I'm talking about back in the '60s since I was involved in Scouting. Give you an idea how far we've come, we were still using surplus Army pup tents back then. And a pack with a frame (tension belts and compression straps hadn't even been invented yet) was considered an affectation. We cooked on open fires or played with those tin can stoves. Pack stoves were unheard of.
Now, of course, it's different. Indeed, open fires are considered unethical at best in many areas, and illegal in others. And Scouts carry sophisticated pack stoves, same as the rest of us. And they use modern packs with all the bells and whistles.
Who besides me remembers canvas Yucca packs? I've probably walked a thousand miles with one of those abominations hanging from my shoulders.
Requirements for starting a fire, back then, was two matches maximum and no paper. The rational: "where would you get paper out in the woods." Well, guess what? I'm in the woods. And I'd get the paper the same place I got this, my burgers were wrapped in it.
I thought the rules were silly then, and nothing much has changed my mind. Hard to believe I now regularly start fires with flint & steel and no paper. But that's a different tale.
When you're eleven, though, you tend to accept the contradictions of elders. For instance, as I've mentioned elsewhere, I won the cooking merit badge primarily on the strength of a pineapple upside down cake I'd made using Bisquick. So, think about this: I couldn't use paper to start a fire, because it was unavailable in the woods. But somehow or other the cardboard box the Bisquick came in didn't qualify as paper.  |