New Link

Here is a new link, discussing LDS scouting:

http://www.mormonscouting.com/index.htm

Scout On!

December Service Project

The December Service Project lighting the luminarias is on December 12.  Help is needed from 4-6 from 6-8 and from 8-finish.

Email me with questions and to register your team!!

Scout On!

FIRE!!

Few things excite young men more than starting a fire.  Keep them away from the gas and lighter, by showing them how to start a fire the primitive way.  Scouts can't resist a challenge, and they love making a fire.

Here is a website selling various primitive fire starting methods, including the fire piston.  Each one of these methods can be achieved with material found in Arizona, either at Home Depot or in the woods/desert.

Google search on making fire pistons.
Google search on bow fires.

Email me if you have questions or want some advice on doing it.  We all saw at the wilderness challenge that they mastered the flint and steel. 

If you would like to buy a flint and steel set, feel free to send me an email.  I bought some in bulk to get good pricing and save on shipping.

Scout On!

Mountain Man Stuff

Email me if you are looking for mountain man stuff.  I will be putting in orders over the next few weeks for some cool stuff.

Scout On!

AWESOME!

The Wilderness Challenge was great!  Thanks to all the dedicated leaders that brought their teams and staffed the events.  Over 300 scouters participated and staffed the event. 

Pictures are here.  Please send your best pictures to me.

Scout On!

Tour Permits -- Get them DONE!

Here is the link for online tour permits:

http://www.doubleknot.com/openrosters/ViewOrgPageLink.asp?LinkKey=25740&orgkey=62

Here is the link to the paper copy:

http://www.scouting.org/filestore/pdf/34426.pdf

Here is the district's number to call for info on submitting the tour permit!

(602) 955-7747



Scout On!

Wilderness Challenge Awards

Just finished a bone handled knife and sheath last night.  I've got kits for some hard working Varsity scouts.

And, the steel strikers I got are really awesome. Compared them to a more expensive one, and they threw awesome sparks!

Scout On!

Wilderness Challenge Information

All the information for the Wilderness Challenge is in the following Links:

Registration and information
Map to Boulders, Location of Wilderness Challenge
Handout for youth
BSA Physical  --just the parent portion necessary--no physical
Syllabus and Event Scoring instructions
Event Score Sheet

email me for questions, see my email address above left....

Scout On!

Wilderness Challenge

Wilderness Challenge is November 13 and 14 at the Boulders at Skyrise, Florence Arizona.

Click here for a link to the PDF: Wilderness Challenge Handout

Click here for a link to the Physical (just fill out parts A and C): BSA Physical Form

Email the completed packet to santanvarsity@gmail.com  or call Stephen Follett for instructions or questions.

Dress is hat, levis and long sleeve shirt.
Bring a compass, GPS, pocket knife (folding variety NO sheath knives) for activities.

You will be responsible for your dinner, breakfast and lunch.

Scout On!

El Lobo

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Caving - Planning Resources

Here is a great resource on planning your caving trip.  It is four pages another coach put together.  Make sure and review it against all the current rules and guide to safe scouting, etc.  Thanks to Coach Newitt.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/21656536/Varsity-Scouts-Caving

And, some more pictures of another group enjoying Peppersauce.

Scout On!

Peppersauce Caves Report October 2009

Here is the report from the Coach.  (If you want to share your trip, please send me a report and pictures to post.)

Thanks for the helmets and light. Helped much.


We had a great campout this weekend to Peppersauce Caves north of Tucson. We camped the Friday night on the desert floor under the stars (which were out in numbers) due to the higher abundance of wood (believe it or not). We arrived after dark (since there is nothing close to Phoenix for camping) and promptly found a scorpion (the really small dangerous kind). Later we found another animal that grandma doesn't like and then a swarm of ants. The one got the shovel and the ants were taken care of with lighter fluid and a match. After lights out, a skunk wandered into camp to pay his respects. Then around 1:30AM a pack of at least 3 coyotes decided to wander in a make noise for half an hour (tips for next time: open the meat over the fire pit). One coyote camp back around again at 3:30 and 5:00 just to make sure that no one was sleeping.

The cave was fun. It is publically owned but unmarked and tricky to find (even with a map). The opening is like crawling under a desk. Inside is quite warm and muddy with several passages. There are several lakes down there as well. We had three boys go and one other leader besides me. We had a larger leader (250 lb) for the overnighter, but he opted out of the cave (go figure). Being the tyrant that I am, I had everyone with helmets and three sources of light. It took only a few smacked heads to make everyone glad they had them.

Here are a few shots from the cave. The shot with my other leader was the best of one called "the rabbit hole" to some or "the birth canal" to others (I'm coaxing him through in one of the shots. He wasn't too excited about the trip in general. You have to turn your head sideways and lead with one hand to get through. The other tight one that I'm coming out of is called the "lemon squeeze" (not like Led Zeppelin). That one is literally head-down diving into a hole. The toughest part was scaling a 12-ft wall with nothing but the opposing wall to push against with knees mostly, since there were very few grips.

Good fun. Can't wait to do it again.
P.S. Here are some websites:


http://www.sdmb.org/Trails/Trail-Pepper.html
http://www.sdmb.org/TrailDesc/Peppersauce-Map.jpg
http://outdoors.webshots.com/photo/1245412576050804046wQDatn

Bring it on Baby!

