Suspended flagpole

Today is Freedom Day in South Africa, a commemoration of our first inclusive elections in 1994. Here's a classic flag pole flying the South African Flag, which flew for the first time 18 years ago today.

This 3m (10 foot) lath flag pole is suspended from four stakes (we use 20mm steel stakes, but you can use wooden stakes if your soil is soft). A jury masthead supports the base of the flagpole and is attached to the four stakes with the lower guy lines. The top guys are tied on the the pole with rolling hitches, and looped to the stakes with trucker's hitches so that they can be adjusted and tensioned.

The key to making this flagpole work is accuracy: all of the stakes should be leaning out at the same angle, in a perfect square, and the jury masthead should be at the dead centre between them. The top guys should be tightened in opposite pairs if possible (this takes two people).

Check out this set on Flickr for a step-by-step guide to building an even bigger suspended flagpole.

Animal Pioneering: Masked Weaver's Nest

copyright Chris Eason

Masked Weavers are very common birds in South Africa, building their unusual woven nests in summer. A male will build many nests and attract a female to lay eggs in each one. I have seen clusters of up to ten nests built by one male. But these finches don't start out as master builders. In their first year, male weaver build their nests in the wrong place, or (like tenderfoot Scouts) get their knots wrong and the nests fall out their trees before they have a chance to attract a tenant.

A first year weaver started building a nest in my garden recently - about 1,5m (5 feet) off the ground. He abandoned his construction - the nest was far too close to the ground to be safe from predators - but left this starting knot. If you look closely you'll see a loose series of half hitches and windings, twisting and braiding back over each other. Weavers do generally start their knots at a fork in a branch as well, to give the nest a better anchoring point.

Here is the next step in the process, the initial 'ring' that the weaver then perches on to do the rest of the weaving.

This drawing from page 212 of the book
Animal Architects shows the sequence most weaverbirds follow to construct their nests: After the establishing knot, they tie a ring which they perch on while they build the roof, egg chamber and entrance, finally lining the nest in preparation for an egg to be laid.

Show me the Ropes - Knotting instruction videos

'Show me the Ropes' is a series of Youtube videos covering basic knots and lashings, and is being updated all the time. The videos are made by First Walmer, a Scout group in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. From the thumb knot to the Carrick bend, the videos cover a lot of ground.

The Medd Auto-Tent-Door-Closer and D.C. Ingratiator: A Chain Reaction Machine

Like previous chain reaction devices on this blog (the fish harvester and breakfast machine), this contraption was featured in John Sweet's Scoutward Bound column in THE SCOUT magazine. Two quick points before I show his drawing and description: firstly, John Sweet wrote the classic Scout Pioneering,  my favourite book on pioneering. Secondly, if you've ever tried to build a chain reaction device like this, you'll know it's pretty tricky. This eight step reaction took 90 minutes to set up.

From page 729 of the 1953  THE SCOUT annual:

"Senior Scout H. Medd has designed a new precision gadget which is not only most ingenious in itself but also reveals a deep insight into the psychology of such people as Scoutmasters and District Commissioners.
We all know, says Medd, how important it is to keep the Scouter or D.C. in good temper in camp, especially when competitions are under way and everything depends upon the mood in which the examiners wake up in the morning. Many Patrol Leaders, in such circumstances, pin their faith to that early morning cuppa; but what is the good, asks Medd, of  offering a D.C. a cup of tea when he has probably spent a restless and disturbed night?
As everyone knows there are different grades and "depths" of  sleep, and the sort we must ensure for our Scouters and Commissioners is that deep, dreamless variety which reaches right down into the sub-conscious and is spoken of so highly in the advertisements for malted milk.
The "Medd Auto-Tent-Door-Closer and D.C. Ingratiator" achieves the same result quite painlessly. What happens is this:
Rain falls during the night and runs down the trough into the billy-can, thereby upsetting the balance of the guillotine and bringing the razor-sharp knife into operation. This releases the spring-sapling and unties the super slip-reef on the door curtains. At the same time the vibration on the sapling rings the warning bell to let everyone in camp know rain is falling. The D.C. awakes, hears the groans of less fortunate fellow-campers as they stagger out to deal with the situation, and goes peacefully to sleep again."