Wilderness survival with scouts

[finallyME]

This last weekend, I took the scouts out to work on the wilderness survival merit badge. One of the requirements is to build a shelter and sleep in it. We went to a spot that we went to 2 years ago that is lightly used and heavily overgrown with lots of dead debris. It is located in the National Forest. I gave each boy an emergency blanket with the instructions to incorporate it into the shelter in between layers. I also gave them some instruction on how to build a debris shelter without using tools or cordage. I even offered prizes. First place was a stainless water bottle, and a Mora 511. Second place was a Mora 511. Third place was a stainless water bottle. Also, each scout, regardless of how they built their shelters, received a ferocium rod and a magnesium rod to add to their survival kit. We arrived at the location around 1 pm and they had the rest of the afternoon to build. Here are some pictures of the shelters they built. Just remember in your critique, these are 12 year olds. This was their first time doing this, and most are still learning what it means to put in hard physical labor. So, here are the shelters.

This first one is the winner of first place. There were two boys (cousins), and they had to decide how to split the prize.
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Here is second place.
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Here is third place. The first picture is the "in construction" phase.
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Here is 4th place. This was done by an 11 yr old.
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And here was 5th place.
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There were 3 more shelters that were started, but the boys simply gave up. I had brought a few tents in the event this happened. I was a little disappointed with one of them. He is 15 and came with us 2 years ago, and basically did the same thing then. I was hoping he had matured a little more. I even showed him his original shelter half finished and encouraged him to finish it. Oh well.
For dinner, I brought a live rooster. I showed the boys how to kill and skin it. Then I made Chicken Fetticcini Alfredo while they finished their shelters.
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Anyways, around 1 am we had rain come it. It rained for 2 hours. I got a little worried and went out to see how they were doing. I was glad I had hung a glow stick above each shelter. It sure helped finding them in the dark rain. Anyways, all the boys were dry and warm. They still have a lot to learn, but that only comes with practice.

I almost forgot. The morning before we went to the shelter location, we went to a reservoir and tried our luck at fishing. Here is my 6 yr old holding my one fish, and the two he pulled in.
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[Rick]

That's great!! You sure to good with those kids. Don't worry about the 15 year old. You can't inspire some no matter how hard you try. So you do what you can with those that don't want to learn and do everything you can with those that want to. I'm surprised they weren't all at your tent door when it started to rain. Nice job!!!!

[JPGreco]

That's awesome, wish we had done more of that in scouts. They probably stayed dry cause of the blanket you made them incorporate. Looks like a little luck was with you guys with that one.

As for the one scout, there is one in every troop...

[crashdive123]

Outstanding! I'm sure that those that completed their shelters will have fond memories of the experience for the rest of their lives.

[balendor]

good work for such a young age

[frdgrss]

Love teching that merit badge

[hunter63]

Outstanding, just getting them out there is a whole new world for some of them I'll bet.

And for the non-achiever...we had one in our troop as well, sells insurance these days.....go figure.....
This outdoor stuff ain't for everyone.

[wtrfwlr]

That is Fantastic! Bout the best thing I've seen and read about in a long time, Good job. Those boy's right there can come on down to Arkansas and help me build some Duck blinds!

[JPGreco]

I may have to pop into my old troop one of these days. I know the troop is really small now, only one patrol. There were only 3 when I was there, and we had some of the biggest numbers our troop had seen.

[Sarge47]

The shelters don't have to look pretty to do the job! The fact that they built them good enough to stay dry in is the important thing! Great job! As for the 15 year old, there's an old saying that I seem to remember: "If you want to know the character of somebody, spend a night or two with them out in the woods." Not everybody sees things the same way, or feels the same way about things. Had a couple like that in my unofficial explorer group back in Job Corps. One of them wanted us to bring him his meals to his tent as he was to lazy to get out. Wanted to borrow items off the rest of us he should of brought himself. That's life!

[Kamel]

My cub scouts werent very good, like i said in earlier threads, my mom didnt have money for me to go on trips and such and they were disorganized and i had adhd. lol but it looks like a great time. i wish I learned the stuff these kids did when i was young, guess im not too old to learn tho

[Sarge47]

My cub scouts werent very good, like i said in earlier threads, my mom didnt have money for me to go on trips and such and they were disorganized and i had adhd. lol but it looks like a great time. i wish I learned the stuff these kids did when i was young, guess im not too old to learn tho

Kamel, you are 100% right! My folks wouldn't let me join the Scouts. Bad politics with the nieghbors and a long story I'm not going to relate here. It didn't stop me from buying a used Boy Scout Uniform and Handbook and learning on my own! Go for it dude!

[Winter]

Good on you and the scouts.

[aflineman]

Good on ya! Looks like they had a good time.

[karatediver]

That's awesome, wish we had done more of that in scouts. They probably stayed dry cause of the blanket you made them incorporate. Looks like a little luck was with you guys with that one.

As for the one scout, there is one in every troop...

Yep, we had one in both troops I was in. I still think they do get something out of it though. In this case the boy didn't build a shelter but he still was camping in the forest. So he did get something out of it and saw how the others were doing it. Push comes to shove and he'll remember some of those lessons.

[sigma_pete]

Good job. I always enjoy teaching wilderness survival merit badge. Last fall to a dozen boys and we had a torrential down pour that started in the evening on the second day and lasted all night. All but one headed back to the field where their tents were (slept in tents the first night because we didn't get there until 10pm or so). The one boy who stuck it out was the only one who stayed dry because of heavy sheet flow across the field. Had the rest stayed in their shelters, most of them probably would have stayed dry in their cozy little shelters back in the woods.

I allow/limit them to carry gear the equivalent of a small coffee can (i.e., a day-hike survival kit that would fit in a pant's cargo pocket or small fanny pack). Most had one or two contractor garbage bags in their kits which they had slit open to make tarps/ground clothes and thus had dry shelters. Too bad they didn't trust their skills enough to stay put. Some had survival blankets like your boys. The ones that packed really thin painter's plastic "drop cloth" had a lot of problems with it tearing to shreds during shelter construction.

[finallyME]

Some had survival blankets like your boys. The ones that packed really thin painter's plastic "drop cloth" had a lot of problems with it tearing to shreds during shelter construction.

You get the same problem with the emergency blankets. You have to learn the proper way to deploy them, otherwise they rip. This is a learned skill that takes practice.

[dreeveal]

Pretty awesome. I'm looking for a good place to take my boys to earn their merit badge. This looks like a great place with a lot of materials for a shelter. Where is this if you don't mind sharing?

[finallyME]

Manti-la sal National Forest. Just off Skyline Drive a few miles north of Gooseberry Reservoir.

[bushrat82]

I see some good work and some potential for those boys. Not terrible for the XBox and smartphone kids of today! Good on you for having them build the shelters and for teaching them about some mighty fine field cooking.