Update: Well found out the other day the Boys are not going to have there Summer camp this year. Son is really disappointed. So next week they are going to talk about what camp we are going to do locally.




It So looking like they are going to have the summer camp this year! I was lucky enough to spend a week with these boys two years ago and taught them during off-hours to make fire from not-so-normal ways like solar and chemical. Still have not gotten the solar to work yet but will give it another try.

I got to know all the boys very well during that week on the ride down no one said a thing tried to get them to talk but no one would. After the week the ride back up was great these young men look up to me asking my advice on things that ad to do with camping and some with life.

It's been two years now and I want to teach these eager young men more I have until June so if I have to learn it that will be fine. Yet looking for ideas to teach these young men maybe piggyback off one of their merit badges or something new that they can use in life.

Still have the young men talk about how I taught them how to make an emergency fire. I think I'm going to do it again for the new boys. Yet want something new to teach these young men! My mind is drawing a blank for outdoor skills so thought that maybe you all would help me out!

I did have a great time last time I went! Even got a boy who was afraid of the water to kind of swim! Went from standing at the water edge to swimming in the river if I was close. A young man lost his father to suicide when he was only 9. Looking to do more with him this year maybe get his swimming badge.

So please help me out! Get these gears turning! Let me teach these young men something useful.

Maybe get a bunch of cheap four or five inch magnifying glasses from Amazon or Ebay.  If you've got sunshine, you've got fire.

Powdered magnesium is always fun.

Once the fires are built, start teaching them how to cook on one.  With and without cooking utensils.

The one beef I have with the modern Scouting approach is that most troops cook patrol-style on propane stoves.  We were required to camp and cook buddy-style, and to cook over fire.  The only times we were allowed stoves were backpacking stoves on backpacking/canoe trips where fires weren't feasible, and charcoal bush stoves made from #10 cans for where open fires weren't allowed.

Same when I was in the Scouts. You had to have your Totin' Chit and Firem'n Chit to carry sharp things and start fires. We cooked over buddy fires on mess kits most of the time.

For the OP, I would focus on what merit badges the Scouts need for advancement that you can teach/do in the woods, along with asking them what they would like to do.

Teach them practical outdoor stuff.

How to clean a fish, rabbit, squirrel, or bird.

My BIL has been a scout leader for four decades. He didn’t know how to clean or catch a fish.

I used to agree with this 100% I'm down to 87% now, and maybe less.

My Troop, which I took over as SM for 3 years ago, used to do ALL patrol cooking. Under the old SM, kids were prohibited from even bringing their own snacks on outings. Due to Covid, over the last year, we've been able to do mostly individual stuff. I'm seeing tha value in patrol cooling now, and it only partially has to do with learning the technical skill to prepare a meal for a group. Like everything else in the program, what it's for isn't REALLY what it's for.

We all complain that "kids nowadays" have no accountability, don't want to show up for work, only care about themselves, have no ability to work with other people, want everything handed to them, etc. Can you think of a better vehicle to teach all of those lessons, with built-in consequences for poor performance, than putting a kid in charge of planning and cooking a meal or two for a group of his friends? It requires all of those traits we talked about, and the consequences of messing up are pissed-off, hungry friends. And the kid is hungry, too.

We did a patrol cooking at our overnighter last weekend. The kid in charge of breakfast really struggled with it. He didn't do a proper meal plan to start (I had to save him on that one). He had a hard time grasping that HE was responsible for making sure his patrol got breakfast. He kept waiting for other people to do things that he was responsible for. In the end he did okay, but only because his assistant was doing a lot of it. Even cleanup was a struggle - he was clearly not used to being given a task which other people were depending on, and for which a poor performance on his part would negatively affect him AND his friends. That same kid has cooked individual backpacking meals on campouts with no issue.

As for other skills:

Tomahawk throwing. (Yes - this is an allowed activity. You just have to do it safely)

Teach them to make a simple snare or deadfal trap, like the figure 4.  

Make improvised fishing gear: gutted paracord for line, etc.

Be careful with improvised cooking gear. BSA prohibits homemade camp stoves (this rule is so dumb) so be very careful there.

How to PROPERLY sharpen an axe.

Make hammocks out of tablecloth blanks or sheets and paracord, with cheap harbor freight cargo straps for suspension.

