Knowing the Ropes, CSDC Scout Skills

[SSScout]

KiS MiF....    

"Okay, Cubs, here are your ropes...  Notice the different colored ends.  These are the best, Peruvian Bi-colored, double ended ropes we could get. They were picked from the jungle plantations at the PEAK of maturity.  Now remember ---   when you go to the store to buy some rope, NEVER , NEVER buy single ended rope. ALWAYS insist on rope with two ends ! ! Trust me, single ended rope is inherently defective , and will cause you nothing but trouble !  ALWAYS buy double ended rope !!  " 

....about this time, your Cubs will be smiling and tilting their heads and looking at you sideways (?? Wha....??) and you will have them.  

***Before the "class" (never call it a class, reeks of school. Session,  Skilltime,  Rigging, something , anything else), You have cut sash cord into 4 to 5 foot lengths and dipped the ends in glue or wrapped them in duct tape to prevent the unraveling.  You have then layed the ropes on your driveway and spray painted about two feet of  one end a contrasting color (one end red, one plain). This allows a better way to SEE how the knots tie. And you have produced enough so that each Cub may take home his " Peruvian Practice Rope".  Then  go on to tell them the "Jargon"....

""Right.  Now, the men that use ropes all the time , sailors, riggers, crane operators,  steel erectors,  use a LANGUAGE, a JARGON, and we will learn that language.  Here (hold up the rope ), this is a rope or LINE. the part that doesn't do much in the knot tying  (throw this over your shoulder)  is the "STANDING PART" say that ( they say it) What?   (they say it LOUDER) . Good.  The end that moves around, runs around (throw the rest of rope around alittle), is the "RUNNING END"  (""running end""). Good ! If I make a U  shape, that's a BIGHT, (they all say bight). If I cross the Running End  .. over the Standing Part, that's a" LOOP" . Now, as YOU are looking at it, if the Running Part goes OVER the Standing part, that's an OVER LOOP. and if the Running End goes UNDER the Standing Part, that's an....   Right ! Under Loop, you kids a good... "

Go on to teach the Overhand Knot, Figure Eight Knot,  Square/Reef  Knot, Clove Hitch, Two half Hitches, etc.   Use the Jargon.  Give them the pride of ownership and "inside dope".  Use your Boy Scout Assistants . HANDS ON, if you have to  stand behind the Cub and manipulate their hands, DO IT.  Teach your Scout Assistants to do this.  GET INVOLVED. 

"Great!   Any of you Cubs know who Isaac Newton is?   (some of the older ones may) Do you know his Three Laws of Motion?   (Here you can repeat them , simply, for review. Look'em up).

But did you know...  When he sent them off to his publisher, there were FOUR Laws of Motion ! Yep, Seems that somebody spilled coffee on them and wiped out the fourth law,  umm umm.  We have recently discovered what that Fourth Law is... (throw your Big Rope out to a Cub to hold on) You Can't Push A Rope.  (push on it )  Ropes are ONLY good in Tension (pull on it.  Play with this for awhile. )"  

When the CSDC Director says "of course they learned these eight knots...."   You can, with authority tell her/him,  no, in my 50 minute  session, They learned these four knots.... Learned and learned their use.  The Den Walkers  (Adults !)  learned them too !   Insist on their participation !  Don't EVER let the escorts just sit there.... MiF KiS.   

"MR. SSSCOUT, MR. SSSCOUT ! !   (here the Cub holds up a tangle of rope) What knot is this?"  "What's your  name, Scout?"  "Johnny Smith !"  "Well, that's a Johnny Smith knot !" 

If it is a "class", if the Cubs HAVE to go thru it, if it's a CHORE,,,,  do you really think they'll remember it?    MiF KiS MiF.....

[MattR]

A rope with an eye splice in it would be ... single ended.

If you really want some fun make a zero ended rope by doing a long splice back on itself. Give said rope to a scout and ask him to tie a square knot in it. (first he has to find the ends.) Promise him an ice cream if he can tie it in less than 5 seconds.