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  Thanks for reading
about this month's Mystery Guest If you enjoyed W.K.’s interviews with Sir Robert
Baden-Powell, and would like to practice some of the things for
yourself that he talked about, here are a couple of links where you can
read his books on woodcraft, and camping in the great outdoors.
They are a gold mine of information for Wilderness Protectors! On
camping and basic wilderness skills:
 This is the original handbook, first published in
1908. You can read it for free. The basic woodcraft skills that W.K.
and B-P talked about were found mostly in the chapter on camping. Clicking on the picture will take you to that chapter.
But there are many more available here if you would like
to read more.
More on camping, along with a great collection of B-P’s stories from around the world:  Besides basic
information on woodcraft, this book is full of tips and tricks for
living in the wilderness that not many people know anymore. It also has
true stories of bravery and heroism by men and boys (some
that B-P knew personally). Warning: some of these are for brave hearts
only. You can read it for free by clicking on the picture, where you
can choose between plain text (no pictures) or
an html version (with pictures). We recommend
the picture version, since B-P was an excellent artist, too!
In case you missed any, W.K.’s interviews will
stay posted here at WKC until the end of the month (just scroll down to
the bottom of this page and work your way back up to read all three).
You can also hear more from B-P here at WKC from
time-to-time when we feature quotes from Wilderness Experts. So, keep
an eye out!
Our Next Mystery Guest Contest starts
November 1
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Sir
Robert Baden-Powell, founder of the Worldwide Scouting
Organization, camped in wilderness places around the world. An
extraordinary expert in outdoor skills, he dedicated his life to
sharing his valuable knowledge with boys and girls on every continent.
Over the next few days we
will be interviewing our "virtual visitor" not only about camping and
survival skills, but about some of his most exciting adventures, as
well.
Ready to time-travel? It all starts here...
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| If you missed Day 1W.K. talks with B-P... If you missed Day 2 | ||
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Day 3
B-P:Where were we? W.K.: How to practice things you can’t learn in school. The adventure things. Survival and stuff. When a kid’s just starting out and doesn’t know much, or can’t even get outside sometimes. Can you show us some of that? B-P: I can show you how you can learn woodcraft for yourself, and how you can put it into practice at home. It is very easy to learn and very interesting when you get into it. W.K.:So, like where do we start? What exactly is woodcraft? B-P: Woodcraft is the knowledge of animals and nature. You learn about different kinds of animals by following their tracks and creeping up on them so that you can watch them in their natural state and study their habits. The whole sport of hunting animals lies in the woodcraft of stalking them, not in killing them. You shouldn't willingly kill an animal for the mere sake of killing but only when in want of food-- unless it is harmful. By continually watching animals in the open, one gets to like them too well to shoot them. Woodcraft includes (besides being able to see the tracks and other small signs) the power to read their meaning. Such as at what pace the animal was going, whether he was frightened or unsuspicious, and so on. It also enables the hunter to find his way in the jungle or desert. It teaches him which are the bes  t wild fruits and roots for his own
food, or which are favorite food for animals, and therefore, likely to attract them.W.K.: Sort of like a detective. I get it. B-P: In the same way. In inhabited places you learn to read the tracks of men, horses, bicycles, automobiles, and find out from these what has been going on. You learn to notice, by small signs, such as birds suddenly starting up , that someone is moving near, even though you cannot see him. By noticing the behavior or dress of people, and putting this and that together, you can sometimes see that they are up to no good. Or you can tell when they are in trouble and need help or sympathy-- and then you can help in any possible way you can. W.K.: Man-- that could take years.  B-P: Meanwhile, you can also practice things like how to put up a tent or hut for yourself; how to lay and light a fire; how to cook your food; how to tie logs together to make a bridge or a raft. Even how to find your way by night, as well as by day, in a strange country. And many others. W.K.: Wow. How much time do you have? B-P: All the time in the world. |
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W.K. We’re back with Sir Robert to hear the rest of that rescue story and maybe catch some survival tips. Right, sir? B-P: Yes, let’s see now... Eventually, when our money ran to it, we brothers became owners of a ten-ton cutter (a single-mast sailing vessel with two or more sails in front of the main one), built to my brother Warington's design. In it we had the time of our lives cruising round the coasts of Scotland, and England, at all seasons of the year. Many a scrape we got into and out of -- and gained a lot of useful experiences from them. The discipline, the endurance of hardships, and the facing of danger involved in cruising, were points of lasting value in my training for life. Well, one day, we were lying at anchor in Harwich Harbour-- a charming place except in an easterly gale (a storm at sea), when it is beastly -- and on this occasion a pretty bad easterly gale was blowing. We saw the lifeboat go out in response to signals of distress. So we got under storm canvas (sails made especially for storms) as quick as possible, and hustled out to sea, too. But we went by a different channel through the sands into a very hideous, yellow tumbling sea. Once outside the scud (wind-driven cloud, mist, or rain) was flying so thick and the waves  were so big that we soon lost sight of
the lifeboat. We had a perfectly awful time. Still we went on—indeed we had to—threshing through it, hour after hour, without seeing anything. But my brother Warington, our skipper, was in his glory all the time, and only remarked as night came on: "Ah, that's good! With darkness we shall be able to locate her by the flares." But in this we were unsuccessful, too. And when we eventually got back, we found that the lifeboat also had failed to locate the distressed vessel. Which -- as it turned out -- had been picked up by a tugboat and was already safe in the harbor! But even though we lost the salvage, we gained a lot of experience. And we had much more of those kinds of experiences in the several years we were at it. Though we gained lots of practice in roughing it, and risking it, we never did get a salvage! But they were healthy lessons, after all. They taught us discipline and handiness, how to keep one's head in danger, and team work. There were a lot of times we each had to use our wits and best effort toward ensuring the safety of the others. W.K.: Sheesh -- weren’t you scared? I mean, think of the risks. B-P: Risks? Of course, there are risks. They are the salt that gives the flavor to it all. Didn't my heart go pit-a-pat the first time... But when I found out what I could do, it became a cheerier adventure. W.K.: How do you find out what you can do without killing yourself? B-P: By practice. You have to practice to be ready to lend a hand to others where danger or difficulty threatens. Which isn’t something that can be taught to a class in school. It has to be picked up and developed by each individual. And you don’t have to sail boats or live in the wilderness to get it, either. But maybe we should talk more about that next time. W.K. Don’t start without me. B-P: Wouldn’t dream of it. |
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W.K.: Sir Robert, it’s way amazing how much you got to do in your life compared to most people. How did you do it all? Were you born with a lot of extra energy? Did you go to special schools? Or were you just lucky? B-P: I certainly had
tons of luck. But luck is a thing like pluck
(resourceful courage and
daring in the face of difficulties; spirit),
you may have some of it come to you, but you make it
mostly for yourself. And I certainly had no money. When your father
is a clergyman (pastor)
with fourteen children, there is not much money
flying around for you. My father died when I was three years old. This
was a great loss to me
for he was a man of many parts... he was a scientist as well as a
preacher. But although I missed the guidance of a father, I, got good training at the hands of my older brothers during my holidays. They all had the sporting instinct strongly developed, and were good friends, first-rate swimmers, footballers, oarsmen, and things like that. All of them were good at devising things they could not afford to buy. They even built a boat. We also built our own huts, made our fishing, rabbit and bird-trapping nets, and caught and cooked our own food. In all of this I, as youngest, had to do my share of the work. Especially that part which would naturally be delegated to the youngest. Such as gutting the fish and rabbits (a really filthy job!), some of the cooking, and very much of the washing up. But it was all very good for me. W.K.: Yeah, now that it’s over. Right? B-P:
Oh, I owe a lot to my
early training in boatmanship! It gives a boy the chance of facing
danger and getting used to it, so that when a crisis comes, or he
W.K.: And what happened? B-P: Aren’t we out of time? How about tomorrow? W.K.: Don’t forget. B-P Couldn’t possibly. We still have a lot of survival
secrets to talk about.W.K.: That’s my favorite subject. B-P: Mine, too. |
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| And coming soon... | ||
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The
Fire Book
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Wilderness
Kids Club