Give them a tarp and a pile of sticks and cord, and tell them to make a shelter.

Rope bridge
Cooking on open fire
Make a raft
Build shelter

Some of the things we did when I was a scout in the 80’s

Advise them to quit Boy Scouts (once a great org, now FUBAR) and enroll in a Trade School and learn; welding, plumbing, electrical, machinist skills etc...

Teach them to find animal sign and ID species from tracks.

Get them out in a canoe.

This.

And how to shoot & Fish.

Tomahawk throwing.

I have 6 hawks, so two at a time, throwing 3 tomahawks.  You need a roped off safety area and supervision, just like using axes or saws.

I've also done some "real" orienteering/land nav.  Just knowing what the declination diagram means and that you read a map right and up puts them ahead of 99% of the population.

SUUNTO MC-2 Compass

How to start a fire, starting with logs that are too big/wet on the outside (splitting/baton, fuzz-sticks, tinder shaving, etc).
How to make a shelter with all natural materials.

Knot competitions/building some useful structures.

The Ron Swanson Pyramid of Greatness is the only correct answer.

Knife and axe throwing!! That's something I can really get behind! I have always wanted to know how to do this myself! I have bought the tools but never could master it. That is a great idea!

Also to teach the young men how to sharpen a knife or axe! That is also a great skill as I see many people send knives and axes off to sharpen. Yet to teach the young men how to use a stone and not use the gimmick sharping would also be great! Thanks!

We did a lot of knife throwing in college as a drinking game (I make the shot you drink, I miss I drink, then its your partners turn to throw.)

What works best is the cheap, dollar store steak knives. This goes double for the boyscout troop as you'll need a lot of knives. Ice Picks also work very well. This is also a more useful skill as it teaches them to throw regular knives, not just custom throwing knives.

How to throw:

-Distance from target = 3x adult paces / ~9'

Hold blade like this. Its essential the knife handle remain vertical when drawn back to throw (handle facing ceiling, rather then pointed over your shoulder.)

Note your pinky supports the tip while other fingers form the pinch grip mid blade. You are 'throwing' with a firm forward toss, like throwing a paper ball in the trashcan but harder. You are NOT throwing it hard like a baseball.



Once you get a hang of it, its just as accurate as darts:



And sometimes you can get very accurate with them:


You'll want to bring a 24"x24"x0.5" piece of plywood, and set up some wire on the back for hanging it like a picture frame. Then a nail to nail into the side of the tree for hanging the target. Give the kids some sharpies to make the bullseye design.
Also, some safety goggles are good, as if the kids throw too hard (like a baseball) a knife can come bouncing back.

Obviously, you will want to master this prior to teaching the kids, so they can see you do it well first.

And heres a simple life trick to show them.

Get some Mini Bic lighters, and either gaffers tape of Gorilla tape. Mini Bic = perfect diameter of duct tape.

Gaffers = 24" to diameter of full size bic

Gorilla = 12"

This gives them fire, the ability to repair things, and duct tape / gaffers also can be burned as tinder.



You can also show them that the windguard of the Mini Bic can be pried off with a Dime or Penny, allowing the child safety to be removed. Then the guard can be snapped back into place. This makes the lighter much smoother and easier to use with gloves or cold fingers.

I used to have a troop until my son "Eagled" out. Summer camo is a good place to allow the scouts to earn MB's that are hard to teach otherwise. Use weekend troop camping trips to teach the hiking and  camping skills. If you happen to have "Helicopter" parents going to camp this summer, make sure you keep them in scoutmaster classes all week.

I don't know how old they are, or if this would even be allowed. Maybe you could get some pocket size copies of the Constitution and give each one a copy, and read it when there are no outside activities going on. I'm not talking about forcing one belief about it on them, but discuss what the Founding Fathers had in mind when they wrote it, and what the country had just gone through.

Ridgerunner is the resident Scout guy I think.  He may have some ideas

Learning how to build a fire is great. But while you are at it, be sure and teach them the right way to be sure a fire is completely out when through with it.

Teach them how to change a tire.

Or teach them how to change the oil, spark plug and air filter on a lawnmower.  Then show them how to start it.  

