The Frontiersmen Camping Fellowship is a program of the Royal Rangers, and serves as their service/honor organization, similar to the Boy Scouts of America's Order of the Arrow. It endeavors to develop in each member the same courageous and undaunted spirit of the early frontiersman. High moral and contagious enthusiasm are developed by urging each member to strive to achieve important accomplishments.
Courage
Achievement
Friendship
Leadership
Woodsmanship
Young adults in the Royal Rangers program who meet the requirements are strongly encouraged by its leaders to pursue an interest in becoming a part of the FCF. Skills that can be learned from the FCF are campfire cooking, Christian service in the community, fellowship, frontier outfit making, black powderrifle shooting, trading, tomahawk and knife throwing, teepee camping, hide tanning, bead craft, scrimshaw, leather craft, wood working, and more. The FCF can provide a young Royal Ranger many different opportunities for growth and development. This provision however, can only be enabled through the participation and involvement of FCF members within the outpost. Keeping alive the spirit of the FCF means getting young bucks involved and keeping them involved. There are many skills that he must learn and develop before he becomes an "old timer", along with learning what it means to be a part of the Frontiersmen Camping Fellowship.
Entrance To FCF
In Australia a new recruit wishing to enter FCF must fulfill the following criteria
Adventure Ranger Age
Meet the other requirements
Upon this they then undertake an entrance exam, Phase 1 and 2 testing. Phase 1 testing comprises practical knowledge, e.g., compass work and lashings. To pass recruits must
Pass the Bible section of Phase 1 with 90% or more.
They are allowed to fail only 2 sections.
In the United States these are the requirements for joining FCF: Boys
Earn all 8 red "Trail of the Grizzly" merits
Be an Adventure Ranger in at least the sixth grade and be at least 11 years old
Upon earning all eight merits, both men and boys are eligible to wear the Trail of the Grizzly patch. They must then complete a Frontier Adventure before being awarded their Frontiersman Pin.
Trades
Australian FCF members, particularly those in New South Wales, are encouraged to pick up "trades". A "trade" is a line of work typically undertaken in the 1800s. New FCF members can create a costume, reflecting on what a typical person in that trade would wear. They can also man a stall in the "FCF Village" during major Rangers gatherings.