Scouting, Volume 54, Number 8, October 1966 Page: 19
36 p. : ill. ; 28 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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PLANNING
ORIENTEERING EVENTS
Before planning and staging a regular orienteering
event and sending the patrols or Explorers of your unit
out on it, give them a taste of orienteering by scheduling
a beeline hike for your next troop hike or overnight.
For this, draw a line on your map from your campsite
to a suitable spot V2 or % mile away. Arrange for an
assistant Scoutmaster or a junior leader to man the spot
you have chosen. When everything is in readiness, meet
with the boy leaders. Indicate starting point and desti-
nation on the map, check each leader as he transfers the
bearing on the map to his compass, then send off the
patrols or groups at 3-minute intervals. After reaching
the destination, have the patrols back-travel to the start-
ing point. To do this, the Scout or Explorer in charge of
the compass for the return journey holds the compass
level in his hand in the usual manner for sighting but
determines his direction with the direction-of-travel ar-
row pointing toward him instead of away from him.
Patrol or group going and returning in shortest time wins.
After having tried simple orienteering on a beeline
hike, your patrols or groups are ready for all other
types of orienteering events. These may be grouped in
three general categories (for details, see following
pages):
Route Orienteering in which the participants follow
a route decided on by the planners of the event and in-
dicated on a master map.
Point Orienteering in which the participants must
decide on their own route to touch a number of station
points indicated on a master map.
Score Orienteering in which the participants criss-
cross the terrain, hitting points of varying accessibility,
with scores according to difficulty of access.
Eventually, each of these categories can be turned
into Project Orienteering in which a certain Scout-
craft skill must be demonstrated at each station before
the team can continue, such as "Boil 1 pint water,"
Stations along an orienteering
course are marked with easily
seen banners. These can be made
by painting pieces of burlap or
old canvas, about 2 by 3 feet,
with red and white diagonal
lines. Distinguishing marks in the
center make the banners self-
controlling. Nail tops and bot-
toms to straight sticks. Attach
cord for hanging.
"Write the name of your patrol or post in Morse code,"
"Find 3 edible wild plants." Etc.
To arrange and stage these orienteering events you
need the following:
Suitable terrain—Pick an interesting area with
several easily distinguishable landmarks but without
safety hazards such as cliffs and bogs.
Helpers—Secure a sufficient number of helpers
(junior leaders, troop or post committee members, Scout
or Explorer fathers) to set up the stations and, if
desired, to man them as judges.
Station markers—Usual station markers for orien-
teering consist of burlap banners with diagonal red and
white stripes for easy visibility. If a station is to be
manned, the banner can be left plain. By providing each
banner with a distinguishing mark (circle, triangle,
square, half-moon, etc.) the station becomes self-con-
trolling: The teams prove that they have touched the
station by copying the distinguishing mark.
Maps, compasses, pencils—A map for the planners
of the course, later to be put up on a bulletin board at
the starting point as a master map from which the
patrols or groups copy route or station locations onto
their own maps. Orienteering compass (Pathfinder or
Explorer III), and pencil for the planners and for each
map team.
More ^
Make the maps used in orienteering speak "compass language" by providing
them with magnetic-north-south lines. This eliminates the necessity of re-
setting the compass after taking a bearing to compensate for "variation."
Glenburnie
is
-■ nW
, I
LONGITUDE 27'30"
LONGITUDE 25'
iNTERIOR-GEOU
1000
SCALE 1:24000
0
1 MILE
1000 2000 3000 4000 5000
6000 7000 FEET
1 KILOMETER
CONTOUR INTERVAL 20 FEET
APPROXIMATE MEAN
DECLINATION, 1950
19
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Boy Scouts of America. Scouting, Volume 54, Number 8, October 1966, periodical, October 1966; New Brunswick, New Jersey. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth331774/m1/23/: accessed May 4, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Boy Scouts of America National Scouting Museum.