Camp Craft Honor (Recreation) Level 1
Camp Craft Honor (Recreation) Level 1
Contents
1. Explain how and why weather, season, and water supply are considered
when choosing a campsite. Explain what care to take with regard to safe
water, sanitary facilities, and emergencies.
To help remember the things that are important to camp site selection, remember the six W’s:
Wind- Find areas that are protected from the wind. This requires knowing or guessing at the normal wind
direction (hint look at the direction trees are leaning and the current wind direction)
Water- Fresh water should be available for drinking, beware of drainage areas, flooding and other water
related hazards. Marshy areas can have a high mosquito population that can make camping miserable.
Weather- Knowledge of the weather patterns of an area can help you decide the best location for the camp
site.
Wild things- Beware of signs of large mammals such as bear, wolves, and mountain lions. Also watch out for
the small wild things such as snakes, spiders, ticks, biting flies and mosquitoes.
Wood- Adequate wood should be available for a campfire, and no dead wood above sleeping area. Survey the
trees to make sure that they will not fall on you in strong winds.
Willingness- Make sure the owner of the property is willing for you to camp on it. Make sure you have the
proper permits for camping areas.
Safe Water
When camping in an area that does not have running water and toilets, you must either bring water with you, or bring
along the means for purifying water you collect when you arrive. Do not assume that because a stream or lake looks
clean that it is OK to drink. In general, it is not, and drinking it without treating it carries a high risk of causing
diarrhea or vomiting.
When camping in an area that does have running water, make sure that it is OK for drinking. If you see a sign that
says "Non-potable Water," that means that it is NOT OK to drink. Rather, non-potable water is only suitable for
flushing toilets and washing hands.
Do not brush your teeth, cook with, or drink non-potable water without purifying it first.
Sanitation
If camping at a facility that has toilets, use them. If camping in the wilderness, you will have to either build a latrine
or use cat holes. Do "your business" at least 60 meters away from any source of water (such as a spring, river, or
lake), and at least 30 meters away from your camp. Dig a shallow hole 7-10cm deep and go there. Then bury
it (and any toilet paper). At this depth, there is a lot of bacteria in the soil to quickly compost your waste. Digging
deeper will make it take longer.
Just because you are camping does not mean you are at liberty to skip personal hygiene. Wash your hands before you
eat and after you answer "nature's call." Brush your teeth before you go to bed and after breakfast. Wash your face
Adventist Youth Honors Answer Book/Recreation/Camp Craft 2
2. Prepare a list of clothing you would need for an overnight camp in warm
and cold weather.
Warm Weather Clothing
Keep in mind that the weather can change suddenly though. Just because it is warm when you begin your outing
does not mean it will be warm the whole time. If there is a chance that the weather will turn cold, take along some
cold weather gear as well. Check an almanac to see how cold it can get during the time you are planning to be out.
Here is a list of clothing appropriate for a warm-weather outing.
• Thick socks
• Jeans
• Light Shirt (short sleeve)
• Light Shirt (long sleeve)
• Hat with a wide brim
• Boots
Cold Weather Clothing Remember to dress in layers. This will allow you to control your temperature better. In
cold weather, you do not want to sweat, because that will soak your clothing and chill you. If you find yourself
working up a sweat, remove a layer of clothing, or open a zipper. Rely on wool rather than on cotton, because wool
stays warm even when wet. There is a popular saying among experienced outdoorsmen that "Cotton kills." This is
because when cotton gets wet, it steals the body's heat which can lead to hypothermia and death. Your outer layer
should be wind-proof, as this greatly increases the warmth of your clothing. Here is a list:
• Thermal Underwear
• Light shirts (polyester or some other synthetic)
• Heavy Shirts
• Wool Sweater
• Wind Breaker
• Fleece Pants (synthetic)
• Nylon Pants (as the outside layer) or snow pants
• Overcoat
• Wool Socks
• Boots
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• Warm Hat
Sleepwear For comfortable sleeping and for modesty on overnight trips, bring pajamas or a sweat suit. In many
places where it is warm during the day it gets cold at night, so be prepared.
