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.