How To Make a Plaster Cast of an Animal Track (Illustration)

Tracking is a great skill to have which exercises your Observation and Deduction. Sometimes, though, you might wish to capture an interesting track for you to look at later. Photographs might work, but the 3D aspect is totally lost. The best way to preserve a track is to make a plaster cast of it. This process is simple and inexpensive, and you can keep the preserved track indefinitely. I’ve drawn a short tutorial illustrating this process. I hope you enjoy it! Please leave a comment and share this post via your favorite social media.

Scout On!

The Scout’s Guide to Survival: The Big 5

After a short break from posts here on Scouting Rediscovered, I’d like to pick back up with a post on a very important Scout skill: Survival. The post is a bit lengthy, but I think it will be well worth your time and attention. If you have a subject that you would like to see covered here on Scouting Rediscovered, please leave a comment and let me know! Thanks for reading!

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Perhaps you’ve seen Bear Gryll’s Man vs. Wild or Les Stroud’s Survivorman. The success of these TV shows have demostrated the general public’s fascination with survival skills; the basic struggle of a man to survive amid adverse situations. While most people see these shows as a sort of magic act, where the survivor is a magician performing mysterious tricks; a Scout looks upon these skills as basic must-know information.

Just as magic tricks look simple once explained to the audience, so survival skills follow basic principles that aren’t difficult to learn. However, just as good magicians must practice their tricks many times in order to perfect them, so the survivalist must not simply know ‘how’ to survive, he must have the skills to survive. And these skills take practice to acquire.

In this post, I’m going to share with you the five basic principles of survival, which I learned from the “Tom Brown’s Field Guide” series. This will help you to be prepared to survive by giving you the knowledge you need. It is up to you to practice the skills needed to be a true survivalist.

Why?

A Scout knows how to not only survive, but make himself comfortable apart from civilization.

In today’s world of advanced technology, a Scout may never have to use basic, primitive survival skills, yet the true Scout learns them by heart anyway. Why is this? Well, one of the simplest reasons is that technology can fail or be absent. Though not necessarily common, this happens more often than you might expect.

As I write this, Hurricane Isaac is bearing down upon the Louisiana coast. If nothing else, this serves as a grim reminder of Hurricane Katrina which wreaked its havoc almost 7 years ago to the day. This disaster brought about the deaths of over one thousand people and rendered many years of advanced technology useless. It happened before, it can happen again, and it is the duty of the Scout to be prepared for this.

Another reason that the Scout learns these basic survival skills is what it does inside of him. When a Scout knows that he can survive without any of the comforts of civilization, it gives him a confidence that can’t be gained any other way. Baden-Powell, the founder of the Scouting Movement, put it excellently in his book, Scouting for Boys:

‘Very few fellows learn these things when they are living in civilized places, because they have comfortable houses, and soft beds to sleep in. Their food is prepared for them, and when they want to know the way, they just ask a policeman.

Well, when those fellows try to go scouting or exploring, they find themselves quite helpless.

Take even your sports “hero” and put him down in the wilderness, alongside a fellow trained in camping, and see which can look after himself. High batting averages are not much good to him there. He is only a “tenderfoot”. “

It Starts with the Mind

I want to start by emphasizing the most important requirement of survival: a survivalist mental state and the will to survive. When someone is suddenly thrown into a survival situation, one of their first reactions is to panic, especially someone who doesn’t have any training. This panic instinct is very detrimental to survival and is responsible for so many needless deaths.

The twin to panic is despair. Despair is what happens when somebody looses the will to live. They think there is no possible way to survive, and this fear paralyses them. Survival in a primitive situation is a fight, an it must be looked upon as such. It will need all of the strength, courage, and fortitude that you can muster.

1. Air

It is said that you can live “four minutes without air, four days without water, and forty days without food.” To start with, air is the number one priority in a survival situation. This might seem obvious, like “don’t drown if you want to survive”, but there is more to it than that. This category includes all of first aid and personal health as well. For instance, knowing CPR is a must when trying to help others survive. Also, thought must be given to the blood which carries the air (or oxygen) throughout your body. You must know how to treat wounds and perform first aid for a variety of injuries.

