Akela 2016 "Wolf" Hypar Gateway

I recently had the privilege to spend some time at the international Akela 2016 camp outside Pretoria, and this is the main gateway to the campsite - built by Harmellia Gardens Air Scouts.

The camp was held to celebrate the centenary of the establishment of Cubs, and the gateway was designed to resemble the head of a wolf- with a snout and two ears. The ears and snout are formed with sisal and eyehooks in hyperbolic paraboloid shapes. More information on how to set out the sisal to form the shapes is available here.

You can download the SketchUp 3d model here.

Pioneering around the world

Scouting is a worldwide movement - it is thought that there are only six countries on Earth that have no Scout troops. I've been lucky enough to speak to Scouts all over the world while I've been running this blog. I realised the other day that I've spoken to Scouts on every continent on earth, except Antarctica (yes, there are Scout troops in Antarctica).

Here are a few projects from around the world that have been featured on Ropes and Poles:

In Uruguay, the Juan de Cordoba troop built a trebuchet based on the one on Ropes and Poles. A video can be viewed here.

Various Scouts from Israel have shared there amazing sculptural projects with me: flaming night-time artworks, giant dinosaurs and enormous hedgehogs.

This 13 metre radio tower is from the Netherlands.

Scoutmaster blog in the United States has shared many projects, including these impossible projects and many pioneering resources.

If you're a reader of this blog and your country is missing from the map, leave a comment and I'll add it on.
(and you can make your own visited countries map by visiting this link.)

Discworld Jamboree

I've been a fan of Terry Pratchett's Discworld books for about 15 years. This year, the Discworld fan event being held from the 3rd to the 5th of August in Wincanton is a 'Scout Jamboree', complete with Discworld troops, a Gang Show and a wide range of 'interest badge' events. While not an official Scouting event by any means, it seems a lot of effort has gone into researching the appropriate activities, and I am particularly looking forward to seeing the results of the Semaphore tower competition- patrols will be competing to build towers that can signal in semaphore when operated from the ground. Booking forms and other info are available here. For those, like me, who are unable to attend there will also be a Jamboree over the Clacks at the Cunning Artificer forums.

A brief example of the sort of effort that has gone into researching background: here is the badge for the fictitious Scout Association sponsoring the event. The motto 'In Omnia Paratus' is a rough translation of 'Be Prepared'(or 'Ready for anything') into Latin.