The Scout's Staff

Won Tolla's staff

I remember back then, when I was a young scout, with investiture came a necker, a woggle, the group's badges, including a small bronze badge for the Beret and there was also a stave!

We did not get to keep the stave as ours but we could now hold the patrol's stave; it had a little flag with the patrol's beast on it, the name of my patrol was Stags (Ελάφια - Elafia) (or Deer but I prefer Stags)!

We also had other more simple stave we used to carry around all the time on hikes, camps, parades and events. The older scouts probably had enough of "them sticks" but we the younger scouts loved to hold on to them as if they are our pets!

So what's in a staff? why stave? well... Only an adult would ask this! Don't you know? Children love sticks!

There are loads of sites about the scout's staff, the history and it's uses. I just did a quick google search and found plenty, one of them is this: scoutingrediscovered.com

Historical, practical and aesthetic reasons are all valid, BP considered it as part of the uniform and it's uses are many, even as a hike staff or a patrol flag pole being the most obvious.

I see the staff  primarily as a training device and a memento of a scout's life. Eventually these years will pass, childhood is very short indeed but on the scout's staff we have enough room to cover it! Once it captures the imagination of a young member we see a long-term commitment on that stick.

A scout is a naturalist, knowing what to pick and what to cut, working in a copse, is a good start to learn about preservation and pick the perfect stave. Then comes the practise with the use of a knife, the design of the stave, making it more practical, finding ways to hold dry matches and a length of chord, adding markings for inches and feet.

Keep yourself occupied at camp, by preparing a stave, taking the bark off and making it smooth and carving it. Sometimes it turns to a totem of animals!

During ceremonies the pose of a scout holding a staff adds to the imagery, as it looks iconic and very photographic! Don't we aim to attract attention to ourselves through the media and general presence in our community? It's better with a stave!

A few scouts with stave can help out with "guarding" a parade or a function; the stave can be held as makeshift corridor or gate, open/close barrier, on entrances and exits when we need to control the visitor's flow.  I remember during Easter in Greece our parish church of St. Lucas in Athens asked us to help out with directing people from one door and out from the other and we put stave holding scouts for hours to act as gates. Believe me, some days it was very necessary to control that as the crowd can be sudden and strong in numbers! This can be practised at camp when each patrol puts "guards" of it's gate and periphery from other patrols.

Sourcing the stick

Getting a staff can be as simple as a walk in the woods or even better the copse but it's worth asking because in UK woods and copses have owners or at least people responsible for them.
If you happen uppon a good stick and you happen to have one of these folded saws then just be reasonable. So what kind of wood did you find, Hazel is the most common, good enough for a staff and good enough for a scout, Ash and Rowan and Blackthorn are also strong and good to work with, but the reality is, get the stick you find! Avoid dead wood, that's wood that's been on the ground and you happened to find. This wood's been getting wet and weak, it will snap so it simply won't do!
Want to know more about which tree gives what stick? Check this guy out!
www.thestickman.co.uk

When you find it cut it a bit longer than you need it to be, you'll need to trim the ends if they split.

If you need them quick find alternative sources, ask around! I got 20 7foot sticks of hazel, straight as they come, from the bloke who takes care of my neighbours garden. I asked him about it, mentioned the scouts and I found them on my doorstep a week later, bound them 5 a bunch and hanged them in the garage to dry. Less for him to take to the tip, more for me to carve!

If you feel that you have to pay for staves, don't! However, the Greek scout shop has them very cheap!
Greek Scout Shop - Staff

Preparation

If you want to make a long lasting strong stave to have and to hold it's best to allow it to dry for a few weeks or months with the bark on as it dries slower and better that way. I never bother to make it straight, I don't know how, I found instructions and blogs about steaming it and hanging it etc but it's too much of an effort and I decided I like them as straight as mother nature intend them to be.

For a scout activity, 20 sticks just cut from a copse a week or a month ago and a pocket knife is enough to get it going. I wouldn't add more effort to dry or straighten them either.
Remember that knife work is with risks and we need to minimise them...

Once the bark is off, then with some sandpaper make it as smooth as you can, the hand that holds the stave needs to have a comfortable feel on it!

Here are some ideas to make it a bit more special:

• Mark feet and inches, start from the bottom marking 12 inches, then mark every foot above.
• Drill a hole at the top, to put a lanyard or a small flag.
• Drill another hole 90° right under to the one above to scope right angles.
• Carve out a small place for a compass. Have it on top and level.
• Coil a parachute chord on it as handle but detachable for 30 feet chord you might need.
• Cut a notch for every camp or hike you went to.
• Conceal a compartment for dry match or other small things.
• Put a hook on top for grabbing things.
• Put a walking stick rubber foot at the bottom, it protects the wood.
• Decorate it with animals or a scene like the old sailors used to do.
• Add the scout symbol as a brass sign for walking stick and staff.
• Burn / brand your name or the Morse code or the name of your group.

Knife work

We all know knife work is serious business, warning lights go off with the mention of a knife but it doesn't have to be a difficult or taboo subject, scouts use knifes, they learn how and preparing a staff is a good platform to learn.

Folded Saw

If I feel I can not handle 20 cubs and 20 knives with the manpower available I would change the scenario and organise a parent and child event where they can supervise their child with the knife or have it as a station for 2-3 scouts at a time.

Knife work is fun when it is done responsibly, teach them the right way to work with the knife, keep it sharp and show them how to sharpen it.

Work away from the body and the legs, inner thigh, tummy or other scout. Always have a first aid kit visible as a warning and as a requirement. People will notice you wear one ready to use it, it makes you look the job and it reminds them of the sharp end.

Risk assess the activity, if it has a knife risk assess it.

Conclusion

So how useful is a staff to a scout? Well, far less useful than it is to a scout leader! You can take your scouts to a long adventure for that piece of stick; from finding it, to making it straight, dry and cleaning, whittling it or branding it with a hot branding iron, adding gadgets to it and functions...
Eventually the time comes when they use it, on a hike,  ticking off camp-nights on it; the stave is a companion to a scout for the years to come so better start them early!