New Instagram account and site news

So it's been quiet here for a while... alongside everything that's been going on in the world over the last two years, I'm now the father of a one year old girl! Over the last 18 months, Rovers here in South Africa have been involved in community service, and you can read about some of these projects here:

• UFS Rovers #HelpAStudent
• Solidarity, Restoration and Service
• Humbled to be able to serve in this time of need
  

Coming back to pioneering, I've started an Instagram account for the blog at @ropesandpoles, as well as the existing channels on Facebook and Twitter. Over the next few weeks, I'll be posting some of my favourite projects from over the years on the Instagram feed, and I have a few new posts queued up for you to read in January. As always, I'm interested to hear about any interesting pioneering projects you've seen, so please feel free to contact me with this form and I can share your project with the world.

Ropes and Poles at the World Scout Moot, Iceland

I'll be travelling to Iceland for the World Scout Moot from the 25th of July to the 2nd of August this year. I don't have any plans to do pioneering while I'm there (Iceland doesn't have too many trees and bringing my own poles from South Africa would be tricky), but I'm keen to meet up with anyone who'll be there.

I'll be working as a Tribe Advisor, so I'll be based in Hafnarfjörður during the Expedition stage (26th-28th July) and at the main campsite in Úlfljótsvatn the rest of the time. Contact me (as a comment here, via email or on twitter) and we can arrange to meet. I'll have some Ropes and Poles patches to trade, and am looking forward to meeting you.

Ropes and Pole badges - selected design

 Thanks to everyone who voted in my earlier poll to help me choose a badge design for the blog. As you can see below, the Hy-par pavilion was by far the most popular design. I have sent the badge off for quotes and will have news soon about where and how you can purchase the badge. Thanks for participating!

Vote for a Ropes and Poles badge design

I've been contemplating having badges made, which would be available for sale here on the blog. Some designs are shown above, featuring various projects from the blog archives, and I'd like your help choosing the first one to have embroidered. Please scroll down and vote below, or click on this link to go to the poll. Thanks!


 

10 years of pioneering projects

This weekend marks the 10th anniversary of the first post to this blog. Since that first post, I've met people from around the world, online and in person, and been reminded of how Scouting connects us together despite our difference

Here are some of the most popular posts on the blog over the last ten years:
Step-by-step tensgrity tower
Step-by-step 24 foot treehouse
Enormous pioneered sculptures
Pioneered trebuchet
Friction-lock bridge

Things have been a bit quiet here lately, but there will be some new content coming up over the next few weeks...

Merry Christmas from Ropes and Poles

Merry Christmas! If you're celebrating today, I hope you have a great day surrounded by family, and a blessed year ahead.

This tree is decorated with Monkey's Fists, tied in 8mm sisal rope, with eye-spliced ends.

Gift ideas- knotting and pioneering

With the festive season upon us, I've put together a list of pioneering-related gifts that you might find useful.

John Sweet's Scout Pioneering is a classic reference, and there are a few different editions in print. Your best bet is to hunt one down in a second hand bookshop, but there are a few online options.

The Ashley Book of Knots is the definitive reference to knots, and a great gift for someone interested in pioneering and knotting. Over 4000 illustrations cover everything from the simplest slippery hitch to complex decorative knots, splices and lashings.

Geoffrey Budworth's Complete Book of Knots is a smaller book that is easier on the pocket than Ashley's but still a good general reference.

Knotcraft: The Practical and Entertaining Art of Tying Knots (Dover Craft Books) by Paulette and Alan Mcfarlanis a useful little book- apart from guides to tying knots, it has some practical application tips, magic tricks, history and folklore. Also available as an eBook.
 
A multi-tool with a saw is a pretty useful tool for pioneering. I prefer the Victorinox models with saws- the Farmer , Camper or new Soldier.

The International Guild of Knot Tyers publishes a quarterly magazine and also offers a number of other publications. An annual subscription is available here.

Four resources I'm thankful for

(Although I'm not American, being thankful is something I can get behind, and today seems an appropriate day to reflect on some of the resources that have helped me as a Scouter over the years)

I've been fortunate to have great mentors, from Patrol Leaders as  a Scout, to Troop Scouters, Group Scouters and training team members who have helped me, challenged me and supported me as a Scouter. Today I want to talk about resources that are available to everyone that have been a great help to me.

The Dump
I was fortunate to inherit an extensive library in my Scout group, going back to the founding of the group in the 1940s. These old books have fantastic information, but they are not easy to find anymore. The Dump is a library of scanned PDFs of old Scouting resources, collected and curated by Scoutscan.com. Everything from BP's earliest, pre-Scout writing, to specific merit badge advice, is available here.

ScoutmasterCG.com
Clarke Green has been blogging since 2005 on Scouting, and gives sage advice, shares useful tips, and also has a weekly podcast that is very entertaining and informative. Clarke aims his advice at Scout leaders, no matter what capacity you are serving in, and has written a few books in addition to the blog. The Index is a good place to dive in to nine year's worth of material.