In a hypothetical situation, suppose you were canoeing down the Colorado River one afternoon, when, out in the middle of nowhere, you hit some bad rapids. You try to weather them, but your canoe strikes a rock hidden below the surface and you get overturned. The water is moving so quickly and is so rough that you are constantly being dunked and tossed around. The water throws you against a sharp rock and you get an ugly gash in your arm.

Your first priority is to make your way to the shore and secure yourself again the possibility of drowning. Secondly, you must deal with the gash in your arm. If you started off toward civilization immediately, you wouldn’t get very far. You must first secure yourself against physical injuries.

2. Shelter

The next priority in a survival situation is Shelter. Most people today are used to some form of climate control and live in places with plenty of shelter. This results in our bodies not having built up a natural acclimatization to more extreme temperatures. Death by exposure is one of the most common fatalities among those who are stranded in a survival situation. As Tom Brown explains, “Even a minor drop in body temperature can so adversely affect the brain that it no longer functions well enough to make survival decisions.” This shelter can include clothing and a structure to protect you from the elements.

In the hypothetical situation I started earlier, the next step would be to find some place to shelter. Even in areas that you think have a hotter climate, the temperature can still drop very low at night. In the hypothetical situation, you also have the disadvantage of being dunked in water. This wouldn’t be a problem while the sun is still out, but after it goes away and the water starts to evaporate off your skin and clothing, it will cool you down very quickly. Using what you know about the principles of insulation and building survival shelters, you set to work and finish just before the sun starts to set.

If you’re surviving on a nifty little raft like this one, then water isn’t a huge worry for you. In most real survival situations, however, water is one of the top priorities.

3. Water

Water is our lifeblood. Just one day without water will start to diminish our thinking and decision-making ability. It therefore follows that water is next on the survival priority list. There are many different techniques that can be used to obtain and purify water, but I don’t have the time to go into them now. Let me suffice to say that there is a lot to learn on this subject. Water must be found, it must be in a safe place, it must be collected, filtered, and disinfected.

Obtaining water can be one of the most difficult challenges to the survivalist, as there are many places where fresh lakes and streams are not readily accessible. In addition, water must be made safe to drink, especially these days. Something as small as getting mildly sick from drinking bad water can spell the difference between life and death in a survival situation. One of the most common ways to purify water is by boiling, which brings us to number four.

Fire is one of the most important survival tools; it is useful for so many things.

4. Fire

In situations where frostbite and hypothermia are a significant danger, fire might be higher up on this list of priorities. Among its many uses, keeping us warm is one of the most critical. The reason it only makes number four on this list is because there are times when you can get by without it, and it can be a luxury rather than a necessity. On the other hand, it is one of the most important resources to the survivalist because of its many uses.

Fire can be made from electricity, lighters, matches, sparks, compression, or friction. It is important that a Scout is thoroughly familiar with all of these methods. Striking the flame, however, is only half the battle. Knowing how to structure the fire and prepare its fuel is also vital to know. Fire can be used to warm someone, purify water, make tools, and cook food. Hey, speaking of which, what about food?

5. Food

Food falls last on the list of the Big Five. This might surprise you, but it is important to know that food can be done without for quite a bit longer than the other things on this list. Since the other things on this list are so readily available in everyday life, we tend to take them for granted, no matter how important they are.

If you are going to have to survive for more than two days or so, then you need to start considering what you will eat, but only after the other items have been taken care of. If you immediately start looking for something to eat and overlook securing the other items on this list first, then you are making a grave mistake.

Getting food in a survival situation falls into two categories: gathering edible plants, and hunting/trapping wild animals. Both require knowledge and practice to get good at.

Conclusion 

So, in summary, there are five main priorities when in a survival situation. In order of importance, these are: Air, Shelter, Water, Fire, and Food. There might be times and circumstances where the order of importance of these priorities changes a little, but this will not be the norm.

