Ropes and Poles

Knight's Trebuchet - a simple, quick, Scout trebuchet

2011-11-24T07:30:00.001+02:00

I designed this simple trebuchet as a more stable, robust small trebuchet. The two opposite side frames are braced against each other so it doesn't need guy lines, which is the main problem with the older trebuchet design on Ropes and Poles. The Troop Scouters of the recent Gauteng Scout Wood Badge course at Arrowe Park tested it out and verified that it works (two of the patrols promptly ganged up on the third to send a shower of over-ripe tomatoes across to them). The theme of the Wood Badge weekend was 'the Knights of Gauteng' so this is the Knight's Trebuchet.

Two patrols used a traction rope as per the drawing below, while the third patrol used a rubber tube, pictured above. All three worked successfully.

Here are the sequence drawings for assembling this trebuchet:

1. Build one 'A frame'- make sure there is enough space at the top for the throwing arm to rest.

2. Tie the base lashings of the second (yellow) 'A frame'/triangle and attach it to the first A frame

3. Lash the top of the yellow A-frame, making sure the crossing lines up with the green A-frame

4. Lash the two base poles on to the two frames.

5. Attach the throwing arm, which is lashed onto it's axle. Rest the axle in the forks on the top of the a frames, and 'mouse' the top of the fork to prevent the arm jumping out.

This trebuchet was tested with and without a sling.

The SketchUp model is available for download HERE.

Lightweight rafts - Kon Tiki Chairman's Challenge 2011

2011-10-27T08:30:00.000+02:00

The annual Kon Tiki Chairman's Challenge was held all across Gauteng province recently. The top ten teams from Kon Tiki in March were challenged to participate. Rather than the normal race down the Vaal river, the challenge this year consisted of building a raft and completing a mobility challenge at four different lakes across the province, starting in the East at Arrowe Park, then on to the old quarry at Eastleigh Sea Scouts, then Emmarentia Dam and ending at in the West at Gilwell in Florida.

The rafts were all lightweight and designed to be quick to assemble, because this would have to be done four times. Points were also given for advertising Scouting on the vehicles used to transport the rafts between the four lakes. Two groups, 1st Kengray BK and 1st Kempton Park, built rafts with light plumbing pipe outriggers, pictured above. Most other troops built very light 6 barrel rafts as shown above left. The competition was won by First River Trail Scouts.

More photographs are available on the Kon Tiki Facebook page.

Robin Hills Portcullis Gateway

2011-10-20T17:00:00.000+02:00

Robin Hills Scout troop built this portcullis gateway for their campsite at Kontiki 2011. Two A-frames support a gate that slides up along the slope of the front legs. This gate is a much bigger and sturdier portcullis than the one I blogged about back in 2006. The SketchUp model is available for download here.

Here is the gate closed at left, and open on the right.

A photograph of the gateway. Robin Hills went on to win Kontiki

JOTA JOTI Towers - 2010

2011-10-11T06:35:00.000+02:00

This weekend sees the 54th Jamboree on the Air and 15th Jamboree on the Internet (also the sixth year of Ropes and Poles). Here are some photographs of Radio masts and towers built last year by various troops. You can sign up at Jotajoti.org to post pictures and a report of your own JOTI JOTA event, and also to see other groups' pictures as they are posted. Our camp at Arrowe Park will be posting pics and updates there, as well as on Twitter as @arrowepark .I'll also be on IRC during the weekend as RopesnpolesZA.

Giant box kite

2011-10-05T13:48:00.000+02:00

A few years ago, our group held a joint event between the Cubs and Scouts, where we flew kites. The Cubs completed the requirements for the Cub Kites interest badge, while the Scout patrols held a competition to see whose kite would fly highest.

The biggest kite on the day was this box kite built by our Group Scouter and his son. It used cane from our Scout grounds for the frame, sisal lashings for the joints, and plastic rubbish bags for the flight surfaces. Because Benoni is 1600m (7000ft) above sea level, the wind needs to be fairly strong before a kite will fly well, but this one did get into the air a few times.

Box kites were invented in the 1890s, and were an important step on the way to the invention of heavier than air aircraft. NASA has a page with a good explanation of the aerodynamics of box kites.

