Our scout troop has won the klondike contest for the last three years and hope to do it again this year. The boys have to pull the sled with one boy riding in it and one boy pushing/guiding it. Sometimes it is in the rain and mud other times it is dust and rocks. Uphill, downhill, through the woods and fields or sometimes across a creek.
They go from station to station doing little tasks at each station. Could be anything like starting a fire to boil water or burn a rope in two, build a small tower, simulate a rescue/first aid episode, shoot rifles or shotguns, identify wild plants/trees or animals.
They have to have the needed equipment with them or fabricate it from the wild. So, part of the competition is to anticipate what will be needed and take enough gear without loading down the sled so much that they can't pull it through the course.
Their old sled is falling apart so I said I would help with a new one.
Collin (my son) found plans on a Scout web site and his troop leader donated the wood, white oak.
I have a lot of the parts cut and the runners are being bent now. I had to take apart my work table to make room for the lathe I bought last month, but it makes a pretty sturdy work table on its own.
I didn't think 1" by 3" white oak would bend very well and I have had good results laminating thin bent pieces so I thought I would cut slots in the runners.
It bent very easily then.
So, I made a form out of some old soft maple and glued the pieces together. I put some cloth in between the strips to add strength. I hope it works.
Although 14° may not be very cold to some of you it keeps my glue from working, so I had to bring my project out of the cold shop in into the kitchen next to the wood stove.
Hope to make the last glue up in the morning and let it set up then back to the shop for some shaping with a spoke shave, drill a few more holes and final fit up.
Then I'll take it to the Boy Scout hut for a couple coats of clear poly.
Always things to get in the way of fun, but eventually we go back to the good stuff. This will see hard use next week and I hope to get some pictures for you.
I spent the day helping the Boy Scouts with the annual Klondike Derby. The boys campout for the weekend, have to pull a sled around to different events and have various contests to test their knowledge, strength, team work and other outdoor skills.
It's great fun and our troop has won the last 3 out of 5 years.
Our team was shy of a few members this years so the pulling was a lot harder on them. Good thing they had a great sled to pull.
Here one of the other teams are putting up an emergency shelter. The team with the quickest time wins this event.
Each team had to shoot 10 bullseyes, the team with the best percentage won since there were different numbers of boys on the teams.
Here is one of the other sleds, it is similar to our old one except in much better shape.
They had to roll 4 logs uphill, it takes great teamwork and a little strategy since the logs are different sizes and the boys have to take turns.
There was a bottle tied to an anchor in the pond, they had to throw the life preserver close to the bottle.
In this contest they had to tie a log to two trees and the whole team stand on the log. This was another timed event.
Back to camp after a long hard day!
04-05-2008, 12:42 PM
Truths: There is no such thing as a 25 hour day, so why do I keep trying to cram so much into every day so it seems that way! 
Linear Mode
