In the long run in my lifetime probably the closest I have been to a true survival experience was in camping out in 1947. It was at a local cow pasture next to a river and while it started out to be a week end it ended up going on for several years and often began in early spring and lasted into late fall. At that time ,at least on our budgets, the modern tents, sleeping bags, freeze dried foods, etc were not available. A couple wool blankets and a poncho, a tarp for shelter, fire ring with a tripod and a grill for a dutch oven for cooking, a shovel and an up side down bucket for toilet paper for needed trips. When I was 9 I joined the Boy Scouts in a rural troop. The leader had been a combat vet in WW2, walked with a limp from a wound, was a farmer with 80 acres of land and animals, and knew how to live off the land. He had a cousin who had a son in the troop and he not only helped out with the troop but we very quickly learned that we could camp out in his pasture. The area he offered was flat land, no trees or brush, next to a river, and we could take dead wood from his hill side wood lot about 500 feet away. Only requirements were that we had to share it with cows, keep the gates closed, don't do anything permanent without his permission, and don't burn the place down. Our scout leader, Mr. Smith, set up a set of rules before we had our first camp out, and breaking them would get you sent home and miss the next camp out as well. The was to be no drinking or washing of hands, etc, with water from the river. We had water in 10 gallon milk cans or we filtered river water per his instructions, thru sand and added chlorine tablets and let it stand for 30 minutes. That was obvious as we observed the actions our cows were taking and we doubted that the fish went on shore to do their "duties". He later showed us how to dig a small well about 15 feet from the river to act as a filter, water still had to have chlorine added or be boiled. We had to build a wall around it to keep the cows from falling into it and get permission from the farmer. We also soon found out we had to line it with rocks and put a cover over it as a dead mouse floating in your "filtered water" did not really enhance its taste. Next rule was that although the cows were not house broke, we were. There was a spot set aside with some privacy and we were to use it at all times. It included toilet paper and a shovel for a "cat hole". Later we built, with the owners permission and help, an out house with seats and a urinal. We spent a lot of time and dug a couple test pits before we sited the out house. Discussed water flows, time it took to safely filter the water thru sand before it reached the river, different diseases you could get from bad water, and that up until WW2 in most cases more soldiers died of disease than combat. Fires were only to be built in a fire ring with the grass removed, no where else, no candles or torches, only lanterns, and they were to be kept at least 3 feet away from anything that would burn, including overhead. Fires were to be no larger than needed and no fire was out until water had been dumped on it and the ashes stirred. Taught us how to use a hatchet, driest wood is usually in center even if outside is soaked, need small pieces to start fire. Very soon leaned that a small bow saw was required, it is a pain to chop firewood to length or cut poles. He also showed us the use of squaw wood, dead limbs on pine trees, usually the driest wood around and can be broken off by hand if needed. Got all we needed for the asking over the years by using a saw and trimming it neatly to the tree. With permission, we cut some small trees that were in the deeper part of the woods. Since the older trees shade the new trees, they grow towards the light and become poles. Often a nearly constant diameter for several feet, and with few limbs. Much stronger than the brush growing at the edge of the woods or in the pasture. We then made a frame to put a canvas on for the cover of our tent. Built in this case facing away from the river and the usual wind. They were open faced, but with sides, and you could tie a tarp over the front if the weather was bad. He had us take some poles and make a frame for an area to sleep on. Filled the area inside the poles with leaves, covered the leaves with empty feed sacks, and made our bed on them . We had poncho's, WW2 type, a light canvas, you placed the poncho on the bed so 1/2 covered the bed and half hung out. You put a wool blanket on the poncho and a second one on the bed with 1/2 hanging out the other side. When you laid down, you took the half that covered the poncho part that was off the bed and pulled it over you, took the half of the second blanket that was off the bed and not on the poncho, pulled it over you, and then pulled the rest of the poncho over you. All in layers now. Poncho, blanket, blanket, scout, blanket, blanket, poncho. The leaves and poncho kept the cold and damp out, 2 layers of blanket, one in summer, kept you warm. We had bean pots and cooked a lot of beans in the coals of the fire, can read about that today as easy as my telling you. Native Americans did not have metal, all