Posted: 1/21/2008 11:01:17 AM EDT
Friday night I took my Boy Scouts out for a survival night. We all put together survival kits and we trained them up for approximately three weeks prior. I have pics and descriptions of all the items in my kit that I used as an example for the boys. (we are still building on this part)  1. Nalgene bottle 32oz. 2. Firesticks from Wal-Mart 3. Cotton balls soaked in Vaseline 4. Army issued cravat 5. 4 4"X4" non stick pads 6. Spyderco rescue Jr. 7. 1st Aid supplies (4 alcohol, and iodine swabs, 10 bandaids, 4 2"X2" guaze) 8. Water Purification tablets with PH balancer for better taste 9. Generic Excedrin tablets 10. Fishing kit, Duct Tape, Pen and Paper 11. 30' of 550 cord 12. Ligher and Whistle 13. 2-30 gallon trash bags Everything was on track for a nice night out. Friday morning was approx. 45 degrees and rain, temps dropped slowly all day into the night but the rain persisted. Fire making was a bit tricky this time out. Found some downed logs and ripped off bark to find dry stuff. Firesticks and Cotton balls were used and both worked great. Everyone stayed by the fire for dryness and warmth. Temps hit 30 by midnight. No shelters were used, just sleeping bags and the 97 cent ponchos in most of the kits. Woke up at 6AM and I set off to find some food. I ended up shooting a few squirrels. The boys had no problem with skinning them since they were hungry. After breakfast we went to the river and tried to set out fishing lines. I allowed the boys to be on their own on this one...needless to say, no fish. We then set out to teach snares. 50% of the boys did it right. Our next block was orienteering. All points were trees in a 800X1200 meter field. Moderate success. First Aid training rounded out the day with pressure dressings, tourniquets, and splints. Very successful block of instruction! All water for the day was purified out of the river and it was not half bad. Our next outing will solidify some of these points and we will be building shelters also. After this outing we will be done with the merit badge. The most valuable lesson was to show them what they packed was either a waste of time or a good idea. Many boys are having to compltely rework their kits. When all was said and done, great campout, good times, and a surprise chicken and rice dinner in the crockpot awaited them. |
what kind of shelters did y'all set up?
| Those are decent kits..I teach my boys to survive in all seasons we did one last year with the bottle kits in winter needless to say IMO Shelter is #1 priority it will get you out of the elements regardless of what it is ..then water ..most the boys did fine bunking up 4-5 in shelters..we do a prettty killer Klondike derby every year too. |
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When my oldest was a scout, they learned wilderness survival as well since the troop was primarily a backpacking troop averaging a trip every 6 weeks or so. They had 2 survival weekends a year; one in the summer, and one in the winter. They made debris shelters which had to withstand a man's weight, and they had to sleep in them that night, so they were motivated to make them as waterproof as possible. at night, they would play a game where the boys would hide in the woods, and had to make it to a specified location without being spotted by the scout master who sat with a flashlight. after a while, they got pretty stealthy with several of them (my son included) resorting to wearing camo. The boys always looked forward to their survival weekends. I applaude the OP's efforts and agree that not enough kids these days don't know what the hell to do if they don't have a Mcdonald's in sight. |
| I also make it a point to go every year with my boys.now 9 and 5 for a survival overnighter.. we have alot of fun & the girls want to go this year.. I did a 2 week survival trip and a 1 week survival trip when I was younger..that was a blast !! lost 19 lbs on the 2 week one.. |
Some of the teenagers around here could use that weight loss program. Bill |