Thanks for reading this post! Do you have any comments, thoughts, or questions? I’d love to hear them! What do you do to prepare yourself for survival?

I want this to get out to as many Scouts as possible, so please help by sharing this post. You can easily share this on Facebook, Twitter, and etc. by clicking the little icons below this post.

Thanks again! Scout on, my friends!

The Mind of a True Scout: Have a Mind like a Steel Trap, Part 1

In the last installment of my Keystones of a Scout series, Observation, I briefly touched on the importance of being able to remember what you observe. Memory, indeed, is a very important skill to have, especially as a Scout. In order to Be Prepared, we need to learn and remember many important skills such as First Aid, rescue procedures, and etc.

So today, I’m going to start a short series of posts on how to improve your memory.

Keystones of a Scout: The 10 Virtues That Make a Scout | Observation

For this installment of the Keystones of a Scout series, I will be talking about a skill that has been emphasized greatly ever since Scouting was founded. This virtue and skill is very valuable and the mastery of which is one of the marks of a true Scout. What I am talking about is, of course, observation.

Observation of what? Observation of everything! A true Scout is constantly alert wherever he goes and pays attention to the smallest details. This is one of those things that will always be one of the distinguishing marks that shows the difference between a true Scout and the average person.

Rediscovering the Secret Japanese Square Lashing

One of the very first times, if not the first time that the Japanese Square lashing appeared in print was in John Thurman’s Pioneering Principles in 1962. John Thurman was an influential British Scouter who discovered the lashing while on a tour of Japan, hence the name.

This lashing deserves rediscovering! It can shave minutes of time off your normal square lashing tying time. It is easy to to tie, easy to learn, and very secure. In fact, although I still practice and use the traditional square lashing, I have found myself using the Japanese square lashing more and more in place of it.

This is just a fantastic and robust lashing, and I am excited to share it with you today. The pictures and instructions come out of John Thurman’s book.

In order to follow the directions and learn this lashing, you will need to know how to tie the traditional square lashing first and know what the terms ‘wrapping’, ‘frapping’, and etc. mean. So, without further ado, the Japanese Square Lashing! 

Lessons from War Scouts: The 28 Standing Orders of the Army Rangers

Peace Scouts helping out a War Scout

When Baden-Powell founded Scouting over 100 years ago, he modeled much of it after the branch of military Scouting that he helped develop in the British Army. However, when he wrote Scouting for Boys, he was careful to point out that Scouting was by no means a military or paramilitary organization. The aims of Scouting were different from military Scouting.

He made this distinction by describing the difference between ‘war Scouts’ and ‘peace Scouts’. War Scouts had the job of protecting and defending the military and country during war-time by using stealth to gather needed information; and, if necessary, use force in combat. Peace Scouts took a lot of the admirable characteristics of War Scouts and used them to a different purpose. The task of Peace Scouts is to protect and contribute to their Nation and Community, not by force or combat, but by actively improving themselves and actively contributing to and volunteering for the community.

Army Rangers performing a training exercise

As Peace Scouts, there is still much we can learn from War Scouts. To start with, the qualities of Courage and Loyalty that they must posses to do what they do. Some of the real-life War Scouts in America today are the 75th Ranger Regiment, commonly known as the Army Rangers.

The Army Rangers have a history that predates the Revolutionary War, and today, they are actively assigned to such missions as airborne, air assault, and direct action operations, raids, infiltration and exfiltration by air, recovery of personnel and special equipment, and support of general purpose forces.

