50 foot Monopole

This design was used by Northern District for their 2009 Pioneering competition (click the image to enlarge). The original link from the Gauteng Scouts website is broken, so I'm posting a copy here.

The monopole is a 'bundle' of poles lashed together  with round lashings (of the Dutch, German or conventional varieties) and guyed with ropes. The joints between the poles are overlapped so that the final product has each joint braced by two other poles.

Multitools for Pioneering

A good multitool comes in very handy in many Scouting (and every day) situations. The difficulty lies in balancing between having a large tool that prepares you for every possible eventuality, and a lighter tool that includes most practical tools. For pioneering, a good compromise is a tool that has a good main blade, an awl/reamer of some kind, and a wood saw. Pliers are useful for other things, but I don't often find a use for them when pioneering.

Of all the tools I've used, I find Victorinox to consistently produce the best tools at a reasonable price. They are rust-resistant, Scout-proof, easy to sharpen and, as the well-known Swiss Army Knife, non-threatening to people who aren't familiar with knives. Victorinox produce a few tools that have the minimum requirements for pioneering, and any of them would be a good buy:

Firstly, in 'traditional' red plastic are the Hiker and Camper - both of these have a tin opener, bottle opener, large blade, small blade, wood saw and awl. They also both have a toothpick and tweezers- they tweezers are useful for removing splinters. The Hiker has a philips screwdriver, while the Camper has a corkscrew (which some people use for untying knots).

Slightly larger, and with aluminium scales instead of plastic, is the Farmer. This knife has a large blade, awl, bottle opener, tin opener and saw. The main blade is a lot thicker than the ones on the Hiker and Camper. The awl is a particularly good tool- sharp, strong and easy to use because it opens at one end of the tool rather than in the middle.


Finally, and biggest of all, the Soldier is the current Swiss military issue knife i.e. the only 'true' Swiss Army Knife as used by the Swiss Army today. It has a one-handed, locking, serrated blade, which cuts ropes pretty well (but may well be illegal for general carry in your country- be sure to check your local laws), as well as a locking screwdriver/bottle opener, a can opener, saw, philips screwdriver and awl. This is the knife I carry on my Scout uniform and, while it is a little more expensive than the Hiker, I find the locking, serrated blade to be very useful to rope work.

Catamaran one man raft

From the April 23, 1953 Scout magazine (page 681):

In camp in Kirkcudbrught, Scotland, the TL of the Stamfordham village Troop built a catamaran and navigated it successfully across Brighouse Bay

Brighouse Bay looks about 300 metres / 300 yards across, but it was still a brave Scout who crossed it on something like that. We have used Camel rafts to get individual Scouts across the bay at Arrowe Park, but this is on the order of ten times further.

Scout-built bridges in urban adventure race

images courtesy www.urbanrun.co.za

The Nelson Mandela Bay Urban Run takes place in September in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. Last year, the Scout groups of Nelson Mandela Bay built two obstacles- a monkey bridge and a tripod-based bridge, pictured above. They have been approached to build obstacles again for the race this year. This is a great way to build awareness for Scouting, making the movement visible to people who are active in the outdoors.

This year, the Scouts are building a pontoon bridge from recycled plastic bottles. I hope to have some photos to show you in September.