Webelos/AOL Elective Adventure: Castaway

Webelos/AOL Elective Adventure: Castaway

1. Do two of these:
   1. With the help of an adult, demonstrate one way to light a fire without using matches.
   1. Before you do this learn how to make a Tinder bundle and how to build a fire.. it's a key to most of these techniques 
   2. When the boys are first learning use cotton balls that you have pulled a part slightly to make the extra fluffy... once they can light those, put petroleum jelly on one end, and fluff the other... the Jelly makes it burn longer, like a candle.. 
   3. There is SO much more to all this, go for a google for infinite information online, lots of stuff on youtube 
   4. Here is a guy showing lots of different ferro rods, lighting cotton balls
   1. With a Magnifying Glass
   2. 9v battery and steel wool
   3. Ferrocerium and Magnesium Rod 
   1. If you get one of the one with the magnesium bar, buy Doan brand, or Mil-spec (which is made by Doan), some of the others use impure Magnesium which doesn't burn hot enough...)
   1. Or do your research, there are lots of good brands, and lots of terrible ones... as a general rule, the shinier the magnesium is the higher the quality...
   2. If you are buying just a ferro rod, you want a soft one with extra magnesium, the softer the rod, the easier it is to get a spark off it, the more magnesium, the longer each spark burns before it goes out (lighting the tinder)
   1. If that's too over detailed and complex, just get a "light my fire" brand
   4. Cigarette lighter (light the tinder)
   1. I mostly did this one to teach the boys how to use one safely 
   2. Make a Prison match with a cotton fluff, paper and a dead lighter
   5. Flint and Steel
   1. I always wanted to learn to do this as a scout and never did so I bought a kit on ebay and learned how. Be sure to get a kit with flint, steel and premade Char Cloth, to make learning easier.
   2. The video above is from Jas Townsend and sons, a reputable seller of old timey stuff like this,and have a good flint and steel set 
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   2. On a campout with your den or family, cook two different recipes that do not require pots and pans. If your chartered organization does not permit Cub Scout camping, you may substitute a family campout or a daylong outdoor activity with your den or pack.
   1. Be sure to tie this in with Cast Iron Chef and Project Family, another activity that counts for 2 awards
   2. If you don't know where to start,  there is a TON of info online, the easiest ones are roasting hotdogs (or marshmallows) on a stick, followed by a foil pack meal, also called a Silver Turtle or a Hobo meal...
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   3. Using tree limbs or branches that have already fallen or been cut, build a shelter that will protect you overnight.
   1. Boys Life article on Building shelters
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2. Do ALL of these:
   1. Learn what items should be in an outdoor survival kit that you can carry in a small bag or box in a day pack. Assemble your own small survival kit, and explain to your den leader why the items you chose are important for survival.
   1. We are going to build Altoids tin Survival kits
   1. Altoids tin, inside of lid useable for signaling
   1. Teach the boys how to flash sos to a plane with a mirror
   2. Small folding knife
   3. Whistle (the single most important bit of gear for kids, imho)
   4. Cigarette lighter
   5. Bobbin full of 80 l spider wire fishing line
   6. Button compass
   7. Cotton and Vaseline fire starter
   8. Wrap outside with Paracord and or ranger bands
   9. Whatever else you can think, of, google Altoids tin survival kit for lots of ideas
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   2. Show you can live "off the grid" by minimizing your use of electricity for one week. Keep a log of what you did. Discuss with your den members how you adjusted to this lifestyle.
   1. This one you are going to have to figure out as family and den what qualifies.
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   3. With your den, invent a game that can be played without using electricity and using minimal equipment or simple items.     
   1. Be sure to tie this game in with the game from game design, to get extra credit from one activity. You can basically earn Game Design for free if you plan it out. We did Tag and design and play tested our own versions.
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   4. Name your game, write down the rules once you have decided on them, then play the game at two different den meetings or outings.
   1. Get this on the computer so you an print it out when needed
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   5. Teach your game to the members of your pack or other Scouts.
   1. I had the scout practice teaching it to each other.
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   6. With your den, demonstrate two different ways to treat drinking water to remove impurities.
   1. Bring to a rolling boil, let cool.. voilà! Done!
   2. Water Treatment Filters for camping, ala Katydin
   3. Iodine tablets, or tincture
   4. Regular Unscented bleach, 8 to 16 drops per gallon
   5. Water Treatment tabs
   6. UV quick SteriPens, like navy seals use
   7. Put clear water into a clear plastic bottle and set in sun for 8 hours, uv will purify the water, killing the germs
   8. How to filter water for clarity with sand, rocks and charcoal
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   7. Discuss what to do if you become lost in the woods. Tell what the letters "S-T-O-P" stand for. Tell what the universal emergency signal is. Describe three ways to signal for help. Demonstrate one of them. Describe what you can do you do to help rescuers find you.
   1. Lost in the woods survival for kids
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   8. Make a list of four qualities you think a leader should have in an emergency and why they are important to have. Pick two of them and act them out for your den. Describe how each relates to a point of the Scout Law. Describe how working on this adventure gave you a better understanding of the Boy Scout motto.

Workbook for use with these requirements: PDF Format DOCX Format