Scouts are back at the hall this Thursday night the 25th Feb and this is definitely not a night to be missed, we will be making fire, Man vs. Wild style!
Yes, one for the pyros, making fire, but with a twist (really!), you will use no matches, lighters or accelerants of any kind, just natural materials which you will need to locate and bring with you beforehand.
If ever you are ever caught out in the bush with nothing, then this is a good survival technique that could get you warm, cook some tucker, keep the mozzies away and light a signal fire, knowledge worth knowing and could save your life!
Attached is a list of materials you will need to locate over the next few days to bring with you on Thursday evening. We will likely not have spares, so you will need to get these beforehand if you want to build the tool to light your own fire.
But in summary required is:
A small pocket knife, or knife capable of whittling off the end of a small stick.
Heavier, well dried sticks of about 300m long and 20mm thick which will be a source of ignition material, so, they need to be very dry and not green.
A less dried, greener and more flexible stick of about 400mm long and 15mm thick, which is capable of bending into a bow without snapping.
A length of braided cord about 1 metre long and 4mm thick, such as heavy boot lace or blind cord.
So you can apply pressure to a spinning stick with the palm of your hand, Dave suggests a strong sea shell (like a mussel shell) or perhaps even a steel bottle cap or soft drink cap may suffice.
Perhaps also bring a small amount of some dry tinder material such as dried long grass, coconut fiber or hessian that can easily ignite from a small spark.
That’s it, so get out collecting!
If you have some friends who might like to try out scouts, then invite them along as this will be a great activity for them to experience, but do let them know the list of materials to bring.
Lastly, not related to the fire making, but I would need to know who might be available and wishes to attend the overnight district camp at Kariong planned for the weekend of the 13/14th March.
So we can plan resources and equipment for this, I would need to have an idea of definite numbers of attendees this Thursday night, so if you could please discuss with your parents to determine availability if you wish to go and let your patrol leader know on Thursday, that would be great.
See you Thursday, oh, we will have some visitors too, so full uniform please (for those that are members).
Musca.
