Scoutcraft DIY

We just got back from Fall Camporee and the theme was pioneering.  Our troop built an hour glass tower, a gateway, a tall flag pole, and several camp gadgets.  I was the one who cut all the ropes to length and whipped them.  Hundreds of whippings.  I tried different styles, and got to see what worked and what didn't. For larger rope (3/8" +), the sailmaker's whipping with waxed sail thread is the way to go.  It looks neat, and the knot is buried inside the rope where it won't come untied.  This whipping is hard to do on smaller 1/4" rope.  It's hard to keep the 3 strands neatly separated on small diameter rope. Here is a sailmaker's whipping on a 1/2" Manila rope.  Note the piece of yellow heat shrink tubing, indicating that this is a 50' length.   I tried the West country whipping, which is easy to tie and also looks neat.  The problem was the square knot on the end came untied with minimal use. Then there is the...

A mallet is needed to drive in anchor stakes for pioneering projects.  The Pioneering MB pamphlet gives instructions for making one from a 4" diameter hard wood log cut to 11" for the head and a 24" x 1" wood handle.  I didn't have any 4" diameter hardwood logs laying around and I didn't want to cut down a whole tree just to make a mallet.  So I used what I had.  The head is a piece of pressure treated 4" square post, cut to 11".  The handle is a 24" long piece of 3/4" EMT electrical conduit pipe.  This pipe is $5.55 at my local Lowe's for a 10 foot piece.  3/4" must be inner diameter, because the pipe is about 15/16 outer diameter.  I cut the handle hole through the mallet head with a 7/8" spade bit, which was a little to small.  1" was too big and I don't have a 15/16" bit, so I used the 7/8 and then used a Dremel with a sanding drum to enlarge it a bit.  Before I put the handle on, I beveled the...