Hello Scoutdoors,

Please forgive this very lengthy post.

As a former Scout (30 years ago). I want to say thank you for showing an interest in teaching the young people of today.

You mentioned in your post that, "Our Scout troop is preparing for a 2 week hike in a national park next summer." What area of the country will you be in? What is the terrain like? This will help in pointing you in a given direction.

From now until them concentrate heavily "teaching the scouts" First aid, Lifesaving, Cooking, Wilderness Survival, Orientering, Woodmanship, Pioneering, Camping, Signaling. These were also merit badges in "my time" is this still the case? As an example, If you have 3 patrols have one teach "Cooking" to the rest of the troop, have one patrol teach "Signaling" to the rest of the troop, have one patrol teach "Pioneering" to the rest of the troop. Then each patrol rotates so that if the one patrol that taught "Pioneering" last will now teach "Signaling" and so on and so forth. Make sure to include you Leadership Corps, any and all Assistant Scoutmasters, Senior Patrol Leader and any Chaparons who will accompany the troop. Do not forget to plan many organized camping trips between now an then, reinforcing to the scouts what they are teaching each other in scout meetings. Remember the scout motto, "BE PREPARED". Prepardness is not just about acquiring items it also includes the Body, Mind and Spirit.

As far as a "fabric stretcher to transport a hiker". An old trick we were taught if we were in a "wooded area"
1) cut 2 sturdy saplings and remove all of the branches.
2) have scout #1 hold one pole in each hand
3) have scout #2 stand between the poles and in front
of scout #1
4) scout #2 will the grab hold of the hem of scout #1's shirt
pulling it onto the poles.
5) scout #2 the goes to opposite end of the poles and holds
one pole in each hand.
6) scout #1 will the grab hold of the hem of scout #2's shirt
pulling it onto the poles.
You now have one improvised stretcher. As a further note any number of shirts can be place onto the pole in this fashion depending on the strength of material you need. The key word here is "IMPROVISE". Perhaps hiking staves or poles could be used, several can be "LASHED" together to make the whole thing stronger.

As far as "extra water" are you hiking in an area that contains sources of water (lakes, streams, rivers, etc...)?
You need to have a way to purify or filter the water to make it safe for drinking. YOU DEFINATELY DO NOT WANT TO DRINK UNTREATED WATER ON THIS TRIP YOU ARE PLANNING. The "little beasties" that WILL HATCH, GROW, REPRODUCE and THRIVE in your stomach and intenstines will not be fun.

As far as "some key piece of gear has been lost". All scouts should be given a list of things that each one on them must carry (THE TEN ESSENTIALS). If you are taking let's say three "backpacking" style stoves, then three partol leaders or chaparons or "whoever" will carry a maintenance kit for their patrol's stove. Pick one person from each patrol to carry the bottle or two of "extra fuel" for their patrol's stove. And so on and so forth. Remember, this is a "team effort".

As far as "food taken by a bear". Is it possible to have a preset cache in the park you will be attending. If not, could a responsible adult be notified to meet you at a predestined location and time for re-supply? Or would there be a possibility of resupply from a Ranger's station (basically ship supplies to the Ranger's station)? You would need to discuss that with the Ranger's Station in question "FIRST". Also, talk with the Ranger's from the National Park in question, they are an invaluable source of information of what you might need in particular for that National Park.

Another idea for you, is to communicate with another troop in your council and hit their leaders up for and advice and thoughts that they might have concerning your trip.

Also, activities (or playtime)in the evening really help keep scouts occupied. The troop that I belonged to all of us would take frisbees in our pack along with the standard mess kit of the time. Frisbees... you can eat out of them, shave out of them, dig with them, and anything else that you can think of, and not to forget a good old fashioned game of "frisbee football"

I hope I haven't rambled on too much... Good Luck with your trip...