Fire Safety
• Locate the fire in a safe place. It should be clear for 10 feet (3 meters) all around.
• Do not light a fire beneath overhanging branches.
• Do not use accelerants, such as lighter fluid, gasoline, kerosene, etc. Learn to light a fire without these.
• Put the fire out completely before leaving it. If it's too hot to put your hands in the ashes, it's not sufficiently out.
Douse it down with water, turn the coals with a shovel, and be sure to extinguish every coal and ember.
• Do not build a fire on top of flammable material such as grass or leaves.
• Cut away the sod (keep it moist so it stays alive, and replace it before your leave), and clear away the duff and
litter.
• Keep fire extinguishing supplies handy and near the fire. A bucket of water or sand, or a fire extinguisher are
recommended.
• Do not remove burning sticks from a fire.
• Watch for embers that escape the fire pit and extinguish them immediately.
• Wear proper footwear around a fire.
• Be aware that paper, cardboard, and leaves create floating embers that rise out of the fire pit and may land dozens
of yards away.
• Do not light a fire when conditions are adverse (high winds, or drought conditions).
Axe Safety
• Before chopping any wood, take a gentle practice swing to check that the axe will not catch on anything (such as
an overhead branch).
• Consider what will happen if you miss whatever you are chopping at - will you accidentally hit a finger? A foot?
A bystander? Leave plenty of margin for error.
• Make sure the axe head is firmly attached to the axe handle. If it is loose, you may tighten it by wetting the
handle, by driving a hardwood wedge into the handle through the eye of the blade, or by rapping the axe handle
vertically on a hard surface.
• Keep bystanders away by one arms length plus two axe-lengths.
• When handing someone an axe, present the handle to them rather than the blade.
• Walk with the blade facing away from you.
• Sheathe the axe when it is not in use.
• Always maintain firm footing when using or carrying an axe.
• Stop when you are tired and rest. Tired people are more prone to accidents and mistakes.
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Poisonous Plants
Poison ivy, poison oak, and poison sumac all cause a rash when oils from the plant come into contact with the skin.
The contact does not have to be direct - it can be transferred from the plant to another item, and then to the skin.
Tools, pets, and clothing can all transfer the oil from the plant to the skin. The best defense against this rash is to be
able to recognize these plants, stay alert, and avoid contact. If you do come into contact with any of them, the first
thing you should do is immediately wash the affected area with soap and water. This will, in many cases, prevent the
rash from developing. If contact went undetected and a rash does develop, apply Calamine lotion or a cortizone
cream to the affected area. If the rash develops on the face or genitals, seek medical attention.
Personal Items
In addition to the items of clothing listed in requirement 2, you will also need several items of personal gear.
Personal Gear
• Sleeping bag
• Foam ground pad or air mattress
• Flashlight
• Pocket knife
• Quarter roll of toilet paper
• Coins (for campground showers)
• Bible
• Camera
• Notepad and pencil
• Toiletries (Toothbrush, toothpaste, shampoo, etc.)
Group Gear
These are things that will be needed by the group. Usually, a Pathfinder club will purchase these items.
• First aid kits
• Medical release forms (signed by guardians)
• Sleeping tents - enough to separate the boys and girls.
• Kitchen tent/canopy
• Dining tent/canopy
• Camp stoves
• Fuel for the stoves
• Dishes
•
Plates
•
Cups
•
Bowls
•
Eating Utensils
•
Mesh hosiery bags, clothes pins, and clothes line - the dishes go in the mesh bags after washing them, and then
the bags clip to the clothesline. This allows them to dry. Each plate, cup, bowl, knife, fork, and spoon should
be numbered with a permanent marker, and each camper (including staff) should be assigned a number. This
will make every camper accountable for their own dishes.
