John Musser

JPH, In our situation then every participant would have a signed parental permission slip each time they participate in this activity. This would allow the insurance to be covered by both the Boy Scouts of America and by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints that sponsers our unit. Would this aleviate your concerns about insurance? Is this activity something you would consider?

Ted, Thanks for your insight this is very helpful. First of all our Varsity Team has 8 boys and we always have at least two deep leadership and would have more if the Smith requires us to. I can appreciate that the boys need to understand the fundamentals and have an excellent understanding of the safety requirements before they even start to forge a project. When talking about expectations then the boys want to learn about blacksmithing but also they would like to come away with something that they have created using the skills they have just learned. Maybe a hatchet is too complex for a first project. Perhaps something simpler would be more appropriate then the boys that want to continue their training can move-on to a more dificult project as they pursue this hobby/skill. We can certainly start with the Metalworking Merit Badge pamphlet before the boys even go to their first Smithing lesson (that is if we can find someone in Las Vegas who is willing to teach them). Does this seem like a reasonable undertaking?

We meet weekly so we planned on taking 3 weeks spread-out in February and March to finish this project. The boys would be happy to make a tomahawk and we can be flexible as far as the schedule goes.

Does anyone know of a person/s near Las Vegas, NV who is willing to teach a group of Varsity Scouts (14-15yr olds) how to make a hatchet? Our Varsity Team is focusing on Frontiersman skills the 1st quarter of this year and would like to make a hatchet for a project.