Wilderness Challenge is less than a month away!!!



















Scout On!

$1.00 liquid filled Compass

From a fellow coach:

Here is a deal I saw today on a compass for $1 with free shipping.

http://slickdeals.net/permadeal/25293/Transparent-Compass-w--Neck-Lanyard-1

The reviews indicate this is satisfactory for scout work....

Scout On!

Flint and Steel

Without endorsing any, here are some sources that I found with a quick search:

http://www.black-bear-haversack.com/product_info.php/products_id/2167?osCsid=c176efb8229bf56e2a8e9faf71ae071a

(UPDATE--I ordered 50 flint and steel from Black Bear Haversack. They all throw very nice sparks, but it is best if you get a bigger peice of flint, some that I got were too small to effectively throw a spark for a beginner.   Ask me about finding a "flint" in Arizona.)

http://stores.shop.ebay.com/Verns-Flint-and-Steel__W0QQ_armrsZ1QQ_fsubZ190405519
http://www.crazycrow.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=CCTP&Product_Code=4868-010-001&Category_Code=

I just happen to have bought the kit that Crazy Crow sells.  It works.

Scout On!

Fur, bones, and animal bits....

Here is a resource for antlers, bones, fur, etc. for making mountain man stuff.  Use your imagination.

http://www.hideandfur.com/  Moscow Hide and Fur

Scout On!

Arrowhead Knapping

My scoutmaster taught me how to knap arrowheads when I was a wee scout of 13.  I found it incredibly facinating.  He was released before I got to make a bow from the osage orange growing on his property.

If you ever wondered how it was done, check this out.  How to make an arrowhead.

I still have all my arrowhead making stuff and pull it out every once in a while to knap a point.  If you ever want a demonstration, let me know and I will dust off my tackle box full of obsidian and glass.  I am always looking for a good excuse.

Scout On!

Wilderness Challenge Preparation

Here are the list of wilderness survival style activities!!  These are not your ordinary "camporee" activities.  These are MAN Games of Survival, Physical and Mental Challenge.  Only the BRAVE and STRONG will survive.  We'll see just how long you will last!

You won't just have to start a fire, that is for little Boy Scouts!  Varsity Scouts start a fire with a rock and a steel, then build a fire to cook something without utensils and EAT IT!!  Bear Grylls style!!!

If you think the challenges on the Survivor TV show look fun, just wait till you experience these games!

Fire activity, including start the fire with flint and steel. 
GPS geocaching chase.
Map and Compass, find a direction and travel on a bearing.
Knife throw.
Hawk throw.
Military style obstacle course with "The Wall"
Team building C.O.P.E. style challenge.
Low C.O.P.E. wire walking challenge.
Team .22 Rifle competition.
On Target style Mirror challenge.

Scout On!

Wilderness Challenge Awards

Here are just some of the awards that will be available for the members of the winning teams.

Scout On!

San Tan Golf Tournament

November 16th @ 7:00 A.M. at Seville Golf and Country Club.

Here is the contact information if you want to Golf!!!!

Jason Graff (480) 313-6637

jason_r_graff@hotmail.com

Scout On!

Safe Scouting

This is why we need to always be thinking, what could go wrong. Rappelling accident.
Especially when it is something we are comfortable with.

Scout On!

Scout Links

I have added two more links to the left.

BSA LDS Relations Website is the Official LDS/BSA website. It has the guidelines from the Church's scout committee and other information.

LDSScouting.org is a good resource to review. It duplicates some material, but it puts it together with new material so it is helpful.

Need some insight? Try it.

Scout On!

Turkey Shoot Was Awesome

Ben Avery was crawling with Varsity Scouts Saturday September 26. Lots of orange birds were dropped from the sky. Thanks to all the leaders who made it a success. Breakfast was great!!!

For those on Facebook, add me (Stephen Follett, as a friend so you can see the photo album online of a few pictures I took).

If any of you have pictures that you would like to share with me, I would love it.

For those who participated, remember to "reflect" and apply some of the things the boys learned from shooting to life.

Check out some of the straight shooting videos on youtube. Here is one of our straight shooters.

Let's make it better next year.

Scout On!

Great "Primitive" website

This is a great primitive website. It tells you how to do and make all sorts of primitive things. Handy for mountain man, etc.

http://www.primitiveways.com/index.html

El Lobo

Scout On!

Coronado Varsity Triathlon

The Spring Triathlon will be held on April 30th and May 1st 2010 in Pima AZ, (just like the last 2 years) The company that did our timing last April will be doing it again.

This has become a fun event for the whole ward/stake to come to. So invite all the Young Women also. There will be Young Women camping places and Scout camping places. They will all be able to come to the dance and there will be a set of Female as well as Male prizes. There will be an awards ceremony just after the race so plan on sticking around till just after noon on Saturday.

The “Chip” timing can handle up to 3000 people racing… so please bring all the adult leaders, members of the Chartered Org. (elks, Rotary, Church,Etc.) Bishops, Stake Presidents Members of Committee, etc.

Registration will be open by November 1st.

Scout On!

The team

Here is a team from 2007. They are all venture scouts now, but they still talk about rendezvous.

Welcome

Here we go.