Jfitz Posted April 13, 2014 Report Share Posted April 13, 2014 I just got back from a weekend Boy Scout trip to a local Council event. Yes I'm exhausted One of the events was a trebuchet competition, with scoring based on design/originality, distance, accuracy, and optional points for "Scout spirit" . Our Troop had a trebuchet built by some of them; it was less than 3' tall, and tiny compared to the 6'-8' monsters some of the other teams had. Some of the others were impressive, both in design and construction, and also in performance. Our Scouts won. The judges took note of the team spirit; the fact that it was the only all-Scout crew (no adults); clearly was an all-Scout project; and the spirited confident yet self-deprecating "announcement" before every shot. Oh and the firing rate was about double the more finicky giants. I give kudos to the other teams all around, they were great too; but it's good to see what happens when Scouts really "up" their game in the Spirit department 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
..Kev Posted April 13, 2014 Report Share Posted April 13, 2014 Nice! Congrats! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdwerker Posted April 13, 2014 Report Share Posted April 13, 2014 I had a lot of fun when I was a Scout. Our troop was good about having us do as much as we possibly could with just adult supervision. Those little trebuchet's are awesome. One of the guys in my shop built one and we had a blast chunking persimmons down the parking lot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jfitz Posted April 13, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 13, 2014 My son was fascinated and now wants to build one for our back yard. I will need to keep it small - can't be launching items into neighbors' yards - but I have some thoughts on design options and want to try them out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdwerker Posted April 13, 2014 Report Share Posted April 13, 2014 There was a great article in one of the woodworking magazines about a small one. They said it would throw a cherry tomato the length of a conference room. My guy built his double the size of the plans and filled the weight box with lead wheel weights. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisphr Posted April 13, 2014 Report Share Posted April 13, 2014 Our Troop had a trebuchet built by some of them; it was less than 3' tall Very cool and congrats to your scouts! Do you have a picture, I'd b interested to see. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhighlander Posted April 14, 2014 Report Share Posted April 14, 2014 Very cool and congrats to your scouts! Do you have a picture, I'd b interested to see. I would like to see it as well! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jHop Posted April 15, 2014 Report Share Posted April 15, 2014 I was trying to interest the Troop in a camping trip to do something similar. Nobody was interested until I brought in the flag staff poles from the other room, and the boys made a simple one that rested between two tables. Then they couldn't wait. It kind of died, though, when the only campsite the other leaders arranged for was covered in poison ivy. Glad to hear you found the time and the spirit to do this! Always was on my list to get done. (And you've got a crowd waiting for those photos... maybe you could even get the Scouts to do a video of the process?) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jfitz Posted April 15, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 15, 2014 poison ivy - blech. I'm waiting for the others to post pics of the competition ( I was too busy out in the field, dodging projectiles measuring distances) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.