The Rangers have a series of standing orders that they must always follow and abide by. These rules were originally drafted during the French and Indian War. From the perspective of a Scout, I find this list of rules very interesting, and wanted to share them with you. Besides lessons in Character, this list may also give you the advantage in any airsoft tournaments. Here they are [This list is copied from this Wikipedia article]:

1. All Rangers are subject to the rules of war.
2. In a small group, march in single file with enough space between so that one shot can’t pass through one man and kill a second.
3. Marching over soft ground should be done abreast, making tracking difficult. At night, keep half your force awake while half sleeps.
4. Before reaching your destination, send one or two men forward to scout the area and avoid traps.
5. If prisoners are taken, keep them separate and question them individually.
6. Marching in groups of three or four hundred should be done in three separate columns, within support distance, with a point and rear guard.
7. When attacked, fall or squat down to receive fire and rise to deliver. Keep your flanks as strong as the enemy’s flanking force, and if retreat is necessary, maintain the retreat fire drill.
8. When chasing an enemy, keep your flanks strong, and prevent them from gaining high ground where they could turn and fight.
9. When retreating, the rank facing the enemy must fire and retreat through the second rank, thus causing the enemy to advance into constant fire.
10. If the enemy is far superior, the whole squad must disperse and meet again at a designated location. This scatters the pursuit and allows for organized resistance.
11. If attacked from the rear, the ranks reverse order, so the rear rank now becomes the front. If attacked from the flank, the opposite flank now serves as the rear rank.
12. If a rally is used after a retreat, make it on the high ground to slow the enemy advance.
13. When laying in ambuscade, wait for the enemy to get close enough that your fire will be doubly frightening, and after firing, the enemy can be rushed with hatchets.
14. At a campsite, the sentries should be posted at a distance to protect the camp without revealing its location. Each sentry will consist of 6 men with two constantly awake at a time.
15. The entire detachment should be awake before dawn each morning as this is the usual time of enemy attack.
16. Upon discovering a superior enemy in the morning, you should wait until dark to attack, thus hiding your lack of numbers and using the night to aid your retreat.
17. Before leaving a camp, send out small parties to see if you have been observed during the night.
18. When stopping for water, place proper guards around the spot making sure the pathway you used is covered to avoid surprise from a following party.
19. Avoid using regular river fords as these are often watched by the enemy.
20. Avoid passing lakes too close to the edge, as the enemy could trap you against the water’s edge.
21. If an enemy is following your rear, circle back and attack him along the same path.
22. When returning from a scout, use a different path as the enemy may have seen you leave and will wait for your return to attack when you’re tired.
23. When following an enemy force, try not to use their path, but rather plan to cut them off and ambush them at a narrow place or when they least expect it.
24. When traveling by water, leave at night to avoid detection.
25. In rowing in a chain of boats, the one in front should keep contact with the one directly astern of it. This way they can help each other and the boats will not become lost in the night.
26. One man in each boat will be assigned to watch the shore for fires or movement.
27. If you are preparing an ambuscade near a river or lake, leave a force on the opposite side of the water so the enemy’s flight will lead them into your detachment.
28. When locating an enemy party of undetermined strength, send out a small scouting party to watch them. It may take all day to decide on your attack or withdrawal, so signs and countersigns should be established to determine your friends in the dark.
29. If you are attacked in rough or flat ground, it is best to scatter as if in rout. At a pre-picked place you can turn, allowing the enemy to close. Fire closely, then counterattack with hatchets. Flankers could then attack the enemy and rout him in return.

Well, I hope you enjoyed this post. What else do you think us Peace Scouts can learn from War Scouts? I’d love to hear your thoughts, please leave a comment, and, if you enjoyed it, share this article with your friends.

Scout On!

An Important Decision: The Eagle Project

In the Boy Scouts of America, the Eagle Scout Rank is the highest Rank attainable. The Rank of Eagle Scout has a long tradition of great men and leaders who have earned it. If you want to know more about the statistics and great tradition of the Eagle Scout Rank, this infographic pretty much says it all.

In 1965, a requirement was added to the Eagle Scout rank:

5. While a Life Scout, plan, develop, and give leadership to others in a service project helpful to any religious institution, any school, or your community.

Since then, this Eagle Scout Service Project has come to be almost the defining achievement of the Eagle Scout. The way it is chosen, the subject, the leadership skills it requires, and the amount of work needed to complete it have all been testaments to the new Eagle’s willingness to serve and his ability to lead others.

