Hey, ScouterStan, let’s talk a little bit about the Totin’ Chip and its importance in Scouting America. The Totin’ Chip is a very honored tradition within Scouting in America and this is not necessarily the process in other countries where they have their system similar to the Totin’ Chip. Now for all the Scout leaders and scouts out there interested in obtaining their own Totin’ Chip, the basic requirements are in your handbook. So make sure that when you get your Totin’ Chip it follows the current day requirements.
The Totin’ Chip focuses mainly on knives, axes, and saws. Understanding the safety rules when working with knives, axes, and saws is critical to preventing accidents. Remember to always cut away from yourself. Think about the “Blood Circle”, which is a safety circle where you have to consider the safety of other people around you. In scouting, we’re always thinking about safety. One of the key things about the Totin’ Chip is that it demands that the recipient take the responsibility of using tools with respect and using them safely. The scout has to respect and maintain the cutting edge of all their different tools. Knowing how to sharpen these and keep them sharp is a big part of safety. It has been said that a dull tool is a dangerous tool.
It is very important that all cutting tools are treated with respect, used safely, and kept sharp and stored properly. Not doing this, you can lose the Totin’ Chip privileges. The Totin’ Chip card is a promise to abide by all of the safety rules that are taught within the Totin’ Chip course. They must carry this in their wallet, especially if they’re going to summer camp. These scout camps require that scouts present the Totin’ Chip whenever they are purchasing a knife at the trading post. There may be other requirements, but this is a basic one to make sure that the scout is aware and is going to abide by the safety rules that they know. In the past, it was so serious that minor infractions would cost a corner off of the card. Nowadays we think of this more as a type of bullying, so we don’t do that. It’s important that when minor infractions happen the scout is aware of it, in a dignified manner of the infraction. Cutting up their card can be very demeaning and embarrassing. If the infraction is severe, the card could be retained by the Scoutmaster and can be earned back by taking the course again.
One of the requirements for the Paul Bunyan Woodsman Award is to have and maintain a Totin’ Chip. Now one of the common mistakes that scouts make is not giving themselves enough room to work with their tools. Whether it be a knife, an axe, or a saw, it can vary on the distance of the so-called blood circle and that seems to be the most common. Also making sure that the scout knows to cut away from themselves and that the blade goes towards something that is not necessarily their hand.
Another big benefit of having the Totin’ Chip, you can wear the Totin’ Chip patch. One of the big common mistakes is that the Totin’ Chip patch looks in the shape of an Order of the Arrow flap. So a lot of scouts and scout parents think that it goes on the pocket flap on the right-hand pocket. They’re close. It should go on the actual pocket in the temporary patch zone, not on the flap of the pocket on either pocket. Now, putting the Toten chip into practice can be done through a lot of different scout skills.
The Totin’ Chip is important if you’re doing pioneering projects or building campfires. There are a lot of different things that scouts want to experience and participate in, and having that Totin’ Chip gives them the skills that are needed to do that. Now, sometimes the scout may voluntarily choose to renew or kind of help out in teaching new scouts about the Totin’ Chip, and they should be encouraged to start training using the EDGE method to train new scouts on how to safely use knives, axes, and saws.
It’s important that scout units set up an axe yard where they can do the training for Totin’ Chip and have Totin’ Chip trained scouts to do some of that training. Two adults must be watching over the training, but it’s also important to remind them that they’re there to observe and not be the instructor. If they observe something that misses an important safety feature, they must bring it up with the instructors without embarrassing them or singling them out. There’s a long history of the Totin’ Chip. Many current-day Scout leaders still have their original Totin’ Chip card, although it may look a little different (with some missing corners). Originally they didn’t have a card. It was a wooden chip with totin’ written on it that was the original Totin’ Chip. Scouting is always focused on safety. Using knives is inevitable in most activities when cutting is required. Being able to use them properly, safely store them, and keep them sharp is important. It also emphasizes self-reliance and preparedness. YIS⚜
