I had the opportunity this past weekend to introduce a group of 10 Girl Scouts to some winter survival techniques and had a ball. The girls around 10 years old, members of my wife’s troop were going “camping” at a Girl Scout camp in southern PA. The “camping” was in a heated building with running water and a kitchen, but the latrines were outside, so they did have to contend with some discomfort. For many, this was their first semi-camping trip and we wanted to make it as much fun as possible, while still trying to introduce and cover various topics for some of their badge work.

With the snowstorm that hit most of the east coast, we were able to talk about winter survival. The road leading up to the camp is a steep hill, so Saturday morning we were able to go sledding and test out what clothing the girls brought with them. In the afternoon, the girls cut pictures of appropriate winter clothing from old catalogs and made collages. We discussed fabrics and layering, and then we discussed the causes, prevention and treatment of hypothermia and frostbite. I went over and discussed what you should carry with you, the PSK cheat sheet and what to do if you got lost. I gave each of them a whistle and a copy of the PSK cheat sheet on waterproof paper.

Later in the evening, we decided to make a fire in the outdoor fireplace. Another troop, who was also up for the weekend, tried to make a fire in the afternoon, but without success. I went over to look at the fireplace and noted they had stuffed it full of wood, mostly larger pieces and there was little ventilation. Just before we went outside to start the fire, I went over the importance of collecting enough tinder, kindling and having larger pieces to support the fire once we got it going. We went over various types of matches and other fire starters. I told them we were going to try and start the fire without matches using a standard ferrocerium rod and petroleum/cotton ball tinder. Most of the wood was already collected at the fireplace, but we had the girls collect additional wood to use and to replace the wood we planned on using. I pulled out all of the wood from the other troop and showed the girls how to correctly stack the kindling. We were able to start the fire with the ferroerium rod and cotton ball; soon we had a substantial fire going. We planned and did try to cook our “foil” dinners, but the metal plate on top of the fireplace was too far above and the weather was so cold, that the foil packages never got the chance to heat up despite building the fire higher. We were going to simply throw the foil packages into the coals, but we had too many to cook and the design of the fireplace did not allow us to do so easily, so we ended up finishing them in the oven. We did go out after dinner and made smoores over the fire.

The next day we were going to go over GPS and some geo-caching, but with the snow, the girls could have just followed the footprints to the caches. So we went over what to have in a winter survival kit for the car, then I gave each girl one of the key chain LED flashlights from Country Comm for their kits.

In all the girls had a good time, learned a few things and hopefully will be able to add to these skills the next time we go camping in April. Pete

Nice job!

I guarantee you that their experience that weekend is a memory they will never forget.

Very Nice Pete! I am a male leader with my wife and a card carrying registered Girl Scout! Not having any boys, I gave up the idea of Lego's and Matchbox's for Barbies and dress-ups a long time ago. My Daughter has been in GS for a long time and when my wife and I took over the JR Troop last year almost all of the girls were ready to quit until we came in. Their previous leader never took them camping, hiking, or went into the outdoors. They are so gung ho it is amazing. Earlier this year we hiked in Michaux State park 3.5 miles. We went up Pole Steeple with day packs (which had personal survival gear for each girl THAT they packed themselves) and I didn't have one whiner. (except for a parent or two!) And they rock climbed the face to the top. I was very proud of them and they were very proud of themselves. Continue to be involved with your wife. A lot of these girls need to learn how self sufficient they can be. Some of my girls had never even lit a match or washed their own dishes before coming into our troop.

My wife and I have been involved together with GSA for close to 15 years, she even longer. With my oldest daughter’s troop, (she is now 22 - I have 3 daugthers-22, 19, 10), I too was co-leader for several years and totally enjoyed the experience with the girls. I tend not to like the politics or bureaucracy, so now; I am mainly an adult volunteer, providing training/guidance for a variety of activities and usually end up as the “First Aider” for various events. While I have encountered some resistance to male participation, mainly from some of the leaders, who have the “we don’t need males attitude”, the girls on the other hand seem to love having adult male involvement. This is not to say the majority of the female leaders have this attitude or that they are not as up to speed in the area of outdoor activities and need male involvement, for many are extremely proficient in outdoor activities. However, I think by having both male and female co-leaders the girls have an opportunity to appreciate and explore in a healthy way, male – female interactions and the different, but complementary attributes. Many of the girls in our troops over the years were from single parent families, more than once the moms would tell my wife that they really appreciated my involvement, since due to family circumstances their daughter had little in the way of adult males in their lives. Several of the girls we had in our troops are now grown and have started troops of their own, seeing them assume these leadership roles is an enormous reward and is beyond words. I am sure you will have many wonderful experiences and your involvement will, in a positive manner; touch the lives of many girls. I have always told my girls that I would not treat them any different than if I had sons, that they should be self-reliant and of benefit to others. Although, I am sure if you ask my wife, she would say, they have me wrapped around their little fingers (she is probably right). Pete

Pete,

Kudos for all of your service to other kids and the time spent with your own.

In my opinion, BSA would not be viable today without adult female leaders. Troops that have both male and female adult leaders do a much better job with the boys as best as I can determine. There is an impressive study (not commissioned by BSA) that strongly documents the need for boys/young men to interact with good male role models, but I am not aware of any similar study for girls/young women or the effects of mixed-gender interaction for either girls or boys. Seems obvious, but...

I would spend more time than I already do (!!!!) with the scouts if their busy little lives afforded them the opportunity - that's a sad state. Anyway, it was neat to read your posts on the GSA interaction <applause>

Regards,

Tom

Good for you, Pete, and all the other dads and men who get involved in Girl Scouts. I’ve been an assistant troop leader and now troop leader for, geee, eight years?, and I still occasionally get the “we don’t need no men around” attitude from some leaders. But most of them are accepting and used to the fact that on a lot of overnight trips I am the only guy with sometimes hundreds of girls and women. I’m used to it, and just kind of grin to myself when the late-night campfire talk gets to the girl talk phase.

But as for outdoor skills, that is where my Boy Scout days have really come into play, because as you and others have noted, many kids today cannot even light a match, let alone start a fire. I always spend at least one day/overnight at the council summer day camp, on the day that they get to build a fire, and it’s almost always the same – the girls drag in tree trunks, the leader puts some thumb-sized “council-issue fire starter” under this pile of logs and tries to light it by throwing matches in the general direction of same.

I watch with detached interest (if we don’t have a fire we don’t get to eat) and then suggest an alternative method, i.e., the Boy Scout way. That turns into a lesson on the differences between tinder, kindling and fuel, how to get a hot fire going quickly and how to light it. I’ve started bringing my own boxes of matches because so few of the girls even know how to hold one, let alone light it. But to see that gleam of accomplishment in their eyes when we have a tidy little blaze going makes it all worth it.

Tom,

Thanks for the KUDOS; I am not sure I deserve them, but thanks. I am sure that you and anyone else who has ever had the opportunity to work with kids or in any other volunteer position, know that you are repaid 100 fold for whatever effort you put into the job. For me, there is no amount of money that would come close to the reward and personal self-satisfaction knowing I may have in some small way helped another person. I know there have been innumerable persons in my life, many who probably have no idea, the positive impact they had on my life. I know, that if were not for these caring individuals my life could have, very easily, taken a turn for the worse and there is no telling where I would be right now. What goes around comes around. I feel I must to whatever degree I am capable of, provide guidance and help to others. Pete