cooking was done in pots buried in coals, lots of use as beans, corn, and squash, the three sisters, all require some cooking. They also,as we did, cook over the open flame with a spit or plank set next to the fire, use hot stones dropped into a pot and removed when cool to heat water as well as building a fire over a flat rock, heated,, then fire and ashes removed. Does work and we did cook some things, flat bread and tortilla's that way. Can do corn on flat hot stones, but beans and squash do best "baked" as well as stews, bone broths, etc in the coals or hot ashes in a pot or dutch oven. We cheated and used kettles suspended over an open fire with a tripod, must have as you raised and lowered pot to control temperature, cast iron fry pans, spread the heat and work better, and dutch ovens for baking with the coals. Hamburger, pork chops, steak, bacon, pan cakes, sauces etc cooked in cast iron fry pan. Rice, soups and stews made from scratch and cooked in kettles on tripod. Beans, stews, cakes and goodies, etc cooked in dutch ovens. Since we camped mostly in the summer, lots of stuff out of the garden and the woods. If you look on the net you can find a lot of information on the way it was done in the 1940's. Not at the level of a recipe for rabbit beginning with catching the rabbit, but also not just opening a can, or adding water. As time went on we were given a "surplus squad tent" from the local guard unit, yes one of the parents of a scout in the troop was in the guard. It had a wood floor, wooden frame, cots, a stove for heat, the real thing for a bunch of scouts in the 1940's. Not portable but we took the canvas off and left the wood frame up. About 20 by 20 and we could camp earlier and later. With tent and extended camping, learned how to forage for food, cat tails, purslane, all the eatable weeds, wild game supplied by the parents in season, how to process acorns, etc. We built chairs, bridge, table, stools, etc from poles, better built stone work for fires, well, steps a place to launch a canoe, etc and a place to change cloths to go swimming so we didn't have to go to the tent. We built a small dam and dug out the river to make a swimming hole and cleared out the debris in the river so we could canoe a ways. But would now be considered part of the backwards class. Went to a 1 room schoolhouse with 8 grades, got to town twice a week, Saturday for shopping and Sunday for church, no radio, no TV, no after school enrichment programs or sports, chores before school and after and going camping was a real treat as dad and mom had to do our work as well as theirs. Camping would usually only last a couple days as we had work to do and still had to weed the garden, help in the orchard, take care of the chickens and pigs, do those things a kid could do. At age 9 I was expected to drive the horses and then a little while later when we got the tractor to drive it as well.
Funny things you remember, local butcher, my dad, grin, gave us raw hide for lashing poles. Won't work under water, gets all slimy and doesn't shrink, works best if after it is dry you put a couple coat of varnish on it. For things things that you can use it for, raw hide works better than rope. Shrinks as it dries and makes a really tight lashing. Poles are good for straight things like tables and bridges, but fresh cut saplings and brush can be bent, twisted, and woven, and if you go to a beaver dam, you can get wood that is already peeled and if taken from under water, can almost be tied in knots. Can make wood carriers, baskets and storage chests that are very solid when the wood dries out. Used to build fences that way and some of the first houses and up to the half timbered houses in the middle ages were made out of woven wood panels covered with clay. They just kept the roofs far enough out to keep the water off the clay. They also used the wooden poles covered with skins for boats. The bridge, built of about 2 to 3 in poles was very usable for a few years. Didn't have nylon rope, so rope rotted as did the wood at the water line and we knocked it down and used the wood for fires, Guess you would call it recycling. Thought the floods and ice in the spring would knock it down, but they didn't. The old timers made the supports in a box shape and filled it with rock and that resisted the ice pressure and kept it from lifting the poles. A lot of the farms had fords to get to the fields. Would find a shallow place with a sandy bottom in the river, dig down a couple feet when the river was low, and fill it with stones,. This gave the needed support for the wheels that sand would not give, but the water just ran over it when it was high. In 1940's still had country back roads made that way. Had poles on both side that were replaced when water was low enough to use. Also used on seasonal cricks that flooded in spring or after real bad rain. Could make a box that was tight enough to keep out mice, but they would chew holes in it if they smelled anything to eat. Found out that they could climb rope to get to box and that you had to put a piece of metal around the rope, like for squirrels and a bird feeder, to keep them out of woven box.
