TEACHING SCOUTING SKILLS: TEACHING KNOTS

Making the teaching of knot tying interesting is a fundamental Scout Leader skill.

I have no time for Scouting skills taught to the

point of boredom in a Scout hall and never used in

the great outdoors. Here we were building a

teepee. The same goes for all ‘scouting skills’

taught without any explanation as to their

practical use at all.

I challenge all leaders to be totally honest

and make a list of five knots they have

actually used the most in the past year.

Mine would be:

1. Clove hitch for starting lashings and tying things to the roof rack.

2. Reef knot for joining ropes and string.

3. Timber hitch for pulling bundles of wood. 4. Overhand loop when tying-up rolls of canvas.

5. … no number 5.

You will rarely have to use a sheepshank for shortening a guy rope, a round turn and two half

hitches for fixing an aerial runway, or a sheet bend for hauling a rope swing hawser over a

high branch with a thinner rope but do teach them – its good fun and a skill to be proud of!

Practice makes perfect

Almost as important as being honest with your

Troop is to learn the knots yourself. Practice at

home until you can dazzle your scouts with your

dexterity. Challenge them to race you; that’s

always fun.

And, remember to always continue to tell

scouts what the knot is used for.

Knotting & Lashing ropes Don’t tie knots on string. Have a set of knotting ropes, about a meter and a half long, just

enough to comfortably tie a reef knot around the waist. With climbing ropes going out of date

every few years, they can be cut up to make great practice knotting ropes. Have a separate

set of longer, thinner ropes for lashings, and a few thicker ones for trying sheet bends –

thin rope to thick rope.

The fun of knots

Make it exciting. Scouts (and in fact all young

people) love pulling the middle of a sheepshank

open, doing a bowline with one hand or making

the highwayman’s hitch disappear in a flash, with

Black Bess charging off into the night.

You can hold ‘behind the back relays’ and Patrol

challenges where they have to tie clove hitches

around trees keeping two metres away. Tie knots

in spaghetti, tie miniature knots – I once met an

American leader who had an entire knotting

board on the front of his woggle.

Revision

Scouts forget so have big practise sessions and

knotting relays every few weeks. Keep it skilful

but fun. I usually take the Patrol Leaders aside,

refresh them and then get them to teach the

others. We also have a huge ‘knots fest’ with

everyone teaching everyone else, because we

all forget and sometimes remembering how to

tie a knot is as enjoyable as learning it the first

time.

Top tips Practice until you can tie the knot behind your back. Always teach the use of a knot.

Start with your most useful knots.

Have a set of knotting ropes; never use string.

Make it fun.