Secrete Codes

Not only are Secret Codes "Cool" but they are "Secret", which makes them EVEN COOLER!!!

What Scout is not/would not/should not be interested in writing secrete messages, in code! Come on now that is awesome... Only those that know the code can read the message, Pleeeaase let me say it again...

That's Awesome!!!

The desire to make messages secret has existed for many many years. Some early ciphers go back to the Roman consul Julius Caesar and the code has become known as a Caesar Shift. The wheels are an aid in both creating the cipher and in decoding it. Both the creator and decoder would need the same type of wheel.

Creating codes, or encryption, can run the gamut from easy, like a Caesar Shift, to extremely complex like modern computer encryption. While cipher wheels may seem simple compared to modern computer methods they can still create surprisingly robust and hard to crack codes. While their main downfall is that they are manual, I see this as part of the fun - the creator and recipient having to use the devices and their own skill to keep their messages secret.

Let's look at some example of writing in code.