What a great time to grow up in America. Though I was never in the Boy Scouts I was in the Sea Scouts. in the mid 50's learned a lot from WW II ex Navy Sea Scout leaders. Unfortunately todays kids will never experience what we did IMO that is what is wrong with a lot of todays kids Loved your story
I was in Boy Scouts later, much, 1969-76. Our troop camped year round, except February, now that I think back on it. January was snow camp, exactly what it sounds like, at the horse corral at Diamond Lake. We'd spread half a bail of straw on top of the snow (which was usually about 6' deep), then put our tents on top. My final one, in '76, another senior scout and I built an igloo instead of using a tent. Put 3/4 of a bale of straw down inside, then our ground tarps, then our sleeping bags. I had an inner tube from a backhoe intended for use on the nearby sledding hill, which we propped in front of the door and filled the hole with the remaining 1/4 bale of straw. It was warm enough inside that we were playing cards sitting on top of our sleeping bags just wearing our long johns. Father/Son was the theme of the March campout, always using the adirondack shelters at the council owned camp over at the coast. April was 'pre-camporee', then May was the district-wide Camporee, with patrols from all over the district competing for top honors. Summer camp was a week back at Camp Baker, usually in June or July, and then in August we had a 50-miler for those 14 and over. It's been over 45 years, so I'm not remembering what we did September - November. Maybe we didn't camp then, either. Hunting season, you know. And then, usually early in December we had mud camp. We might get snow falling, but it usually didn't stick, turning in to mud. And of course, being in Oregon, rain was an ever present possibility/probability. We even had one night of rain on my second 50-miler in August 1977, when I was the second "adult", along with the scoutmaster (I was 18, and had only been out of the troop less than a year). I got razzed by the "kids" for bringing the weight of a small tent, but they stopped razzing after that night. I wasn't much older than most of them, but I had learned a thing or two over the years.
Always wondered why the Boy Scouts and others used the open shed type shelters. Loved using them and there must be a reason that they didn't put up the fourth wall. Guess you don't need windows, doors, etc and a lot more resistant to vandalism. Sure wasn't a question of building permits and property tax in the old days.
Love hearing your memories Mr Duane ,,, I used to love hearing my grandparents stories. It made me appreciate what I had back then . If folks today had to live the way your generation did ,,, I believe we'd be thinning the herd pretty damned quick . And I can't say that wouldn't be a bad thing .
Lots of lessons taught in old time Scouts were experience based. How important good shoes and socks are on a hike, dressing in layers, raincoat has to breath in some way or sweat will make you as wet as rain. You have to have something under you when sleeping to keep the cold out. Insects are the biggest pain when camping, can dress warmer or cooler but chiggers, mosquitoes, black flies, etc can send even the most determined camper into a "safe" space. A hatchet looks nice, but an axe and a bow saw are a lot more usable. Packing a light tent, weight and all, beats sitting in the rain. A multi purpose camp tool can be a true gem. Canteen cup that can be used to heat drinks and soups, a mess kit that can be used as a fry pan, a poncho that can be used as a sleeping bag cover, ground cloth, improvised shelter, etc. Carry out what ever you pack in and don't use. Don't walk in places that will erode, damage any trees, leave any indication that you have had a tent up, ditching, tent pegs, etc, or that there has been a fire built there. Now a days you walk the trails, camp in a camp ground, and use fireplaces, but we didn't. Keep the noise down, don't party, and let everyone else enjoy nature. Many of the Scouts basic principles, having a faith in God, getting along with each other and respecting each other, working together as a team, love of country, being polite, no cursing or bad behavior, respect for nature and enjoying its bounties, love of knowledge, trying your best to do what is good for your body, etc, did as the original founders hoped, make the world a better place to live in. What I don't understand is the push that we aren't supposed to use and respect nature. We didn't have all this wilderness and keep out stuff. We were taught to enjoy it and not damage it. Now we are supposed to look at it on an app and admire the fact that no one is there. Guess it might be necessary as the population of the US was less than 130 million when I was born and is 335 million at least now and that is an estimate as we argue about the illegal aliens who may be present and uncounted..
I was a both a Cub Scout and Boy Scout, from the mid-1960s to the early-1970s. My Scout Master was Mr. Payne, he was a USMC/Korean War vet, and a Yankee from Ohio. We did monthly weekend campouts, summer camp at Camp Westmoreland, and hiked several Civil War battlefields. Aquatics Camp (where I got all of my aquatic merit badges) and camping/exploring in a cave were two of the best trips. Mr. Payne could never get over our hiking around the Civil War battlefields under a Confederate battle flag. I never did get pass 2nd Class rank, but I was working on 1st Class, when I dropped out of Scouting. For the past 40 years, I have been a Civil War re-enactor. I sleep under a wool blanket and poncho with an old coat for a pillow and the earth for last nights bed. We cook and warm ourselves around a fire, wear uniforms, and hike around Civil War battlefields under a Confederate battle flag...so not much has changed.
