Max,

Yeah, what you said <grin>. When I was a scout, we only used wood fires on campouts... in this part of the country, it's not an environmental faux pas to use wood fires, so it would be feasible, at least, to reutrn to that for our troop. But that's still not enough practice, eh? Well, I don't expect them all to turn into Tom Brown. I think that this is an area where more one-on-one with an adult might prove fruitful. Hmmm... that gives me an idea...

Tom

hehehe - I hate building fires atop deep snow - THOSE trips always see me carrying a lot more stove fuel than others.

That's the best of all - with your own kids. Good for you and your son! Too bad there aren't more folks who do that - or other things - with their kids. I guess that's a big part of why I'm involved in scouts.

The whole thing eludes many (most). Certainly there are exceptions - those boys never forget, either - very rewarding; I can almost see the light go on thru their eyes when the get the whole thing right.

Maybe the scouts can practice at home. Many families have occasions where some food can be prepared with a little help from a fire. This could be an extra opportunity to practice. When you make a fire for the group those who still have trouble could do it under your supervision and if neccessary with a little help.

While we are on the topic of firestarting, does anyone have a source for ferrocerium rods? I am sure that I have read something about a source here before, but my mind is old and slow. I tried a search with no luck...

Hoods' Woods Mini Kit Sparkers (1/8 by 2 inch Ferrocerium rods, each in its own ziplock plastic bag - no magnesium block or striker included)

Go to
http://www.survival.com/products.htm

click on the Online Store and the on the left hand side, click on "Product List", go to the bottom of the page.

$3.50 each, or 5 for $15. (I bought 3 packs of 5, in a fit of exuberance; each one came in its own high quality mini-ziplock bag, which can obviously be re-used for other purposes.)

I once did an Drill Instructors course in the Air Training Corps where everyone was dropped to exactly the same level regardless of age, sex, rank, size and just given a number. This worked great. Everyone treated each other as an equal and fantastic progress was made. I don't know how this would work in a civilian situation, but it may help your adult to keep face and worry about failing or being better than everyone else.

Many thanks...

I got a set of those. They are very small diameter and no handle. They packed wonderfully! Unfortunately they were very hard for me to get any significant sparks on target, especially with gloves on. I realized that I needed something bigger that I was competent to use reliably. The boyscout hotspark is a larger diameter which gives a bit more spark and a handle that makes it easier for me to position and control, and at roughly half the price. I found this to be the minimum size I could actually reliably use. I have read that there are better quality ones available, but for me it was a size issue.

If size is a prime consideration, please practice with the actual mini item, whatever it is, and make sure that it is plenty big to actually do the job for you instead of just having a false sense of security. If you are not an arthritic clutz like me, you may be able to get away with more mini stuff, but either way, know for sure by practicing with the real stuff.