Weekend Camporee Has Scouts in Knots

The words “broken leg” and “deep cut” were scrawled on Devon Kliger’s skin as he lay on the ground at Tapia County Park on Saturday.

Boy Scouts quickly tied a tourniquet around his right arm and placed splints on his right leg. They then hoisted him on a makeshift stretcher made of a blanket tied around two sticks.

Devon, 17, didn’t seem concerned as he played the victim in the first aid event.

“I’m pretty comfortable because these guys know what they’re doing,” said the Scout from Woodland Hills.

The boys administering first aid were not the only ones who knew what to do.

More than 650 Boy Scouts from the west San Fernando Valley and Calabasas area demonstrated their skills in the Las Colinas District Camporee, said Robin Johnson, a district committee member. The participants, ages 12 to 17, competed in 22 events, including knot tying, cooking, log moving and cutting, and tent pitching.

The three-day event teaches Scouts life skills, camaraderie, teamwork and leadership, Johnson said.

“You don’t know someone until you have spent the weekend in a tent with them,” joked Johnson, a Woodland Hills resident who helped organize the 12th annual competition.

One leader, Jesus Aviles, taught several knots to a group of young boys.

“Listen to me: Right over left, left over right. It works every time,” he told the Scouts as he demonstrated a square knot. “You know what the secret is? Practice.”

“All six [knots] are very handy. You can’t help but use them when you learn them,” said Aviles, 41, of Canoga Park.

He showed them one knot that he said could be used to form a lasso and rescue someone who had fallen over a cliff.

During a disability-awareness competition, boys learned what it’s like to be blind and shop for groceries. Matt Bronstein, 12, was given three minutes to buy five staples such as bread, eggs and cereal. The Agoura Hills boy was blindfolded and used a white cane to feel his way around two tables stacked with items. He also had to dole out exact change for the items.

“It was scary. I thought it would be much easier,” Matt said.