• Cooking Supplies
• Pots and pans
• Spatula
• Ladle
• Serving/stirring spoons
• Salad bowls
• Can opener
• Knives
• Cutting board
• Fire Equipment
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• Matches or lighter
• Firewood, kindling, tinder
• Fire Extinguisher
• Axe/saw/hatchet
• Shovel
• Storage tubs - These should be numbered, and an alphabetized list of the contents of each should be attached. If
the tubs are clear, the lists can be taped to the inside and read from the outside. A master alphabetized list
denoting in which tub an item belongs should also be kept in the kitchen. This makes finding things a lot easier. It
does require discipline though. Storage tubs can double as dish sinks.
• Broom/dustpan
• Tarps
• Large water jugs
• Coolers and ice
• Food
• Tool kit
• Duct tape
6. Prepare balanced menus for one cooked breakfast, lunch, and supper.
Use the USDA's Food Pyramid for selecting foods. The chart here shows how much of each type of food
Pathfinder-aged girls and boys should eat over the course of an entire day:
Of course you are free to select foods you like to eat, but here are a few ideas, including the food groups they belong
to:
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together. There are usually aluminum "hooks" located at the stake-down straps and shaped somewhat like a question
mark. They are usually a couple of inches long, and are there to slip the pole ends over. Once all the pole are in
place, throw the fly over the tent, being careful that the up side is up and the front side is to the front.
Flies often have elastic ropes that attach to plastic clips near the pole anchors, and they also generally have a rope at
the four major corners. These should be anchored such that the fly is held off the tent's canopy, usually by staking
them down or tying them to a tree. In the "olden days" a taut line hitch would be used to tighten these ropes, but
these days the ropes are fitted with a three-hole plastic strap. The end of the rope passes through the bottom-most
hole and is tied off with a stopper knot. From there, the rope goes to the anchor (tree, stake, etc.), and passes through
the middle hole, and then again through the top hole. The plastic strap can then be slid up and down the rope to
adjust the tension. Do not over-tension these ropes - they should have some give so that the tent can move a little
with the wind. If they are too tight, the wind will rip the stakes from the ground or topple the tent.
If possible, do not strike the tent until it has dried. If you can, wait until the morning dew has evaporated. This is, of
course, not always possible - it could be pouring rain when it's time to go, so you'll have to strike a wet tent. If your
tent is wet when you strike it, you will need to set it up to let it dry as soon as you get back. Do not store a wet tent.
It will be quickly ruined with mold and mildew.
To strike the tent first inspect the inside, being sure that everything has been removed. Check the loops in the ceiling
(coat hangers tend to hide there) and the "stuff" bags on the walls (glasses and keys tend to hide there). Then sweep
the tent. Once everything has been removed, pull off the fly, and stow it inside the tent (spread it out as flat as you
can). If you stand next to the tent's door, you can pull the fly off the canopy and stuff it directly inside without it ever
hitting the outside ground (and thus picking up dirt, leaves, and moisture). Stowing the fly inside also avoids the sad
problem of cramming the canopy and poles into the tent's duffel, and then noticing the that the fly still needs to get
crammed in there too. It's one less thing to roll up.
Then let down the poles. Carefully remove the poles from the canopy and fold them up. If the tent poles are sectional
tubes with a long piece of elastic running through them all, it is better to push the poles out of the canopy rather than
trying to pull them through. Pulling on them merely separates the sections and may break the elastic. Broken elastic
will have to be repaired before the tent can be pitched again, because the elastic actually holds the poles together.
Once the poles have been stowed, remove the stakes and carefully fold the tent. Put everything back into the bag it
came in.
c. Prepare a proper safe area for a campfire. Show proper use of wood tools in getting and
preparing fuel for a fire.
Campfire
There are many ways to prepare an area where you will build your campfire. If you are in an established camping
area, look for a place where a fire has already been built. Do not start a fire in a new area if there are fire pits already
available. If you must build a fire in a new area, dig out any sod first, and lay it aside. Keep it in the shade (perhaps
beneath a vehicle) and water it every day so it does not dry out (perhaps with your rinse water). You will replace it
before you leave. If there is no sod, clear out all the duff and debris so that only inorganic material is in the fire ring.
