in many ways.

We outfitted these wagons with these 1/2 size shovels I found at Sam’s Club, our axes/saws, climbing ropes hung off the sides, and patrol flag/identification material, among other things. 

t-minus-275-days.ppt

This one focuses on initial information to relay:

philmont-parents-night.ppt

Here is a very comprehensive set of Word docs covering all aspects of Philmont. This comes from a friend who has done it all.  Philmont Prep Complete Doc Set Download