Scoutmaster podcast #86: Kontiki and World Jamboree interview

2011-09-26T20:15:00.000+02:00

Clarke Green from Pennsylvania runs a fantastic resource for adult leaders at Scoutmastercg.com. I recently spoke to him about my trip to the World Jamboree, as well as Scouting here in South Africa, concentrating on Kontiki. You can listen to the podcast, which is out today and available here.

Here are links to some of the things discussed on the podcast:

South Africa: 9th Benoni is my home group. Phoenix Rover Crew has a website here. Here is the blog of Joy Hutchinson, our Cub Pack's Akela. This is the South African Scout Association website (and Twitter account) with a special section on South Africa's contribution to world Scouting.

Kontiki: this is my raft category at Ropes and Poles, and this is the official Gauteng Kontiki website (here is the Western Cape one).

22nd World Scout Jamboree in Sweden: here is the official site. I kept a blog for the Drakensberg troop here, and the South African Contingent Management Team had a blog here.

Finally, if you're a new visitor to this site, welcome, and you can subscribe for email updates here, or to the RSS feed here. Likewise, if Clarke's blog is new to you, you can subscribe to email digests here, the podcast here, and the RSS feed here.

Dutch / Flemish method for round Lashing

2011-09-22T20:47:00.000+02:00

Round lashings seem to be tied with many different methods. According to the Dutch Scout wiki, this is how the Dutch speaking Scouts do it - with turns that run around the poles in both directions and are bound with a reef knot. Earlier this year I posted about the German round lashing, which uses a simple-lashing-like binding to join two poles, and this is yet another variation. The lashing itself is explained like this (please excuse my rough and ready translation):

In the Netherlands it's customary to begin with a clove hitch around both poles. In the Flemish Region, the middle of the ropes is just laid over both poles.
Take one of the ends (a) once around both poles, after that, take the other end (b) over the end and around until it comes out next to the other end (at c).
After this, continue alternating between the two ends.
Arrange the ends so that the crossings happen between the poles (on the 'flat side') and there are only single ropes (with no crossings) on the side
6 to 8 turns are used
End with a reef knot tied with the two ends, on the side of the two poles

Sourced from the Dutch scoutwiki (English Google translation here)

22nd World Scout Jamboree - Pioneering report back

2011-09-15T19:40:00.002+02:00

Main gateway at the 22nd World Scout Jamboree, Rinkaby, Sweden

As mentioned in the last post, I recently returned from the 22nd World Scout Jamboree in Rinkaby, Sweden. I was travelling as the Troop Scouter of Drakensberg troop, in the South African contingent. I had a fantastic trip, and in between looking after my troop (made up of Scouts from all around South Africa), trading badges, and meeting new Scouts from around the world, I got some time to take a few photos of pioneering projects.

The main gateway was an impressive structure, and shines out because of it's simplicity- a hypar gateway made with 15m long pole cut from the forest on site, and made using yellow and blue rope to pick out the shape of the Swedish flag. This is a great idea that would work for any of the Nordic cross flags, the St George's cross or the Cornish flag. Probably wouldn't work on our South African flag...

Many countries had food houses on the main square, with iconic structures from their home countries. The French food house had this Eiffel Tower gateway, the Dutch had a pioneered windmill, and the English food house was inside a castle!

Our troop camped in Autumn town, and at the centre of our town square was this pioneered Apple basket, representing the harvest in autumn.

A Finnish troop in our subcamp (facebook link) built this 6m high observation tower, which gave a great view of the surrounding campsites.

...and this 40m high tower gave a view of the entire campsite. It was built using four rooted trees as the corners, and had a scaffold staircase all the way up to the observation deck.

Most troops built simple campsites, because there were many places to explore, people to meet and activities to try out. This is my troop's campsite, with a simple gateway in the shape of Table Mountain, and two flagpoles.

A quick search on Google or Flickr will reveal thousands of photographs of the Jamboree, so there is plenty to explore. If you went to the Jamboree, I'd love to see your photographs, too.