In my quest to rediscover Scouting, I have come to appreciate this project and the work involved more and more. Currently, I am a Life Scout, and I decided upon my Eagle Project two years ago and have been working on it since. This may seem like quite a long time, and there are various reasons why it has taken so long. But the main reason is the project itself and its scope.

Part of my philosophy of Scouting goes back to the word itself: Scouting. I believe it is part of the identity of Scouting and each individual Scout to explore beyond and push the boundaries of what has been done, and to set a higher standard of possibility as to what is commonly accepted.

That is why I wanted to do something different for my project. I wanted to try something ambitious. As an Amateur Radio Operator , I had known and realized the value of what this group of volunteers does in the field of emergency communication and storm chasing. So I decided to choose a project that would help out this group in assisting and protecting our communities.

I decided on building and installing an Amateur Radio Repeater for my Eagle Project. A Repeater is a radio that is mounted in some high location, who’s job it is to retransmit received signals, thereby increasing their range and effectiveness. The antenna, radio, and other components needed to put together a repeater can cost well into the thousands. I am almost done with this project, and if everything goes well, I expect to finish it sometime this month or the next.

OK, so I’ve shared my story, but this post is not about my story, it’s about yours. What are you going to choose? Have you chosen something already?

Here is cool article from Scouting magazine on how to choose an Eagle Project, but there’s some advice from my own personal experience that I would like to share.

• Number 1#: Choose something you’re passionate about.

You’re only going to have one Eagle Project, and you are going to look back and remember what you did for your project the rest of your life. Make sure it is something you really care about. Make it worthwhile for you. If you choose something that you really care about, it will show in your work, and you will learn the most and help the most.

• Number 2#: Choose something that Challenges you.

I cannot overstate how much I have learned from my Eagle Project so far. There is so much about communication, organization, planing, and etc. that I was very poor at. With the greater portion of my project behind me, I can see how much it has helped me grow and how much it has taught me. Even if you think it’ll be a great idea, don’t choose it if it will be really simple to accomplish. The Eagle Project is not about how little we can do and still pass the board of review, but about how much we can push ourselves and accomplish.

• Number 3#: Shoot for something Big.

An Eagle Scout Project is an excellent opportunity to accomplish big things. There are many, many people out there who love to help Scouts with Eagle Project. I’ve come to realize that being a Scout has a way of eliminating obstacles that anyone else would have to face if they were attempting the project on their own. So take this opportunity do do something significant. Do something that’s permanent and that will keep on serving the community for years and years to come. Do something that saves lives or significantly improves the quality of life. This is your opportunity, and it is a great one. Don’t waste it!

 

So that’s my advice on choosing an Eagle Project. I would love to hear yours! Any thoughts, questions, additions? Please leave a comment! Thanks for reading this post; I hope you enjoyed it!

How can a Scout earn some money?

Getting a job means moving up in the world. You are now starting to be less dependent on others to provide for you, instead, you are working for yourself.

Sometimes, going on camping trips with your Patrol and Troop can take a lot of money, especially when you go often. Does this mean you have to limit your camping trips because of a lack of money? I hope not! Besides the different fund-raisers that your Troop might do like: Selling popcorn and or selling batteries, there are many ways an individual Scout can start to earn money.

A Scout is thrifty! This means that a Scout will avoid borrowing money and work hard to earn and save his own money. One thing is for sure, though, a Scout must be willing to work hard. There might be some jobs out there that a Scout can take that pay good and don’t require a lot of work, but if you want to sit around and wait for those jobs, you will most likely be waiting for ever. Nothing will ever pay off like perseverance and hard work.

So, first of all, I encourage you to keep looking. If you are willing to work hard and take jobs that others might not be willing to do, then you will have a better chance of getting work. For instance, the way I earn money right now is through lawn mowing. I’ve got over a dozen customers that I mow either weekly or every two weeks. It’s hard work in temperatures of over 100 degrees and I’ve got to take precautions against heat-stroke, but it pays off.  However, in order to get this many customers, it took me many hours of going door-to-door passing out cards and talking to people, so you can’t get discouraged if you don’t get anything right off the bat.