Clear an area double the diameter of the intended fire. Then place stones inside this ring, building a small wall as it
were. Try to fit the stones so that there are no gaps, or only small gaps. The stone ring should be six to eight inches
high, and it should go all the way around the circle. Before you lay the fire, make sure you have a means to
extinguish it nearby and ready to go. This could be a fire extinguisher, a bucket of sand, or a bucket of water. Means
of extinguishing the fire should be on hand before the fire is lit. The fire ring should then be ready for a fire.
Adventist Youth Honors Answer Book/Recreation/Camp Craft 9
Gathering Firewood
If camping at a commercial campground, bring your own wood or buy some at the camp store. Do not gather
firewood from the surrounding forest! Most campgrounds have rules against this, and it is not only so they can
sell you expensive wood. In a heavily camped area, the forest simply cannot sustain that level of use. Rule breakers
will already have depleted enough of the forest - don't add to their sins!
If there was already a fire ring present, if it is allowed, and you are in the wilderness, gather firewood well away
from the campsite. Do not cut down any trees, live or dead. Dead trees are an important habitat for many forest
creatures. Instead, look for fallen limbs that are not lying in full contact with the ground and use those. Wood that is
lying fully on the ground will likely be too wet to use as firewood.
Cutting Firewood
Once you have found a large, dead limb, it is time to cut it loose and drag it to the campsite. You can do this with
either an axe, a hatchet, or a saw. Be sure you have firm footing before swinging an axe or a hatchet, and be sure no
one is within six feet of you to the sides or to the rear, and within twelve feet of you towards your front. Axe heads
have come off before (2 Kings 6:5), and they are very dangerous when they do. For this reason, it may be better to
use a saw. A saw will also leave more of the wood intact with the log for burning rather than as wood chips that fly
all over the place.
If you need to chop a log in half, do not lay it directly on the ground. Otherwise the axe blows will push the log into
the ground. Instead, lay it on another small log (three inches in diameter is good). Strike the log to be cut at the point
where it is in contact with the supporting log. Otherwise, the log may flip up and strike you or a bystander. This can
cause a serious injury, so be watchful. Again, it is better to use a saw.
Splitting Firewood
Unless the log you wish to split has been sawn and has a flat end, it will be very difficult to split it. Steady it on its
end, and make sure it can stand on its own. Instruct everyone to clear away from you, and do not swing the axe if
anyone is near. Grip the end of the axe handle with both hands, and gently lay the blade of the axe on the top of the
log, on the edge nearest where you are standing. Fully extend your arms when you do this, and back up if necessary.
Spread your feet apart by about the same distance as your shoulders are wide, and make sure your footing is firm. If
you are right handed, slide your right hand towards the head of the axe as you draw it towards yourself. Take aim,
and draw the axe over your head, bringing it down mightily as your right hand slides down the handle. The right
hand should meet the left about the same time the axe strikes the log. Note how the axe strikes the wood farther away
from you than where you were resting it at the beginning. This is why you should aim for the edge nearest you. If
you overshoot the log, you will bring the handle down on the edge of the log and damage the axe. Do that enough,
and you'll need to replace the handle.
When splitting a log, try to divide it into two equal masses. If you try to split off a smaller segment, the split will run
out, and the piece you remove will be smaller on one end than on the other.
To split a small piece of wood (less than 10 cm in diameter), place the blade of a hatchet on the end of the log,
raise the log and the hatchet together, and bring them down sharply on another log or a rock. When they strike the
second log, the hatchet's momentum will drive it into the log. Raise the pair again, and strike repeatedly until the log
splits apart. Do not steady the log with one hand and strike it with the other. If you miss the log and hit your
hand, you will cause an unnecessary emergency.
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d. Show how to protect your camp against animals, insects, and wet or bad weather.
