Posted By PAUL JANKOWSKI SUN TIMES STAFF

The scouts from the 1st Bruce Peninsula troop in Lion’s Head are, if nothing else, a confident bunch.

On a frigid Saturday morning at their campsite in Harrison Park in Owen Sound, after spending a bitterly cold night in tents there, they were asked to guess how long they could survive with just the gear they had packed on their sled if they got lost in the wilderness in winter.

“Not that long,” said Peter Winegarden.

“Three to five days,” Conner McIlveen said.

Most of what was on the sled could fit in a backpack — a blanket, some rope, a first aid kit, a few snacks, water and a survival kit that included a knife, paper and pen, matches and a few other things.

“We can create fire, we can create shelter,” McIlveen said. Faced with a large-scale natural disaster, “if it was all of us together, we could definitely make it. We’ve got a really good team.” Not only could they make it, “even though we’re young” his team could help others to survive.

There were six on the team, ranging in age from 12 to 14. Only one girl, Marisa Stevenson, was with the group, but there are two other girls in the troop. Three 1st Bruce leaders were also taking part in the annual winter campout, an event that dates back to 1964.

The troop hadn’t yet had their turn at the rescue mission, one of the events the scouts were competing in over the weekend. The scenario goes like this: The kids are out for a winter hike when something happens to one of them. It can be a broken leg, a broken arm, a concussion from a fall. The rest of the group has to provide first aid, get their injured friend on the sled, take him or her up and down a hill, across some thin ice, make a fire and heat up some food and get everyone back safely.

While scouting is trying to keep up with the times — the weekend events included geocaching — it’s an emphasis on such back to basics outdoor adventure activities that has finally stemmed the decline in scouting, said Paul Poirier.

“They love it,” he said. “They’d rather be doing this than be reading a book in the basement of some church somewhere.”

Poirier, who lives in Wiarton, is the scout commissioner for the area that runs from Tobermory to Wingham and the Lake Huron shoreline to Highway 6. He said he’s got “quality leaders” who put on one major event, like the winter campout, a month to keep the kids involved in and enthusiastic.

Scout numbers, especially in this area, are making a turnaround, he said, “We’re leading the nation” in growth.

About 300 scouts and leaders camped out Friday night. The numbers grew through the day Saturday to about 355 as more troops trickled in, although some were just day visitors.

Only one group from Ohio came this year, however, down from the three or four that have showed up in the past, something Poirier blamed on the difficult economy there and the new border crossing restrictions.

For more related SurvivalCommonSense.com tips and stories, click on the highlighted words:

• STOP: Use this exercise to reduce stress and focus your thoughts.
• Write a note to let people know where you went, before you left.
• Take your Ten Essentials on every outing.
• Dress with the right fabrics.
• Have a plan to make a tarp shelter.
• Carry lightweight, compact firestarter.
• Find the most effective fire ignition system.
• How to make charcloth, a material that can catch a spark from any source.
• Use charcloth as an effective method of catching a spark to make a fire.
• It can kill you: Hypothermia