Knots and Lashings — Knot Jeopardy — Part 1

Its not what you know, its what knot you know!

Several years ago I developed a game for learning Knots and Lashings. This can be done at the Patrol or Troop level, or even at District and Council events.

INSTRUCTIONS

This game is dependent upon everyone being taught all of the various knots, lashings, etc. required through Boy Scout First Class Rank.

Rules: (Read these aloud to all team members before starting the game)

· Divide the group into teams / patrols

· There should be at least 2 judges. The more patrols, the more judges will be needed to observe.

o 2 patrols is the minimum

o 3 or 4 patrols is optimum

o 5 or more patrols is too many. Combine them into other patrols.

· Create a line of each patrol

· At the head of each patrol line, distribute the following in a pile:

o 3 long sticks

o 1 long rope

o 1 short whipped and fused rope

o 1 short unwhipped and unfused length of synthetic rope

o 1 length of dental floss (about 2 feet long)

o fire-starter style butane lighter

· Assign a judge to keep score for all patrols that are participating

· Draw straws, etc. to determine which patrol makes the first selection

· The number on the card is the number of points it is worth

· The person at the head of the line for the patrol that is selecting the challenge card is the person who will be performing the task, asking the question, etc.

· If a card contains a question for an item that has not been taught, the question is invalid and is removed from game play. No points are awarded or lost. An alternate card is then chosen.

· Prior to reading each question or task:

o All participants must be lined up properly behind the competitor at the head of the line.

o The competitor must be standing in an upright position.

o All materials must be flat on the ground in front of the competitor.

· Regular Jeopardy

o The person from the patrol who has made the selection, must answer the question.

o They cannot get assistance from anyone in their patrol. If someone advises them, they lose the question.

o If they cannot answer or answer incorrectly, the patrol loses the points.

§ The first patrol member of one of the other patrols to raise his/her hand will get a chance to answer the question for their patrol

§ If they answer it incorrectly, they lose the points and the remaining patrols get a chance to answer the question

§ Except for the patrol who selects the card, no other patrol is required to answer the question. However, if they choose to answer the question, they can lose points for an incorrect answer.

o If they answer correctly, the patrol gets the points

o After having their turn, the patrol member will go to the end of their line, and the next person in line gets to choose the next card

· Double Jeopardy

o Double Jeopardy is a performance competition

o Once the challenge card is selected, all of the patrols compete to be the first patrol to perform the task of tying the knot, lashing, etc.

o Only the patrol member at the head of the line can actively compete

o Members of the patrol may –advise- their competitor, but they can NOT physically assist. If they do, the patrol is disqualified from this round

o It is up to each patrol to notify the judges that they have completed the task. Even though they may have completed the task, it doesn’t count unless they somehow indicate that they are DONE.

o If they have not completed the task correctly, the next patrol to have yelled DONE will be evaluated. The first patrol member to have successfully completed the task earns the points.

o Each patrol may re-do the task if they get it wrong and may actually win the points if they are the first patrol to successfully complete the task.

o Only the patrol that successfully completes the task first will earn the points.

o No points are deducted for an incorrect completion or a non-completion.

o When the task is a lashing, the other members of the patrol can assist by holding the sticks needed for the lashing. They can also advise the competitor as to how to do the lashing, but they can NOT assist in tying the lashing itself.

o If the task is whipping or fusing, the competitor may use his/her own knife or borrow one from a fellow patrol member, audience member or judge to trim the end of the rope

o If the task is fusing, the competitor may use the lighter provided or they may use their own provided it is of a type that projects a ‘standard’ flame. ‘Flame thrower’, high-power, torches, etc. are not acceptable.

· Final Jeopardy

The Final Jeopardy task should be something that they were shown or taught but is not a ‘typical’ Boy Scout knot, such as an uncommon knot or be requested to make a variation of a known knot. For example, an uncommon knot is the thieves knot. A variation would be to tie a one-handed bowline, tie a square knot behind their back, etc.

o The judge who has been keeping score will announce all of the scores to everyone

o Each patrol will determine how many points they want to wager on the final task

§ They will write this down privately and give it to the score keeping judge

o The patrol member who will perform the task will be the one that was at the head of the line when Double Jeopardy ended.

o Rules for advice, etc. are the same as from Double Jeopardy

o The first patrol member to complete the task successfully wins the number of points that they wagered.

o The patrols that were not the first to successfully complete the task LOSE the number of points that they wagered.

**Link to Part 2 — Moderator’s Private Guide**

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Link to Scoutmasters Guide Table of Contents

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