Indian Grommet?

[patobin]

Howdy folks!

 

I just joined as an adult leader last night and I already have an assignment. I'm supposed to find out what an indian grommet is and how to tie it. Can anyone point me in the right direction?

Thanxxx!

Pat (This message has been edited by a staff member.)

[Trevorum]

Hello Pat, and welcome to the forums!

 

I've not heard this term. Could it be simply the sheet bunched and tied around a smooth pebble? I've often used that type of expedient grommet.

[SR540Beaver]

Welcome Pat. Hmmmmmm, a search on Google turns up zero results. Could it be that a trick is being played on the new leader? Some of our older boys had the newer boys going from patrol to patrol looking to borrow the "bacon stretcher" while cooking breakfast on the last campout.

[Eamonn]

Sounds like a Curry Chef who can't spell!!

Eamonn

[CalicoPenn]

Hello Pat - and an echo of Trevorum's welcome.

 

What Trevorum describes is what I know as an "Indian Grommet". It can be used with a tarp or with a tent.

 

On a tarp, it is used to attach a length of line (rope) to a corner where there is no grommet or the grommet has come apart. Place a small roundish stone on the tarp at the corner then fold the corner over to wrap the stone - the stone needs to be completely covered, but you don't need to overdo the wrapping - tie the line around the tarp below the wrapped stone - the stone keeps the line from slipping off the tarp. The bigger the diameter line, the bigger the stone you'll need - if the line diameter is bigger than the stone, you need a different stone.

 

For a tent missing a stake loop, the easiest thing to do is put the stone in the corner of the tent where needed and tie one end of the line around the tent corner behind the stone, make a small loop, then tie the loose end of the line behind the stone.

 

You can put together an "Indian Grommet" along any side of a tent or tarp if needed - it bunches a bit, but that's okay.

 

If, as SrBeaver suggests, this is trick being played on a new leader, imagine their surprise when you actually demonstrate an "Indian Grommet"

 

This is one of those becoming lost skills that were far more commonly used when people used canvas tents that would rot - and a skill used quite often in the Pre-1840's Rendezvous re-enactors world. The 8x8 canvas pyramid (hunters) tent I sometimes use at rendezvous has 9 locations for stake loops - and only 4 stake loops that are still usable (it's a very old tent) - I use these "Indian Grommets" all the time (though I've taken to driving the heavy iron stakes right through the canvas at the corners at this stage).

 

Practice a bit with a bandana, pebble, and string, and you'll see just how easy it is.

 

CalicoPenn

[Eagle1973]

What I always enjoy doing, even when I was a "senior" Scout, was to help the "greenie" by coming up with/making the components of whatever they are tasked to come up with. (left handed smoke shifter, tent stretcher, etc.)

 

Then, tell the greenie to go back to the Scout/Scouter that assigned the task and say, "here it is, now show me how to put it together/use it/etc."

 

I also ask the greenie to come back to me and tell me the reaction of the "tasker"...

[patobin]

Thanks ALL! I have had my share of pranks played on me when I was a scout. The key to the flag pole was my most gullible moment. However, I heard of one ASM who REALLY did it up right. The flag pole actually had a cross bar and three separate lines. He had locked all of the clips together with a long shank bicycle lock. The key was actually fastened into the end of a 3 foot long wooden skeleton key made out of a closet rod dowel. To turn the key you had to turn the whole wooden key. Of course this was done at the big presentation and when the color guard got to the flag pole there was much discussion and shrugging of shoulders. Finally the assembly was asked "Does anyone have the key to the flag pole!" You can guess the rest!

[Aquila calva]

Sounds like a good idea for an improvised grommet. Calling it an Indian grommet probably doesnt give Native Americans enough credit for very carefully-made loops and stakes that served to hold their dwellings to the ground (tipis in this case). (The dwellings were made by and owned by the women of the tribe.) Here is a link to a photograph by Edward Curtis from about 1926. Look along the bottom edge of the tipi for the loops that must have been well-sown into the rest of the material that covers the frame. There are extra stakes near the girls feet, too.

 

http://www.ushistoricalarchive.com/indians/photos/ct18046.html

 

Here is another photo of Whistle Smoke standing in front of the same play tipi.

 

http://www.ushistoricalarchive.com/indians/photos/ct18066.html

 

Here is a photo from about 1900 of an Indian (Piegan) encampment with lots of full-sized tipis. Indian grommets galore!

 

http://sf.curtisprints.net/large_img.php?gallery=2&i=5&page=1

 

(By the way, the Piegans are a subtribe of the Blackfoot Indians.)

 

Patobin, you may want to consider taking copies of these photographs to your troop meeting to show everyone what a real Indian grommet looks like and how they were used a hundred years ago.