Interesting replies from everyone - thanks.

I didn't write that no one can start fires; MOST cannot.

W.R.T. the prep-time - the issue I have with some is that they never get a match lit - it is endless preparation and a fire is not produced - just a superb preparation. It should not take an hour under ordinary conditions - a few minutes - perhaps 5 - it's not about racing, but taking over an hour and never actually producing flames is absurd. This is mostly an adult syndrome in my experiance - not all adults, but enough to merit mention.

With the scouts in our troop, I've repeatedly talked to scout-parent individually about practicing firebuilding at home. All agree to but few actually do. Guess what? The ones who have practiced at home can reliably make a fire under ordinary conditions, which what I expect from the average scout who is unrelated to me.

All of our scouts live where they may build small fires in the back yard and I've even offered the use of our backyard (no one has availed themselves). Opportunities abound.

I have Scoutmasters contact me wanting me to "...teach us how to make snowshoes, build shelters, camp in the winter, and stuff like that..." in two hours on a Saturday... HELLO! (Substitute similar activities in other seasons). I don't even try to accomodate those vague requests - I show up prepared to do anything and decide what I'm going to do with them after I've chatted with the group on-site for 5 or 10 minutes - so far, so good. Talk about wanting instant gratification... and these are earnest folks who are actually spending a lot of time and energy, vesting years into each boy.

I'm not ready to conceed on the problem. It's wholly different than teaching ones own children - we only have the boys for a little time weekly. I'm drifting into some programatic vehicles, but the details are not yet gelled in my mind. That still only addresses our troop of boys, but that would be a start. More ideas welcome.

Thanks again for all the comments!

Tom