Tim,

Eh, 1 hour would be about right for knots... anyway, given the agenda I suggest starting with lightweight bakpacking, moving into a brief forray on survival, and tying things up with knots. (OK, I got that out of my system now...).

Really, too much material for one hour. Here's one suggestion on an approach:

The prefered method for Scouts is summarized by "Tell, show, do". The "do" part is difficult with the first two topics and made to order with the knots. If you select knots that have utility in lightweight backpacking and survival, it gives you a useful way to wrap it all up. Here are the "basic" knots that BSA requires Scouts to know before they are adjudged full-fledged Scouts (1st Class), with page references in the 11th Edition of the Boy Scout Handbook:

Scout: square knot (page 8)

Tenderfoot: whip a rope end (page 34); fuse a rope end (page 34); two half-hitches (page 35-36); taut-line hitch (page 35-37)

Second Class: none

First Class: timber hitch (page 137-138); clove hitch (page 137-139); square, shear, and diagonal lashings (page 142-144); bowline (page 149) NOTE: pages 146-148 have lashing varients tripod, round, and floor. Page 150 has sheet bend, described as "...a close relative of the bowline..."

I'm not thrilled with the above, but there they are. Boys are all over the place with regard to learning and remembering knots. For climbing activities, BSA requires the spectrum of knots that are currently in vogue with the North American climbing community, but usually only some of the older boys really ever learn any of those.

So either show uses of the above knots in your two other topical areas or toss in some additional knots that are useful for those topics. If you have helpers at a ratio of 1 per 2-3 boys, 5 minutes per knot will do. If you are the sole teacher, figure 10-15 minutes per knot (yep, not a typo - 15), even for something like a double sheet bend - there will be 10% that are slow and drag it out. Some of the boys will be able to help others, even with new material, so ask the Scoutmaster to group them that way.

No suggestions on the lightweight backpacking except to let them touch, feel, heft the gear.

On the survival, my suggestion is to POUND this into their heads: "Be Prepared!" First point: whenever venturing from home, wear/carry clothing appropriate for the conditions that might be encountered. Second point: Outdoor Essentials. (see page 207 - 210 and extend from there). Refer them to pages 40-41 (STOP, etc.) Show them a PSK, just for kicks.

Back to knots - there are so many to choose from... see the thread here - the list is endless. I'd shoot for about 3 good knots they don't know and prepare a handout on a 3x5 card for each knot consisting of a step-by-step diagram and a small example of the finished knot hot-glued to the card.

Boy, are you going to be busy for an hour! Have fun and make sure the boys get to actually do something fun that they'll learn from.

Tom

PS - If this is a regular Troop meeting, you're not really going to have an hour unless they instantly turn the whole meeting over to you immediately after the opening. More like 45 minutes... verify the time for sure with the Scoutmaster.