So much hands on knowledge is getting passed over in this Internet driven society.  I like the Internet too but there needs to be a balance.

When I was in a long time ago we made our own tents to use for the first year, then we bought some old Army surplus tents.

1. Fire. They should have learned to start a one-match fire as a Cub Scout, but keep practicing this.

2. Cooking over fire.

3. Knots. Teach them six useful knots and practice those constantly.

4. Lashing. Once they has knots down, learn lashings.

Wood Badge classes are ideal for the parents who can't let go.

If you want to teach them life skills, how about how to fix things? Small engine repair, generator repair, fridge, etc.

How to sharpen an axe or hatchet.  I wish someone would have shown me at that age.

This is so underrated. Very few people seem to be able to do this anymore. I work as a deputy sheriff and run into people all the time that cannot change a tire. It is something that I have always considered an essential skill (perhaps because I've had so many flats) and have a hard time understanding why someone else can't do it. Just last week I was dispatched for traffic control for a guy (in his 20's) who had a flat. I watched as he used his phone and paced around. I asked if he was going to change his tire and he said yes and kind of moved stuff around in his trunk. He found the donut and a jack, but that was about it. He finally asked if I had a jack, since he couldn't find his handle. I wanted to get home, so I grabbed my trolley jack and 4-way and changed his tire for him. I don't think he had any idea how to do it, but was embarrassed to admit it. The youth of today need to be taught this essential skill.

Back on track: I agree with those who say summer camp is for activities and merit badges provided by the camp. Use weekend camp outs for teaching most skills. One thing that still stands out to me from my youth at summer camp was learning how to sharpen knives in our free time. I think there was a bit of cards and light gambling that took place between scouts as well.

I'm heading to summer camp for the first time in 25 years or so, this time as a leader and my son as a scout. It's going to be strange to be on the other side.

Knots.  Square, Bowline, Half hitch, Tautline hitch, clove hitch, sheetbend,

building "camp gadgets" by lashing sticks/ poles together.  Things like tables, tripods for cooking, three legged stools, towers.

How old are the boys in the troop?

I was going to type "knots."

I used three bowline knots on a customer's tarp last week (he was very appreciative).

Two half hitches is my "go-to" I use all the time.

I had to do a sheetbend not long ago for two ropes, different sizes to get one long enough.

Screwed up a clove hitch when I needed it most!

I have to practice my knots once a week again.......haven't been doing that here lately.

****
Fixing a used lawn mower is handy (cleaning and gapping spark plugs, changing oil, new air filter, plus sharpening blades).

Changing flat tires.

Changing car's oil and air filter plus brakes.

Very useful skills.

Handling basic firearms would safe their lives someday.

Making a simple shelter.

Building a fire.

Cleaning and cooking game.

Shoot, a fella could have a pretty good weekend doing any of that stuff.

Man, this post brought back memories.

Had the cooking competition when I was in, and we used the tripod + dutch oven over a wood fire, like in your photo above.

My patrol won the contest. We only told them why we called the main dish 'Rock Soup' after the judging was done (they assumed it was because we were camping in a rocky area).

The real reason was because for whatever reason, someone dropped a rock in the soup while we were cooking. I can't even recall why someone was holding a 7"x4" rock over the pot . It was why there was a little bit of grit in some of the servings, but no worries, we fished the rock out and boiled everything long enough to sterilize it

I'll concur with teaching them basic sharpening with just a stone/flat sharpener.

While learning to throw knives, axes and tomahawks is fun, knowing how to sharpen an edged implement has been way more useful.

I keep a DMT Diafold Duo in my main vehicle and it's come in handy more than once. It also comes along on all backpacking trips (it's small and lightweight). I had a Diafold Fine for ~2 decades and got the Duo version when it was released (Fine grit on one side, Coarse grit on the other).

The diamond coated sharpening surfaces work on everything including all the supersteels with very hard carbides (try sharpening some of those on regular stones).

Having both the Coarse and Fine sides in one tool has allowed me to sharpen just about all kinds of edged tools. The Coarse side is great for quickly reprofiling a really dull edge. Back when the Diafold was only single sided, I did that with the Fine. It worked, but even with the diamond coated surface, it took a LOT longer to reprofile a super dull edge with just the Fine grit.