I was fortunate to have Scout Masters who were ALL Vets, our Council Master was a WW-II Vet who lost a leg in Normandy, Mr. Kelly was a Marine Vet from Nam, Mr. Boden was a Army Ontos/Scorpion crew in Nam, and Mr. Ray was a Navy Senior Chief. I would say we couldn't have picked a better bunch of leaders of younsters then those men! We marched everywhere we went, we did weekend river hikes with maps and compass, and summer time, our troop took over Scouters Mountain and did all the maintence and upkeep, as well as getting the camp set up for the Jamboree, and later summer, we took command of the big Scout camp at Lackamas Lake, including cleaning out the lodge, doing any repairs, and upkeep as needed, we worked on the Canoe docks, got the boats and all the gear out and made ready to go, and then hosted the other troops as they came! I Joined the Sea Scouts at the age of 14 and Loved it, though WAY different then the Boy Scouts, we got to do a bunch of other super cool stuff, we even had one of the Retired 44 Foot Coast Guard Motor Life boats that we completely rebuilt and restored, and I was qualified and assigned Coxswain, so I got to take her out for her first sea trials, we took her all the way down river to the National Motor Life Boat training center/Station Cape Disappointment, and had several Coasties take us out in the surf where we all earned our life saving certificates and even got our Surfmen qualifications, some of the very few Sea Scouts nationally to earn those certs! I went on to qualify to train as Sailing Master, to which I attended the National Maritime academy in Seattle, and earned my Master Mariners license, which Has since been upgraded to an Unlimited Masters with a Columbia Bar Pilots Waiver! As a Side note, one of the coolest experiences I got to have was spending a week aboard Battle Ship Massachusetts as part of the sea scouts national Jamboree! People always ask me why I ended up enlisting in the Air Force, with every thing I did in the Sea Scouts, plus my Father being a Navy Captain, I was almost expected to follow the path to ether Coast Guard or Navy service, but I chose to enlist in the Air Force, I wanted to be around aircraft as a maintainer of some sort, but life has a funny way of bringing you back to your chosen path and I was "Selected" or more accurately, volentold to try out for the "A" team, take the trials and then spend the next 24 months training to earn the right to wear the Red Beret for real, Turns out, having all that experience was exactly what the Air Force was looking for in a Junior Airman! I earned my Winged Betty and Green Feet and served the full 20 years, which it's self is quite an achievement given the casualty rate in my field is somewhere north of 96%, it was never a question of IF you were going to get hurt, it was HOW BAD, will it end your carrier, or worse, make your wife a widow, and yet, here I am! I look back and think, Holy Shit I lucky to have survived many of the things We did, and somehow kept all ten fingers and toes, both eyes, and a somewhat working brain, holy crap Batman there were some Sporty Times, but like they say, that what doesn't kill you, and like my teammates learned, be wary of the Old Man doing the Young Mans Job, he didn't get to be an Old Man by being a pussy in that field! LOL I had some amazing experiences, and some heart aches ( Far more then my share, truth be told) but I wouldn't change One second of any of it!
Thank you for your service Ura-Ki and for sharing your memories of the Sea Scouts. So much used to be expected of us then and usually with the help of the excellent leadership we usually accomplished what we began and I might add safely.. Like wise we were expected to do clean up and repairs of the facilities we used and in many cases the airplanes, boats, etc, that were part of the scouting or Civil Air Patrol, etc.
I was a Royal Ranger at church. I’d say it compares to the Boy Scouts except God attended our meetings too. (I hope)
I was a Boy Scout for a few years until I started High School, and then joined the Australian Cadet Corps Home, though back in the day, our high school ACC company was structured like an infantry rifle company, which had its own armoury. (I earned a marksman badge, at the age of 15 years, using a WW1 era .303 SMLE rifle) My experience as a Boy Scout influenced my acquisition of life skills in self reliance, bushcraft / campcraft, and an enjoyment of outdoors exploration. I learned many skills as a Boy Scout which I used whilst serving in the Australian Defence Force, and which I still use. I have also used my Boy Scout knowledge and skills to educate my own children and grandchildren. One of the things that I treasure is successfully completing a backwoodsman proficiency badge course. Among other things, I learned to gut and prepare a fish for cooking in a fire pit, How to Build a Pit Oven (And Cook a Salmon in It) (Though we used grease proof paper and sodden newspaper instead of aluminium foil to wrap the fish (which was stuffed with onions, sliced carrots, sliced potato and seasoning); We made our own individual shelters which we slept in, using tree branches, sticks, grass and leaf litter (The rain protection capability of the construction was tested (with ourselves lying under our own shelter) by it being sprayed with water from a bucket. Learned to navigate using map and compass, applying celestial navigation using a wrist watch and sun position, and using the southern hemisphere navigational constellations to approximate grid South. Practiced basic first aid, including constructing an using a litter to transport a casualty.
