I have a 50s vintage Scout Handbook, its a valuable resource and an interesting read, but I wouldn't try to train up young Scouts according to it. Alot of knowledge has flown under the bridge in 50 years. I was reading the Wilderness Survival merit badge book last night (sad, what I do in my free time) and was pretty impressed with how current and accurate was their advice on things like surviving heat stroke (something like "don't let your brain get to 103 degrees, you will die"). There can be valuable nuggets of info, but for actually passing on knowledge to a younger generation check out the most recent resources.

All of which isn't to dismiss the survival knowledge of anyone who made their bones in the 50s or 60s, I'm not, alot of what I know came from guys who did just that (my brother the Eagle Scout, my Dad the Eagle and Scoutmaster etc). You can probably survive according to texts from any era, but in terms of training a new generation, not alot has been lost from the 50s, but alot of newer info has been gained since then that we have to cover. Maybe relying on a 50s era first aid manual would be a better example of what I'm talking about.

So now here is the real question....When can you come down to MY troop?

no really, if you are ever down in San Diego, you would be welcomed on our campouts!

Me? Be careful what you wish for. I'm boring on campouts and hikes, and frankly still don't know enough knots to impress anyone. And my best contribution to Scout meetings will never be used, hopefully - ex. we repeated three times in three meetings a 5 minute activity on rolling a suspected spinal injury to further assess, then beaming them onto an insulation pad. Do it once and their memory for it gets sketchy, but by the third time they had the rolls and transfers down pat, which is what I want if *I* should tumble down a rockface on a Troop outing.

lol...it was an open invitation to all scouters on ETS...maybe i should tech the wee ones what to do if I get injured...

Lots of great ideas and input here. I'm the Scoutmaster for our local troop, and if I have learned anything in my tenure, it's that these boys don't start learning until they are smiling. They don't have to be yucking it up constantly, but, they have to have some fun, with hands on activity, along the way. If they are smilin' and laughin' from time to time, you're doing fine. I often wonder if they are picking up anything, and then one of them really surprises me and does the right thing without any coaching!

Have fun! Oh yeah, and the person who said the boys like fires, well, I'd have to say that's a priority for them for sure:-)

shelters from forest materials are fun, but realistically carrying a small tarp and some paracord with the knowledge of proper knots to rig it up tight is lots of fun and more practical, use knife skills to cut and notch some tent stakes from sticks

I'd suggest some basic knots and a tarp setup exercise.

build tinder bundles.

You could also make char cloth over a fire. After its done, pass out a square to each kid and have a contest to to strike sparks into the char cloth from the back of an axe or some other carbon steel with a rock. throw into tinder bundle and get flame!

set flame under a fire lay w/ pot filled with water handing on a tripod, first team to get a rolling boil wins. have an adult lead each team and get kids to assist in building tripod, hanging apparatus (use knife to whittle a hanging hook), firelay etc.

make some slings (paracord, leather patch http://slinging.org/index.php?page=making-a-simple-sling-an-illustrated-guide) and teach kids (safely) how to sling rocks (maybe into a lake or something) this is lots of fun! primitive hunting tool.

make a simple orienteering course to teach compass / map skills

hide a "geocache" to teach GPS skills

definitely make simple traps like the figure four deadfall to practice precision whittling skills

show them how to properly sharpen knives

bring some slingshots - more projectile fun