Award Value when Award is NOT completed.

After seeing my Venturers attempt to light fires last night (they had been provided green 2x lumber), I don't think any of them ever passed (or could pass) that two match test

WHY would you give them GREEN wood...

WHY would you give them GREEN wood...

We have an annual community service project in our village where we operate fire barrels for roasting marshmallows and hot dogs as part of a Christmas celebration. The wood provided is off cuts from a local roof truss manufacturer. So while it is green, its not that bad.

In the pictures 2, 3, and 4 I see that the wood is stacked in the tin barrel; how do you get the matches SAFELY to the kindling at the botoom?
AND I do agree with you, two matches would never be enough here.

I think a lot the perceived challenge in some of the requirements now is the ease of accessing information.

For example the written requirements for the Venturer Level World Conservation Award can be banged out in a couple of evenings, mainly because a google search with the various terms can bring up the information you need and from there, it's not that hard to turn that into a essay.

But that's always been a thing. I argue a 50km hike around Vancouver is significantly harder here, then it is back east, mainly due to the fitness level you need to hike mountains with 35lb bags. (that is a typical mountain hike, versus a hike across the Canadian shield. This further leads to the need of review boards and general standards for various parts of Canada.


The two match requirement is under basic conditions, to show scouts that they can't start a fire with giant logs. it's not how *all* fires should be started.

I may have to do some traveling to find out why you are unable to light a fire with two matches in other parts of the country. Obviously doing it with wet or green wood is near impossible.

The two match requirement is under basic conditions, to show scouts that they can't start a fire with giant logs. it's not how *all* fires should be started.

Definitely learning to create magic fires is part of the fun once they get to that point.

Sifting through all of the info in the net and determining if a source is credible is just as challenging as looking up the info in an encyclopedia.

Scouter Ritchie, I was more referring to the distances of hikes and quantity based requirements that are dependant on local conditions. You'll be hard pressed distances beyond 20km appropriate for scouts in the lower mainland, simply due to the terrain.

As for sifting through info on the net, a wiki article is usually a good start which links to other more reputable articles and information. Which in itself is a very useful skill for college and university. But for what the QVA requires, there's so much online which makes the "paper" part of the award much easier than it was 15 years ago. Heck writing and editing camp logs, is WAY quicker.