The most important thing you must remember about storing food on a campout is that it should never be stored in a
tent where people will sleep. Animals will smell your food, and if it's in your tent, they will find a way in. Instead,
store the food outside the tent.
If you have a vehicle available at your campsite, you may store the food inside, but be sure to seal it tightly. A
determined bear can get inside a locked vehicle, and if he decides that's what he wants to do, the car will sustain
heavy damage. On the other end of the animal spectrum, are mice, which can also enter a locked car - even the trunk.
It is therefore important to seal the food tightly so that the aroma does not draw unwanted attention from unwanted
visitors.
If you do not have a vehicle or a trailer in which to store your food, you may place it in a bag and suspend it at least
15 feet (4.5 meters) above the ground by tying the bag to a rope and hanging it over a tree branch. Black bears can
and do climb trees, so make sure the bag is well out of their reach - away from the trunk, and at least 4 feet (1.2 m)
below the branch from which it is suspended.
Tightly sealing your food will not only lock the aromas in, it will also keep rain, snow, and sleet out. More than one
camping breakfast has been ruined because the weather got into the pancake mix and oatmeal.
e. Show how to take proper care of the environment as you camp and leave the area with no
trace of having been there.
"Take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but footprints" is pretty self-explanatory. It means you do not disturb
nature while you are out enjoying it. If you see a pretty rock, leave it there for someone else to enjoy. If you eat a
piece of candy on the trail, don't toss the wrapper — take it with you.
There are a few exception to both these rules. If you see trash, by all means, take it. Throw it in the trash when you
get to a proper trash receptacle. Also be aware that footprints are not always harmless. Many tundra plants that take
years to grow can be destroyed by a single footprint. Stay on the trail.
One of the most important ways people leave their mark on the land is by building a campfire. For "no trace"
camping, bring a camp stove. Unfortunately, the campfire is one of the primary attractions for many people, so it is
not easy to follow this advice. If your campsite has a fire ring or an existing fire pit, use that. If it does not and you
must have a campfire, lay a small tarp on the ground and cover it with six to eight inches of mineral sand. Mineral
sand is sand containing no organic material, and can be found on a beach or where a large tree has fallen over and
raised a rootwad. The sand must be piled deep so the heat does not affect the tarp beneath. Stop putting new fuel on
the fire well before you are ready to put it out, and push in the ends of sticks that have not yet burned. Allow them to
burn down to white ash. When you are ready to leave, douse the fire well, and spread the ashes over a wide area.
Return the sand to the place where you found it and pack up your tarp.
9. Camp for a continuous three days and two nights, sleeping each night under
the stars or in a tent. Be actively involved in cooking at least two of the meals.
A three-day campout often starts on Friday evening and ends Sunday at lunchtime. This adds up to six meals, so you
will need to divide your campers into no more than three smaller groups. Each camper in your party should be
assigned kitchen duty. It is easier to remember which meal a person is responsible if they are assigned the same meal
every day - for instance, you might designate a breakfast group, and they will cook all breakfasts. However, if your
group is attempting to earn several camping honors at once, you should look at the types of meals each person is
required to cook (one-pot, boiling, frying, reflector oven, etc.) and vary the assignments based on that.
10. Considering the things learned in this honor and the camping done, what is
the meaning and the reason of the Pathfinder Camping Code?
1. I will camp only where camping is allowed.
2. I will keep my campsite clean at all times, and I will leave it cleaner than when I found it.
3. I will never leave my campfire unattended, and when I leave I will be sure that it is entirely out.
4. I will never use my knife or ax to cut, mar or scar live trees.
5. I will never pick wild flowers without permission.
6. I will never cut trails while hiking.
7. I will never pollute a lake or stream.
8. I will always respect the privacy of other campers.
9. I will always be polite and courteous.
10. I will respect all signs, authority, rules and private property.
11. I will always conduct myself as a Pathfinder and a Christian and as a child of God.
12. I will always leave a campsite knowing that I am welcome to return.
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