Totin’ Chip Course

Outline
• Go over Totin’ Chip requirements and discuss Outdoor Code and privilege/consequences.
• EDGE Method (Scout led, adult supported)
o Explain: all Tool Use and Safety Rules
o Demonstrate:
▪ Blood circle, safe carrying, and safe passing of a knife, saw, and ax with “Thank You” rule
▪ Opening/closing a pocketknife
▪ Sharpening a pocketknife (pull sharpener and whetstone)
▪ Safe saw usage (through-cut not necessary);
▪ Sharpening a saw (just a tooth or two)
▪ Safe ax usage – limbing, bucking, splitting (through-cut not necessary for limbing and bucking)
▪ Sharpening an ax
o Guide: each Scout practices the demonstrated tasks
o Enable: be supportive of each Scout’s efforts and present Totin’ Chip cards

Totin’ Chip Requirements

This certification grants a Scout the right to carry and use woods tools. The Scout must show their Scout leader, or
someone designated by their leader, that the Scout understands their responsibility to do the following:
1. Read and understand woods tools use and safety rules from the Scouts BSA handbooks.
2. Demonstrate proper handling, care, and use of the pocketknife, ax, and saw.
3. Use knife, ax, and saw as tools, not playthings.
4. Respect all safety rules to protect others.
5. Respect property. Cut living and dead trees only with permission and good reason.
6. Subscribe to the Outdoor Code.
As an American, I will do my best to –
Be clean in my outdoor manners.
Be careful with fire.
Be considerate in the outdoors.
Be conservation minded.
• Using knives, saws, and axes is a privilege which can be taken away. A minor problem may result in losing a
corner from a Totin’ Chip; a major problem (i.e. endangering others) may result in losing more corners. Once a
Scout has lost all four corners the Totin’ Chip is no longer valid and must be re-earned before using knives, saws,
or axes.

Tool Use and Safety Rules

• Safety first! Axes, knives, and saws are neither toys nor weapons; they are tools and need to be treated as such.
That means understanding how to safely use them and properly take care of them.
• General safety rules:
o Blood Circle: a method of safely moving the tool around you to determine if your work area is free of
people and obstacles that could cause potential problems.
o Carrying the Tool: in general, with all sharp edges covered and/or away from all people (see specific tool
details).
o "Thank You": the magic words of working with tools. If you decide to give a tool to someone, you will
not let go of it until the other person says "Thank You". This lets you know that the other person has
control of the tool.
 o "Coming Through" and "Go For It": if you are working in an unsecured area (no ax yard) such as a trail
use "Coming Through" and "Go For It".
▪ "Coming Through" tells someone working with a sharp tool that you need to pass through their
work space.
▪ "Go For It" tells you that the person working with the sharp tool has acknowledged that you are
there and that they have stopped working to let you safely pass through.
• Knives
o Safe Use
▪ Use each part of a pocket knife or multitool only for its intended purpose. For example, do not
use a cutting blade as a screwdriver.
▪ Keep the blade closed except when using the knife or cleaning it.
▪ Have only one blade open at a time.
▪ Only cut away from yourself, never toward yourself.
▪ Close the blade before you pass the knife to someone else and use the “Thank You” rule.
▪ Keep your knife sharp and clean because it is easier to control that way.
▪ Never carry a knife with the blade open.
▪ Use two hands to open and close a knife.
▪ Obey all rules about where knives may not be permitted (airplanes, schools, etc.).
▪ Never throw a knife.
▪ Never strike a knife with another tool.
o Cleaning
▪ Use soap and hot water to clean after food contact.
▪ Dry the knife after cleaning.
▪ Use cloth around a toothpick (or a Q-tip if it fits) to clean inside.
▪ Occasionally lightly oil hinges.
o Sharpening
▪ Pull sharpener
▪ Whetstone
• Hold the knife about 25-30° to the stone with the blade facing away.
• Ensure fingers are below the stone surface.
• Add a small amount of water or oil if needed for the stone.
• Using moderate pressure, slide the blade at the constant angle along the stone as if
you’re slicing off the top layer. It is also acceptable to use a circular motion as long as
the angle is kept constant.
• Sharpen the other side of the knife either by switching hands or by pulling the blade
toward you on the stone, whichever is more comfortable. Note that this is not a
violation of the safety rules because you are not actually cutting when you are
sharpening the knife toward you; but keep your attention focused.
• Wipe the knife with a clean cloth.
• A dull cutting edge looks shiny; a sharp edge is so thin it can’t be seen.
• Saws
o Bow saws and folding saws
o Safe Use
▪ Sheath a saw when it is not in use. A piece of old garden hose makes a great replacement sheath
for a bowsaw.
▪ Carry a saw with the blade turned away from your body.
▪ Use care when passing the saw to another person, keeping the blade away from both of you and
using the “Thank You” rule.
▪ Wear gloves and protective eyewear.
 ▪ Do not cut any trees, alive or dead, without permission.
▪ Do not allow the saw blade to cut into the ground.
▪ Do not leave a saw lying around camp; put it away when not in use.
▪ Hold the wood firmly in place with one hand while you use your other hand for long smooth
strokes. Let the weight of the saw pull the blade into the wood.
▪ When sawing a branch from a tree, make an undercut first, then saw from the top down. The
undercut prevents the falling branch from stripping bark from the tree.
o Cleaning
▪ Carefully remove debris from the teeth.
▪ Fully dry the saw before storing it.
▪ Clean a folding saw similar to a pocketknife.
o Sharpening
▪ The teeth are intentionally bent, so do not straighten them. If teeth are damaged, replace the
blade.
▪ Using gloves and a small file, push the file along the existing shape of each tooth.
▪ Repeat the sharpening process along the other side of the saw blade.
• Ax (and hatchets)

