All Tied Up

A few months ago we started reviewing knots with the boys. It became quickly evident that they had little interest in learning the knots that they needed for rank. Even some of our experienced scouts has forgotten the basics. However, there was no enthusiasm to learning or relearning these knots by any of the boys let alone mastering them.

Enter the Knot Man...

A friend of mine has a fascination with knots. Where some focus on First Aid, or Survival or even camp cooking, there are some people that have a fascination with knots. These individuals can be a Scoutmasters best friend at times like this.

He came over during our next camping trip to show the boys a few fancier knots. Namely the monkey's fist and the lanyard knot. While the intention was that he would only stay for an hour or so, he ended up working with the boys for 3 hours. (which was ok as the temperature outside the camp building was hovering around 10 degrees).

Next he came back a few weeks later to work with the boys on lashings. The end result?

The boys have found some new interest in knot tying both the ones they need for rank in addition to other more fancy knots. We are doing more with the knots in general by also adding some additional knot based projects into the upcoming year. One of the projects we are going to be starting is in support of the idea that a scout is reverent. Namely a rosary. http://www.rosaryarmy.com/?page_id=8
The first week in May brings us to a Catholic, Jewish, Protestant retreat with the Baltimore Area Council. This will be a good distraction during down time with the boys.

While you are looking for ideas check out these sites for some interesting projects that you can do with knots.
Stormdrane's Blog spot http://stormdrane.blogspot.com/
Knot Heads World Wide http://www.khww.net/photogallery.php?rowstart=12
Instructables http://www.instructables.com/

As to the supplies paracord seems to be the best to work with for some of these projects. You want to look for 550 paracord some places to get this cord include:
Supply Captain (http://www.supplycaptain.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=page.Store)
Rope Warehouse (http://www.rwrope.com) email Bob Dollar and request a catalog. Bob can be reached at bob@rwrope.com. RW also has a whole selection of rope working tools, small diameter cord, etc..
Additional vendors and ideas always welcome.