22nd World Scout Jamboree- Rinkaby, Sweden

2011-07-15T23:16:00.000+02:00

Tomorrow morning, I am joining the South African contingent to the World Scout Jamboree. We are meeting for a shake down camp outside Johannesburg for the weekend, then flying out to tour Germany and Denmark before heading to Sweden for the World Jamboree. I'll be attending as the Troop Scouter of Drakensberg troop, one of three troops forming the SA contingent. When I return, I will be posting pictures and sketches of the pioneering projects I see there. But while I am on camp, I'll be posting to the troop blog here. You can also sign up for email subscriptions on the blog page to keep up to date with our trip.

For those who are attending the Jamboree, leave a comment here- we are camping in Bohuslan subcamp in Autumn town, it would be great to meet you!

Kontiki 2011 Rome

2011-03-05T20:34:00.000+02:00

Gauteng's annual Kontiki raft competition is on at the moment. Our troop is not attending this year, but I went down for the day with my Rover Crew. The theme for this year is Rome, and one of hte more striking rafts is First Horison's chariot shown above.

For more photographs of the weekend, Joy at Akela's Cubs has a great post up. On Twitter, the organisers can be found at @KontikiGauteng, tweeting announcements for the benefit of the campers, and also some photographs of the event.

Finally, click on the image below for a VERY large panoramic view of the lake shortly after launch time this morning.

Cartoon: an easier way...

2011-03-04T18:38:00.003+02:00

by 'Graham', from page 107 of Scout Smiles, edited by EGW Wood, published in 1950 and long out of print (but possibly available second hand on Amazon.com)

Kontiki 2011 is around the corner...

2011-03-01T00:01:00.004+02:00

Gauteng Kontiki 2011 is being held this coming weekend. Above are some of my photographs from last year's event, and more articles and photographs from past events can be found tagged under 'raft' on this blog. The theme for 2011 is 'Kontiki visits Rome'

Pioneering tool: unlashing hook

2011-02-25T11:52:00.001+02:00

These hooks are designed for untying stubborn lashings. I haven't used one myself yet, but they look pretty handy.
Made by Ken Stanton, those of you in South Africa can pick one up for R25 from Bramley Scout Shop

Testing round lashings: German round lashing vs. shear lashing

2011-02-25T00:01:00.003+02:00

The traditional lashing for extending poles is the round lashing. Recently I blogged about an alternative, the German round lashing. My troop did some tests to see which of the two works better. After teaching both knots to their patrols, the Patrol Leaders made two sets of round lashings, one with the shear lashing and one with the German lashing. We then tested the beams by propping them on barrels and putting weight on the middle, to see which was stronger. I also asked the opinions of the Scouts about which was easier to tie.

The results: out of four patrols, one were able to make a tighter joint using the German lashing tighter than the shear lashing. One patrol had lashings that were equally strong, while the other two tied a much stronger lashing with the shear lashing than the German lashing. All patrols felt that the shear lashing was easier to tie (because the start of the German lashing is tougher to control without a hitch to pull against). I might try this test again later, when the troop is more familiar with the German lashing, which was new to them. One tip that the patrol who tied the tightest German lashings had: lay the 'loop' down on one of the poles, instead of in the gap between poles, so that it locks tight while you are wrapping the turns around.

German Round Lashing

2011-02-18T22:57:00.001+02:00

This lashing, a simple whipping applied to two poles, is an alternative to the Round lashing. I found this on the German Scout Wiki (here in English for those who don't read German). My troop will be doing some experiments to see whether this knot performs as well (or better) than the round lashing.

The Sailmaker's lashing is another whipping adapted as a lashing.

the Clove Hitch

2011-02-14T07:49:00.000+02:00

Maybe this should have been a constrictor instead?

by Bill Sykes, from page 92 of Scout Smiles, edited by EGW Wood, published in 1950 and long out of print (but possibly available second hand on Amazon.com)

Fireman's chair

2011-02-04T11:46:00.000+02:00

by John Sweet, from page 81 of Scout Smiles, edited by EGW Wood, published in 1950 and long out of print (but possibly available second hand on Amazon.com)

Pioneered Canoe Polo goals

2011-01-30T16:18:00.000+02:00

Our local Sea Scout group, First Benoni, hosted the provincial Scout and Cub Canoe Polo contests this weekend. They built these nets using thatching laths. Because these nets will be used again, the joints are fastened with screws, but you could just as easily use lashings.

