This weekend I gave a little fire-building demonstration to my Cub Scout den. I gave each boy a self-sealing baggie and had them create a pile of Vaseline-coated cotton balls. That alone was gooie and fun for them to do. We then lit a regular cotton ball and one of the doped cotton balls and they and the dads were absolutely amazed at how long the Valeline-coated ball lasted.

If you haven't tryed these simple fire-starters yet, you really need to!!

Each of the six boys started small fires with their new firestarters. They started them using a match, but we also lit cotton balls using a firesteel ferorod (the Kershaw one) and a SparkLite just to emphasize what can be done without matches.

Last year we talked about the Hug-a-Tree program and created fanny pack survival kits containing:
-33 gal. orange bag
-whistle on a wrist lanyard
-Princeston-tech LED light fastened to lanyard (GREAT deal out of campmor.com)

...and first aid kits containing
-bandaids
-3 inch bandages
-tape
-soap
-latex gloves
-antibiotic ointment
-sting wipes
-CPR shield
-tweezers
-simple first aid manual

When they graduate to Boy Scouts the pack will give them a nice compass (Suunto M-3) and a hiking staff (most likely a ratan 5' staff).

They are a great group of boys (and parents). Now I'm trying to think of a graduation gift for them from me. Any ideas? I'm thinking of buying them BSA HotSparks plus some other fun gear - at least whatever my budget can allow.

BSA Hot Spark sounds like a good choice.

Good job! <img src="/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

Good Job ! It's great that you are involved with the Scouts and that you are sharing this knowledge with them. It will stasy with them forever and they might thank you for it in the futur (hopefully not, but...)

Other inexpensive fun gear gift ideas : whistle, signal mirror, fishing gear ...

Thank you for your service to the Boy Scouts of America!

My twins are Webelos II. Last year when we went camping with our den I had the boys make Vaseline coated cotton balls and light them with a BSA Hot Spark. They loved it!

The BSA Hot Spark and the BSA compass case are great gifts for a Scout.

Ken,

Kudos to you for an excellent job in leading your Webelos. The Hot Spark will make a very good gift.

Best scouting wishes,

John

I just tried this too. I wanted to have a go with the fresnel lens in my kit, but all I succeeded in doing was burning away small chunks of the cotton ball- no smouldering and no flame. Same effect with the magnifying glass on my SAK. One spark with the spark-lite and whoomph!

A

Cool eh??!! Just make sure you don't over dope the cotton ball with Vaseline. The idea is to have the outside well covered while the inside is still "dry". That make it light real easy with a sparker.