o
o Safe Use
▪ Safe Tool – An ax must be sharp and in top condition. Never use an ax with a loose head or
damaged handle. Remove the sheath only when you are ready to use your ax.
▪ Safe Gear – Wear safety glasses or googles, gloves, and boots. Long pants are recommended.
▪ Safe Working Area – At minimum, check a Blood Circle by holding the ax at arm’s length by the
head and slowly turning in a circle and checking overhead. Instruct others to stay at least 10 feet
away while using the ax. For lots of ax usage, use an ax yard: a large area marked off with
caution tape or rope to form a safety barrier. No one except the person using the ax should be
inside.
▪ Safe Technique – use proper body positioning and focus on your work
• Limbing – cutting branches off a log
o Stand on the opposite side of the log from the limb to be removed, always
keeping the log between yourself and your cuts.
o Cut close to the base of the branch.
• Bucking – cutting through a log
o Secure the log to be cut.
o Stand perpendicular to the log with feet approximately shoulder-width apart.
 o The swing:
▪ Hold the ax handle belly with your non-dominant hand and your
dominant hand near the head.
▪ Lift the ax head above your shoulder.
▪ Slide your dominant hand down until it meets your other hand on the ax
belly as the bit swings into the log.
▪ Let the weight of the ax head to most of the work.
▪ If the bit gets stuck, rotate the ax to free it using the knob.
o Cut a “V” shaped notch at least as wide as the log is thick.
• Splitting – lengthwise splitting of firewood
o Use a chopping block: a large, flat stable piece of wood.
o Do not swing the ax into the ground.
o Aim for an age crack, a visible natural split.
o Stand the large chunk of wood upright on the chopping block.
o Rest the bit on the log at the desired point and properly position body.
o Drive the ax into it using the same swing as when bucking.
o If the wood does not split, remove the ax before swinging again; never swing an
ax with wood stuck on the bit.
• Contact method splitting – mostly for use with a hatchet (hand axe)
o Use a chopping block.
o Holding the ax with the dominant hand, place the ax bit on the wood to be split.
o Using the non-dominant hand, lift the wood.
o Bring the wood and ax down together, driving the ax into the wood.
o Twist the ax to split the wood.
▪ Safe Carrying
• Always place a sheath on the ax before carrying.
• Carry the ax at your side with your hand near the head with the handle down, but well
clear of the ground. The blade should be turned outward.
• Never carry the ax on your shoulder.
▪ Safe Passing
• Pass the ax to another person by holding the handle with the head down and bit turned
away from both of you.
• Use the “Thank You” rule.
▪ Safe Storage – secure the sheathed axe in a dry place.
o Cleaning
▪ Fully dry the ax before storing it.
o Sharpening
▪ Use an 8 or 10 inch mill bastard file or a sharpening stone intended for axes.
▪ Wear leather gloves and use a knuckle guard for a file.
▪ Pin the ax against a log about 6 inches in diameter using wooden pegs or tent stakes with the bit
facing up.
▪ Have another person help keep the axe steady.
▪ Place the file or stone at a 30° angle to the blade (on the side away from the log) and push to
toward the bit. Only the push stroke sharpens so lift the file to recover.
▪ Use firm even strokes.
▪ Flip the ax and repeat for the other side of the bit, using about the same number of strokes.
▪ A dull edge looks shiny; a sharp edge seems to disappear.