Akela's Cubs
Joy was the Pack Scouter during most of the time that I was Troop Scouter at Ninth Benoni, and we started blogging within a few months of each other. Joy blogged the day's Pack meeting every week for years, and this blog collects these meetings as well as many other ideas for camps and outings for Cubs.

Scouts South Africa library
South Africa was one of the first countries in the world to have Scout Troops, and the oldest group in the country dates back to 1908. This collection of books includes some stories of B-P's adventures in South Africa, great resources for teaching, and a glimpse into how the programme is run here in South Africa. The pro-plan charts are a collection of posters for teaching all of the basic skills in the Scouting programme.

WASP - West Australia Scout Pioneering

West Australia Scout Pioneering is part of Scouts Australia's West Australia Adventurous Activities team. The team runs a pioneering course aimed at Venturers, Rovers and Scouters, and also offers their services putting structures up at community events. I have featured the pioneering course before, with some photographs of an hourglass tower built by them, but the video below of the Perth Royal Show shows the bridge they have built here for the last few years (around 2:50)

WASP are active in Western Australia, Ploeg Technieken teach pioneering in Belgium- are there any specialist pioneering training teams active in your part of the world? Tell us about them in the comments

Pioneering poles around the world

Scouting has spread around the world (at last count, every country in the world except for 6 had active Scouts), and pioneering has spread with it, from forests to jungles to polar regions to open grasslands.

This map summarises the timber Scouts use for pioneering around the world. A post on the Ropes and Poles Facebook page, a thread in 1st Facebook Scout Group, and some Google searching were the sources for this map. If you have any information to add from your country, lease leave a comment on this post and I'll update the map.

Why pioneering?

Pioneering has always been part of Baden-Powell's vision of Scout training, from the first edition of Scouting for Boys (Chapter IV- Camp life- deals with huts, bridges, towers and lashings). BP would have been exposed to pioneering as a military discipline in the army- pioneers were engineers who moved in front of the main column of the army and pioneered a route- building bridges and roads where needed. I think pioneering attracted BP for the following reasons:

• It is an adventurous, outdoor activity, supporting Scouting's ideal of learning in the outdoors
• it requires teamwork, so is suited to the Patrol system
• it is practical and concrete - at the end of the work, there is a visible, physical THING that has been made.

 Having said all of these things, I think it's possible to be a Scout, to really learn the important things we are trying to teach, without building bridges or trebuchets or any of the other hundreds of things I've blogged about. Of course, pioneering is something I'm passionate about, otherwise I wouldn't be writing this blog, but I'd like to hear from all of you:

What do YOU think pioneering has to offer to Scouts?
Where does pioneering not serve us well? What would you (or do you) do instead of pioneering?

(please remember your Scout law in your comments and discussions)

Ropes and Poles on social networks

There are a few different ways to keep up with the latest posts on Ropes and Poles:

-you can visit the website, here
-you can subscribe by Email
-you can subscribe to the RSS feed

- If you're on Facebook, you can keep up with the latest from Ropes and Poles at the page here,
-on Twitter, follow @ropesandpoles for updates and news.

-the site is also optimised for mobile use, so should format itself automatically for your iPhone, Android, Windows phone or Blackberry

Scout raft events around the world

View International Scout Rafting Map in a larger map

Gauteng Kontiki is just one of many rafting events that Scouts hold around the world. This map attempts to summarise them. I've added the ones I'm aware of - please click through and add any more you know about.

Site News - updates, in the news and mobile templates

Over the next few weeks I'll be posting some new content to the site. We've also had exciting news: Kontiki, the annual rafting event I have blogged about, will be hosted at Arrowe Park, the local campsite where my Scout Troop and Rover Crew meet. Expect lots of coverage from Ropes and Poles.

The previous post, documenting the Knight's Trebuchet, was featured on Google SketchUp's blog,  as part of the Make Ideas Real project. If you've built this or any other project from the blog, please let me know, I'd love to see your photographs

I've added a mobile template for the blog, so if you are viewing  it on a Webkit-based mobile browser (Android, iOS, Blackberry 7) you'll see the compact mobile version - all of the same content, but formatted for your phone. The QRcode on the left links to this version if you want to take a look at it. You can also subscribe to the RSS feed, or sign up to recieve the posts via email

Scoutmaster podcast #86: Kontiki and World Jamboree interview

Clarke Green from Pennsylvania runs a fantastic resource for adult leaders at Scoutmastercg.com. I recently spoke to him about my trip to the World Jamboree, as well as Scouting here in South Africa, concentrating on Kontiki. You can listen to the podcast, which is out today and available here.

Here are links to some of the things discussed on the podcast:

South Africa:  9th Benoni is my home group. Phoenix Rover Crew has a website here. Here is the blog of Joy Hutchinson, our Cub Pack's Akela. This is the South African Scout Association website (and Twitter account) with a special section on South Africa's contribution to world Scouting.

Kontiki: this is my raft category at Ropes and Poles, and this is the official Gauteng Kontiki website (here is the Western Cape one).

22nd World Scout Jamboree in Sweden: here is the official site. I kept a blog for the Drakensberg troop here, and the South African Contingent Management Team had a blog here.