I've lost count of how many friend's knives/tools I've quickly sharpened over the years (including running out to the car/truck to grab the Diafold to quickly sharpen people's ridiculously dull kitchen knives when we were preparing a meal together).

I'm not saying you need to use these Diafolds. I'm saying that with the basic skills of being able to freehand sharpen edged tools with a stone, you can use things like this to sharpen everything from a super dull rusted old axe, to knives, machetes, lawnmower blades etc.

Nowadays, I don't know if even 1 person in 100,000 knows how to freehand sharpen edged tools, where it was a common thing for men to know once upon a time (and boys were eager to be old/mature enough to be trusted with edged tools and be able to learn how to sharpen them).

look up "Corporals Corner" on youtube.  

Take your pick of content.   Good stuff on there.

Truckers hitch.  One of the most useful knots I know.

Im still have my Totin' Chit 50 years later, we didn't have Firem'n Chit's but I bet they would have made it easier to start a fire.

X87  on limiting the helicopter parents. Call me sexist or whatever but moms are more prone to this. Due to the circumstances we had two moms split time at summer camp. They both would follow their boys around most of the day.

We dads did some training but we also went to the various areas and checked up on mainly the newer scouts the first couple days. We buddied up older scouts with new scouts to help them get where they needed to be.

We all had a great time.

As for a skill - one thing I remember from my short time in scouts is baking potatoes using the clay from the bed of a pond. I would have just eaten them raw but it was neat to learn.

As for changing a tire, my oldest daughter learned during a cold drizzle with my expert tutelage from the comfort of sitting on a chair in my dry garage.
My boys both learned tires and more at young ages.

My youngest daughter has an oil change, lube, and tire rotation coming up in her near future.

Something else you might do is ask them what they would like to learn. Something they come up with may help keep their interest up.

These are good.

I’d add basic orienteering/land navigation.

I used to do summer camp as a scout at Bear Creek Scout Camp around Kerrville Tx growing up, mid 70s-early 80s every year.  Depending on your area and experience of kids

Swimming
Boating-canoeing/rowing
Rifle and Shotgun
Pioneering
First Aid
Orienteering
Cooking
Survival
Fishing
Then around the campfire in the evening-Citizenship

Concur on them all getting there Tote-n-chip card.

CD
Eagle Scout and Scoutmaster

Bass wood carving easy figures if they can play with knives.
You tube has some really easy ones.

Flag making with sail cloth and fabric glue.

Teach them how to sew on buttons.

Teach them how to make M-80s just in time for the 4th of July.

Table salt electrolysis into sodium perchlorate, pottasium salt substitution reaction to form KClO4, Now just blend and ball-mill some aluminum foil... mix up with KCLO4 in the ideal proportions, and stuff into some paper tubes.

Don’t let The Man catch you making fireworks... they won’t be calling them “fireworks”.

Considering what Scouting has become I'd teach them to get the hell out.

Given good leadership, it can remain pretty close to the organization many of us grew up with. A good leader can instill many skills and traits that young men need.

Forget what you hear on late night infomercials and Facebook. The program still has much potential if the right people are being influential.

Get a pre-1984ish Ranger Handbook and teach them all the good stuff in it.

When my son was a cub scout I got roped into taking the den of boys for the afternoon when the pack leader had a family emergency at the last minute.

We had met at a large park that had dozens of twisting interconnecting trails.  We walked around a bit but I knew if I didn't think of something fast I was going to lose them.  I took one of the kids and hid him in the park, equipped with a whistle.  He was instructed to wait a while and then blow the whistle three times- the sign of distress.  I had the other boys find him.  That kept them occupied for an hour or so, as I swapped out kids and places for them to be "lost".  Then it devolved into the "lost" kid making efforts NOT to be found.  By that time the parents started showing up to retrieve their kids, so all in all it was something.

So, consider taking the SAR idea up to their level.  Have one of the adults and one of the scouts get "lost" and using different means (radios, whistle, last-seen location, etc.), have the rest find them.  The more lost you make them, the longer the search time can be.
You can make it an afternoon affair, or even an overnighter two-day thing.  Once the group is together, you can pull in survival methods, firecraft, etc.

They are useful skills- what to do when you get lost in the woods, what to do to be found, how to find lost teammates, and so on.