I do have some suggestions for some very common and specific jobs that I would recommend looking into to get you started:

• Window-washing. This is something that I’ve done in the past. It doesn’t take expensive gear to do, and a lot of people don’t like to do this for themselves. Just about all you would need to get started is a bucket, water, a squeegee, and some window cleaner.

• Bush trimming. This is a good starter job that doesn’t take a lot of money to get started in. This job also needs to be repeated every month or two, so if you do a good job, people will have you come back. You can buy a pair of bush shears relatively cheaply, and a lot of people are willing to pay for this.

• Weeding flower beds. This job takes nothing by your hands, your time, and maybe a few small garden tools. This is one job that most people don’t like to do. I know I don’t, but I’m willing to do it for some pay, and if you are too, you can get some good money by doing it.

• Mowing Lawns.  This one is a bit more tricky. Unless the customer provides their own lawn equipment, you will have to supply your own. This includes maintaining it, buying gas for it, and transporting it to where the job is. If you have the resources to pursue this one, go for it! It can be a good source of money.

 

Getting a job and earning money is hard work. There is no getting around that. But if you are a Scout, you’ve got the stuff it takes to keep going, and you will reap the benefits of your labor.

When you’re looking for a job, I would pass the word along to family members and friends that you are looking to earn some money, and ask them to help you spread the word. You can say that you are willing to do just about any odd job. It could be mowing lawns, weeding flower beds, trimming bushes, clearing brush, etc. The important thing is getting the word out and keeping at it.

If you do a good job for someone and don’t charge too much, chances are they will mention it to their friends. This will lead to more and more jobs in the future. On the subject of charging, there isn’t a “one-price-fits-all” for these jobs that I can tell you. Each job is different. Some are harder, some are easier, some are shorter, some are longer. Also, the laws of supply and demand will lead to different prices in different areas. Just make sure that you are reasonable. A good job deal is one where both people walk away thinking that it was worth it. It isn’t a “win/lose” game, but should be a “win/win”.

In summary:

1. Pursue a lot of different options
2. Persevere even if it takes a while
3. Be willing to do hard work

Have you gotten some good summer jobs? Do you have advice for things to avoid? I love to hear it! Please write a short comment saying what you do and any advice you would give.

Happy job hunting!

How to Jump Start a Car: Picture Tutorial

A Scout is prepared! That is our motto. It is simple enough, but very hard to carry out. Be Prepared for what? When? The simple answer is Scouts should try to be prepared for anything and everything that they can. In this post I hope to help you be prepared for a very common situation that you might have to face someday with a vehicle .

Motor vehicles have a large battery that powers the electronic components of the vehicle and is necessary to start the engine. Sometimes the battery can run out if a light is left on, or some other reason. Since the car must have power in order to start, you can use a technique called “jump starting” the car to get it started. Once the car is started, the built-in ‘alternator’ in the car will finish the job of recharging the battery as the car is running.

The process of jump starting the vehicle involves hooking up the battery of a running vehicle to to dead battery of the car while starting it. First, I highly recommend reading the manual for your vehicle, and looking over the instructions that come with your jumper cables.

To jump start a car with a dead battery you will need a running vehicle and a pair of jumper cables.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At this point you make sure the car with the live battery is running. Then you start the engine on the car with the previously dead battery. Once you have started the car successfully, you disconnect the cables in the reverse order in which you put them on. Then you’re good to go!

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial! Again I would like to encourage you to read the manual for your vehicle, and look over the instructions that come with your jumper cables. I hope this post was informative and will assist you in your quest to Be Prepared! If you have any questions or comments feel free to leave them in the comment section.

 

How to Tie the Taut-line Hitch: Video Tutorial

The Taut-line Hitch is a requirement for the Boy Scout Rank of ‘Tenderfoot’, and is a very useful knot to know. It is used to add tension to a line. It is often employed to tie down loads on vehicles or set up tents. Enjoy this tutorial! If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment!