Elvington.

Basic Aviation Skills Badge

Scout badges are made to be challenging, often requiring several stages over

several weeks to fulfil the requirements. Mostly we leave that work to you, (the Scouts), or occasionally attempt to fulfil part of the requirements in a troop night and then leave the rest to you!

We have a unique opportunity to do something a little different this time! We have a trip arranged to Elvington, the Yorkshire Air Museum on Sunday the 5^th December.

Our intentions are to complete the Basic Aviation Skills Badge as well as have some fun at the same time.

The cost of the trip including coach hire will be £10 per head. We’ll be leaving early morning around 8:30 and returning around 5-6pm, so we can make a day of it.

Parent helpers are welcome to come, so are Young Leaders, and dare I say we may even invite a couple of leaders from the other sections too!

We need to know numbers by Thursday 18 November. You’ve got my number, so text me now!

A day out for a tenner? Can’t go wrong!

PLs Camp

Afternoon PLs camp people. I just thought I'd knock together a quick blog about things you need to know.

Everything you need to know was on the permission slip and kit list, but this is a reminder:

- Bring a change of clothes so you can blend in in the centre of York. Yes, this means that for once you will be allowed to wear jeans on a scouting activity.
- Bring a bag to cart your lunch about.
- Bring a camera if you have one - this is an important part of the day.
- Turn up at the village hall on Friday September 10th before 6pm in time to leave at 6pm

- Remond you parents to collect you at 12:30 on Sunday 1September 12th (even if the form says September 13th)

If you want to be really organised, think about what you would like to go on the menu for the camp because we are bringing no food with us - we'll need to plan the menu and buy all the food when we are there.

I'm looking forward to this one. It's possibly my favourite camp of the year.

See you in a couple of weeks.

Gavin

Winter Camp

The nights are getting noticeably lighter and now I can even wake up to daylight! One of these mornings I may even get to work on-time! All this means that its close to Winter Camp, how exciting!

We've packed the programme again, with the additions of Archery, Rifle Shooting and Crate Stacking to name a few. Of course we'll have the old favourites with 'Kick the Can', and the various hiding and stalking games.

I've been asked about kit List for camp, for which can be downloaded here.

Of course, common sense prevails; it's winter, so the likelihood of it being wet and cold are extremely high. With this in mind, wrapping up warm and having waterproofs with you are essential.

When we talk about waterproofs we mean jackets and trousers that are labeled 'waterproof'. I know this seems like a really weird point to labour, but time and again we see kids who claim that their shiny hooded coat is 'waterproof'. We do not classify hooded football or rugby shellsuit training tops as waterproofs. The message is NO WATERPROOF = NO ACTIVITY.

Wellies can be used around the site, but wellies are often cold, so far better wear a pair of waterproof hiking boots. Hiking boots have better grip and provide much better ankle support when clomping over rocks and boulders.

Moving inside, you'll need a sleeping bag, a pillow, and some indoor shoes. I'm not recommending wearing your shoes in bed though!

Since we will be air rifle shooting, parents will have to fill out 'Shooting Permission Forms'. These will be handed out in Thursday to be returned on the following day. We hope that this way, we wont get any mislaid forms! Remember NO FORM = NO SHOOTING.

Directions? I can't believe that no-one can remember the way! Tsk tsk! There is a downloadable Info sheet here for its location. If you prefer a 'Tracy style' step-by-step route instruction then we have that too!

If in any doubt give one of the Leaders a call, text or e-mail.

Sleeping Mat Guide

Part 2 of our, well, my ramblings on which kit to buy. I say 'my' as [cue disclaimer] this may not necessarily be the view of Barton Scout Group, and so, just take this is just my opinion.

Tests have shown that you loose 3 times as much heat to the ground (conduction) as you do to the air (convection). As your sleeping bag is compressed under you it is less effective that when it is properly lofted, so its your mat that keeps you warm. If you are cold at night, buy a better mat not a bigger, bulkier sleeping bag, it will be cheaper too. The second thing a mat does is make it comfortable to sleep. It's no good being warm and having a stone in your shoulder blade!

Below is a run through of the pros and cons of the mattress choices out there:

The Airbed.
The modern airbed is an excellent choice for the bedroom.
Take them on camp and they take up room, you have to blow it up yourself (Leaders will not do it for you), and if they puncture, you end up sleeping on a hard cold floor.
We do not encourage scouts to bring airbeds to camp. Bring one for an indoor sleepover, but you will have to blow it up yourself.

The Cot-bed type mattress
These are great in your bedroom as occasional mattresses for guests. Don’t bring one to camp or an indoor sleepover.

The Camp bed
These can take up a large portion of the tent, which is fine for the person sleeping on it, but not so nice for the poor scout squashed under the legs.
They are reasonably cheap, but are bulky, heavy to carry and are not suitable for inside our tents. They are perfectly acceptable for an indoor sleepover, but you will have to put it up yourself.

The foam mat (or closed cell sleeping mat)
This type of mat is the cheapest option. They are light and durable, but are the least comfortable to sleep upon and offer only small insulation from the ground.
The foam mat rolls down reasonably small and can be used for seating outside, as they don’t absorb water easily.

The self-inflating mattress
This is the recommended choice for anyone who wants a comfortable nights sleep.
A self-inflating mat is basically a layer of compressible foam sandwiched inside an airtight envelope with a sealable valve. When you open the valve the foam expands and sucks air into the mat. After a couple of minutes the mat will be semi-firm and you will have to add a few breaths of air to make the mat firm enough to sleep on.
They cost from £20 upwards, offer excellent insulation properties, are easy to clean and pack down small.
These mats do come in varying thicknesses, lengths and widths. They will last you throughout your scouting years and beyond, so invest in a decent mattress and sleep comfortably!

Sleeping Bag Guide

Recently we were asked the question, "can you tell me which sleeping bag to buy for my Scout?".
Since the answer was quite involved, can be complicatedly long winded, and has been asked on many occasion, we thought a short brief guide would be best.
Below is that brief guide:

Decide what the lower temperature your Scout is likely to encounter. Choose a bag that will perform to this temperature, or a bit lower to be safe. Remember that it reaches freezing point during Spring and Autumn!

General tips:

• Synthetic bags tend to be cheaper, easier to clean and dry quicker than down bags. However a down bag give better warmth to weight ratio, compress smaller and last a little longer than a synthetic bag.

• A ‘mummy’ shaped bag is more efficient than the rectangular bag (The rectangular shaped bags are only really suitable for use indoors during sleepovers)

• One way to compare bags against each other in the shop is by examining the ‘loft’ of the bag. The thicker or ‘fluffier’ the bag the warmer it will be.

• A sleeping bag is no good if you fail to insulate from the ground, so a suitable sleeping mat is also important. (See our sleeping mat guide)

• A sleeping bag liner is a great addition as, you can just wash the liner rather than the whole bag and a fleece liner will add an extra seasons warmth!

Season and temperature ratings:

Seasonal ratings can be useful when deciding which bag. We’d suggest opting for a minimum of 3-season bag (classifies use in spring/summer/autumn, down to 0 deg), but if you want to camp with us outside in the winter months, then a 4-season bag is required.

Sleeping bags sold after 2005 should display EN ratings for temperature.

Comfort - this rating as where a ‘woman’ should have a comfortable uninterrupted nights sleep. Think of this as where the user can lay on their back in a relaxed position and not feel the cold.

Comfort Limit – This is the lowest temperature a man will have an uninterrupted nights sleep. It can often be thought of where it is the lower limit, which a person is in a curled-up position, will not feel the cold

Extreme – This is a survival rating only. This shows the lowest temperature a woman should avoid hypothermia. Do not use this figure to base your choice of bag upon!

This bag would be suitable for camping outside in temperatures down to +8 degrees, say, being the months of June to September. You would feel a strong sensation of cold under 3 degrees. This bag would likely be classified in the 2-season range.

Must Read!

This book is a fantastic edition to anyones normal reading, would highly recoment for ALL LEADERS AND FELLOW SCOUTS and anyone interested in outdoors. I recived this book for christmas and have loved it! Loads of interesting facts and a few ideas activitities and such thourth. Thought i would tell you all !!!!!!

Climbing- 3rd December- Explorers

Its not long now until we will be having a great night out at Teesdale Climbing centre ! The fun it will be :). As have been a few times (enough to loose count) it feel it would be appropriate to say a few points:

• I would recommend taking about £10, this is because you may/will want to buy some food or drink from the vending machines; as you do get very hot and hungry when you are climbing.
• Practice your knot tying and belaying (if possible), this is for two reasons: the first is that currently at the centre the automatic belays are not in use and the second is that there is nothing worse than taking ages to get ready at the bottom of the climb or not been confident in what you are doing. So i would recommend you have a practice !
• Finally dont be scared to give anything a go as its completely safe as long as you are sensible.
• And i forgot have fun :)

See you all there at 6.30 next week !!!!

-2 Days to Go

Last time I posted we had a little bit over 2 weeks before the show. Now we have been finished for a little bit over 2 days. At present I am enjoying the lack of stress and strain but in a few weeks I'll be looking for something to fill the gaps. There is always next years camps to look at.

Over the coming days and weeks you should start to see a steady trickle of photos and videos creeping out into the wild in advance of the big DVD release. Until then I'll have my head down doing a bit of editing.

See you on the other side.

Gang Show - 17 Days To Go

... or 12 hours of rehearsal if you want to look at it in my new and terrifying way.

This weekend was great. Everyone seemed to get into it and be prepared to give it all a go. We were left wondering what else to rehearse at times because the cast were doing so well. A huge well done to everyone who turned up.

On the other hand it was really disappointing to see such a low turnout form some sections. I have always been the first to concede that people will have other commitments outside Scouting, and giving up whole weekends to us can be difficult, but all I have ever asked is that you let someone know if you can't make it. That way we don't spend hours wondering if you are going to show up for your part.

So if you turn up to the next rehearsal and find your part has been given to someone else it is entirely down to the fact you didn't apologise for your absence in advance.

12 hours. Learn your parts people.

Gang Show - 19 Days To Go

What more can I say than that title? 3 weeks today we will be almost finish our second-last performance of the 2009 Gang Show. Now hands up who doesn't know their lines/songs/dance steps?

To give you an idea of how little rehearsal time we have, here is a list of planned rehearsals:

Saturday 17th October 0900 - 1600
Sunday 18th October 0900 - 1600

Thursday 29th October - 1800 - 2100

Sunday 1st November - 0900 - The End

Monday 2nd November - 1800 - The End - DRESS REHEARSAL

When I do some simple maths that adds up to 26 hours of rehearsal time. That's just more than a day. Do you think you can be ready for the Gang Show in just one day?

*gulp*

Time to know those lines and steps and make sure your costume is all in order. See you in the morning.