Finally, if you're a new visitor to this site, welcome, and you can subscribe for email updates here, or to the RSS feed here. Likewise, if Clarke's blog is new to you, you can subscribe to email digests here, the podcast here, and the RSS feed here.

22nd World Scout Jamboree - Pioneering report back

Main gateway at the 22nd World Scout Jamboree, Rinkaby, Sweden

As mentioned in the last post, I recently returned from the 22nd World Scout Jamboree in Rinkaby, Sweden. I was travelling as the Troop Scouter of Drakensberg troop, in the South African contingent. I had a fantastic trip, and in between looking after my troop (made up of Scouts from all around South Africa), trading badges, and meeting new Scouts from around the world, I got some time to take a few photos of pioneering projects.

The main gateway was an impressive structure, and shines out because of it's simplicity- a hypar gateway made with 15m long pole cut from the forest on site, and made using yellow and blue rope to pick out the shape of the Swedish flag. This is a great idea that would work for any of the Nordic cross flags, the St George's cross or the Cornish flag. Probably wouldn't work on our South African flag...

Many countries had food houses on the main square, with iconic structures from their home countries. The French food house had this Eiffel Tower gateway, the Dutch had a pioneered windmill, and the English food house was inside a castle!

Our troop camped in Autumn town, and at the centre of our town square was this pioneered Apple basket, representing the harvest in autumn.

A Finnish troop in our subcamp (facebook link) built this 6m high observation tower, which gave a great view of the surrounding campsites.

...and this 40m high tower gave a view of the entire campsite. It was built using four rooted trees as the corners, and had a scaffold staircase all the way up to the observation deck.

Most troops built simple campsites, because there were many places to explore, people to meet and activities to try out. This is my troop's campsite, with a simple gateway in the shape of Table Mountain, and two flagpoles.

A quick search on Google or Flickr will reveal thousands of photographs of the Jamboree, so there is plenty to explore. If you went to the Jamboree, I'd love to see your photographs, too.

22nd World Scout Jamboree- Rinkaby, Sweden

Tomorrow morning, I am joining the South African contingent to the World Scout Jamboree. We are meeting for a shake down camp outside Johannesburg for the weekend, then flying out to tour Germany and Denmark before heading to Sweden for the World Jamboree. I'll be attending as the Troop Scouter of Drakensberg troop, one of three troops forming the SA contingent. When I return, I will be posting pictures and sketches of the pioneering projects I see there. But while I am on camp, I'll be posting to the troop blog here. You can also sign up for email subscriptions on the blog page to keep up to date with our trip.

For those who are attending the Jamboree, leave a comment here- we are camping in Bohuslan subcamp in Autumn town, it would be great to meet you!

In the Wild: photographs of Ropes and Poles projects

Most of the projects posted on Ropes and Poles have been tested in working conditions, mainly by my troop. Here are some photographs of projects that have featured here in the past.

The large image above show the camp 'couch' designed by Scouts in our troop. In the photograph, Rovers from our District Crew are 'examining' the couch at a local competition camp.








The pontoon ferry is modelled on a project I built as my final Springbok construction project, way back in 1997. In this (pre-digital) photograph, my Scouts and I are ferrying the examiner across the lake.












Before entering the lightweight racing raft into a competition, we held a test weekend where we built the raft, and also attempted to sail with it. Without a centreboard, however, we didn't have much success.















Finally, the portcullis gateway is pictured, as it was used on an inter-patrol competition camp in 2005.

Three years of Ropes and Poles

Next Monday, it will be three years since I published the first post on this blog- a small Scout trebuchet. Here are some highlights from the last three years:

Massive Israeli pioneering projects


It's been great to hear from Scouts around the world. I've learnt that Israeli Scouts can build anything - flaming, written-word sculptures, giant hedgehogs, even walking pioneering projects.

8m (24 foot) Treehouse


In December 2005 my troop built a treehouse in our local campsite, and I documented the whole project step-by-step here.

Tensegrity Tower

Tensegrity systems work by suspending rigid elements in a network of tension cables, and at first glance look like they should collapse, yet somehow they stand. Along with a fellow student at university, I designed and built this tensegrity tower, which has shown up in a few places on the web, most notably on the MAKE: magazine blog. I believe these were the first Scout tensegrity structures.


SketchUp resources

Along with a collection of models made for this site, I have written a series of lessons on using SketchUp, Google's free 3d modelling software.


Thanks to everyone who's contributed, written to me or offered encouragement.

...blogging again

Things have been quiet around here since October. I'll be posting regularly on this blog again in the next few weeks. The final term of a Master's degree, followed by a new job have been keeping me busy since October but I'm going to try and post regularly here- starting from tomorrow I'm going to be posting some projects that have been sent to me over the last six months.


But first, a follow up on the post that has been at the top of the blog since October. If you follow rugby union, you may know that South Africa won the World Cup final against England, and this is how we watched the match that night: with a pioneered screen, under the trees at our campsite, during the Jamboree on the Air/Internet