Note the diagonal braces in the front view- one lies at the front of the frame, and one at the back. It is important that these run in opposite directions to make the goalposts rigid.

The SketchUp model can be downloaded here

Cartoon - Cello Bridge

2011-01-27T23:05:00.001+02:00

By Stewart J. Marshall, from page 35 of the book Scout Smiles, edited by EGW Wood, published in 1950 and long out of print (but possibly available second hand on Amazon.com)

One rope, one pole, one camera: pole aerial photography

2010-08-19T23:04:00.001+02:00

Aerial photography gives a persepctive on the world that we normally miss, down on the ground. Aircraft are a pretty expensive way of getting these images, so amateurs have been using balloons and kitesto get aerial photographs for a long time. The cheapest way of getting a view from the sky is Pole Aerial Photography, demonstrated in this photograph by Phoenix Rover Crew.

This rig consists of one 3m (9 foot) thatching lath, one light rope, a tripod (with one broken leg) that is round lashed onto the end of the thatching lath, and a digital camera. More sophisticated systems use a remote control for the shutter release, but this system uses a 10 second timer delay on the camera- the kind you would use to press the shutter and run to pose in a group photograph. To operate it, you would set the timer, press the shutter, then quickly hoist the camera up and aim it in the right direction. Half the fun of this rig is getting used to the system- you won't take fantastic photos every time, but you will take photographs that can't be obtained any other way.

These 4 images were all taken with this simple PAP rig. This Flickr pool has many more examples by other photographers, some made with aluminium telescoping poles up to 10m long

Cartoon - the sheetbend

2010-08-05T15:04:00.001+02:00

By Bill Sykes, from page 91 of the book Scout Smiles, edited by EGW Wood, published in 1950 and long out of print (but possibly available second hand on Amazon.com)

365 days to the 22nd World Jamboree

2010-07-26T23:46:00.000+02:00

On the 27th of July 2011 I will be joining several thousand Scouts from around the world near Rinkaby, Sweden, for the 22nd World Scout Jamboree. I will be an Assistant Troop Scouter with the South African Contingent. I am looking forward to the trip, and hopefully to meeting some of the people who've shared ideas with me here on the blog.

Football friday - South African flag car

2010-06-04T07:14:00.000+02:00

The Football World Cup starts in South Africa next week. South Africans are getting into the spirit of things, and flags of all the participating nations are lining the roads and filling offices and shopping centres.

People have been particularly displaying our own flag, with street vendors selling flags to fit into the side windows of cars, and also covers for wing mirrors.

Aiden Choles is a friend of mine who decided that it wasn't enough to fly a flag from his car- he covered his entire car in a (removable) vinyl wrap. A number of local companies helped sponsor this, and he will be keep the flag flying until after the World Cup ends on July

Football friday - Soccer variants for troop meetings

2010-06-04T06:56:00.000+02:00

With the World Cup just a week away, here are some soccer variants that our Scout troop has played.

Crab soccer
-Players all move 'crab-style' - lying on

Three-legged soccer
-players are paired up and one leg is tied to the other player like for a three-legged race.

Wheelbarrow soccer
-players pair up as for a wheelbarrow race. The 'wheelbarrow' player handles the ball with their hands.

New rules soccer
-This game starts out as normal soccer. Every time a team scores a goal, they are allowed to make a new rule eg. all players need to hop on one foot when they are kicking the ball

Football Friday: 2010 Stadia in 3d

2010-04-26T07:35:00.000+02:00

(2010 World Cup Stadia: Clockwise from top left: Soccer City, Johannesburg; Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium; Moses Mabhida Stadium, Durban; Cape Town Stadium)

With the 2010 FIFA World Cup around the corner here in South Africa, I'll be posting links and projects to get into the spirit of things in the next few weeks.

(Soccer City in Johannesburg, the biggest stadium in Africa- click image for a rotatable 3d view)

First up, some 3d models for SketchUp and Google Earth. All 10 of the stadia that are hosting matches have been modelled and are available on the 3d warehouse for download. Here is the official collection.