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Neckerchief Slide


Liz

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My daughter has lost her Bear slide. Any ideas of homemade slides she could make to replace it? I don't want to buy her another one - we're getting pretty close to Webelos. 

She is pretty crafty. I welcome a variety of suggestions with a range of skill levels, but prefer something that doesn't involve power tools just because I'd like her to make it herself. Then again, if it's a great suggestion that involves power tools we can probably still make it happen. 

Surely mine isn't the only cub who has lost a slide by this point in the Scouting year. ;) 

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A turks head knot, made with anything from string to old charging cables to light up glo wire.

A nice bit of wood bored through and polished up

The aforementioned 1" plastic pipe with a lego minifigure stuck to it

Beads threaded together

One of my Explorers going to the Jamboree is selling a 3D printed woggle but it won't be a cheap option ;).

A rectangular patch or two sewn together into a tube

I would guess pinterest would have...[goes and looks] yes, pinterest has hundreds, possibly thousands, of ideas too.

Would it be beyond the pale to tie a friendship knot in it instead?

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I'm a fan of the turks head paracord woggle. Given that my kid would lose one of the metal ones within seconds of getting it, I'm paracord the whole way. Cheap, easy, and holds better.

Edited by malraux
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Our pack suggested that people not buy the official BSA Cub Scout slides.  They fall off constantly.  Even with that, as Cubmastet I ended up with a few unclaimed ones.  We used to have a tradition in our pack that every den made a new slide every year.  It was a fun way to personalize the uniform.  In fact, your daughter losing hers might be a very good reason for her to bring a project to the den to make some.

I agree with the earlier suggestions of what to use. We used to have a leader at Roundtable that did a slide of the month.  We had lots of silly things - but something glued on some PVC was a great way to do unusual things.  One year I made turks head woggles out of reflective tent cord for everyone in the den.  I know of a couple of packs that did colored turks head woggles for the different levels in the pack.  I always liked that idea myself.

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9 hours ago, Liz said:

My daughter has lost her Bear slide. Any ideas of homemade slides she could make to replace it? I don't want to buy her another one - we're getting pretty close to Webelos. 

She is pretty crafty. I welcome a variety of suggestions with a range of skill levels, but prefer something that doesn't involve power tools just because I'd like her to make it herself. Then again, if it's a great suggestion that involves power tools we can probably still make it happen. 

Surely mine isn't the only cub who has lost a slide by this point in the Scouting year. ;) 

Ha! My Webelos daughter lost three in half a year.

When we finally find a troop (don't ask), I will encourage her to make something new as well.

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Neckerchief slide, also called a woggle.

1. square knot: Simple and quick: cut a short llength of paracaord or 1/4in diameter  rope, form a closed loop by tying ends with square knot

2. turk's head  knot mentioned in above posts

Other beginner or quick slides, decorated or not,  which I have seen:

- cardboard tube  (TP roll)

- nylon tie wrap 

-  wire from bent paper clip to shower ring to Romex. Back in the day, I used a 1/2 - 1W color-coded carbon resistor (my Dad was not happy)

:)

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1 hour ago, Hawkwin said:

Ha! My Webelos daughter lost three in half a year.

When we finally find a troop (don't ask), I will encourage her to make something new as well.

@Hawkwin, I did the leather knot with Son #1 when he was a Webelos because I was not about to go back to the slop trough scout shop for another slide. I think our DL tried to bust him on it, and I told her to read the handbook before policing uniforms.

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I used to take white leather boot laces, color one end red and the other blue, and very carefully tie a woggle so the top layer was red, the middle white, and the bottom blue. I gave those to eagle scouts at their ecoh.

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My personal favorite is the turks head knot. Once a youth learns it, they can get creative, and make some really nice woggles. 

Venturers use the friendship knot frequently. 

There is also the 2 hole and 3 hole slides, which are nothing more than pieces of leather with holes big enough for the necker to slide through. The Scout can decorate them a number of ways; carve, etches, draw, paint etc. 

A leather magic braid which is a bracelet that is often made in craft classes by youth. A shorter version can be made as a woggle and they look similar to a turks head knot. 

A simple strip of leather with 3-4 lace holes on the back and tied with a leather cord. I can be decorated in ways similar as mentioned above in 2 and 3 hole slides. 

One of the most beautiful hand made woggles I have ever seen was made from an ivory nut. If you have the time and patience to carve one, they are awesome, even a simple rounded carving. They resemble elephant ivory but are made from a plant. Skilled carvers can make some incredible designs. You can buy the nuts online and I have seen them as big as 2.5 inches in diameter. When finished they are very hard and durable. 

You can get creative with what you find. I was given a woggle at Jamboree from a Unit from West Africa. It was the outer covering of some type of nut or fruit. The top and bottom were cut of leaving a perfect woggle. It is pretty hard and resembles reptile scales and is a beautiful wood. It was a gift not a trade, but I gave them a $100 patch set and felt guilty because their gift was so much cooler than the one I gave them. 

 

 

 

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1 hour ago, qwazse said:

I think our DL tried to bust him on it, and I told her to read the handbook before policing uniforms.

My nephew's Webelos DL also told him he could not wear the one he made on a 3D printer, until I showed her in writing that scouts are welcome to make their own slides.

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I'm her DL so no concerns there. ;) I've been doing Scouting a long time - this isn't my first rodeo - and with my son's troop years ago his DL used to regularly make slides and give them to the kids as gifts/prizes at various events. 

These have been some great suggestions! I'll go over them with her and see what she decides.

I can't believe we just threw out a whole bunch of old charging cables that had worn out. In a variety of vibrant colors, too. *sigh* - I knew in my gut they had to be good for something and I just couldn't think of what... 

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