So, I was a chaperone for the school trip to the Pocono Environmental Education Center (PEEC). 160 6th graders, about 50 adults, heated bungalow cabins and dorms, so it wasn't really camping, but it was a good trip for thinking about cold, wet and rainy conditions, because it was cold, wet and rainy and we were outside most of the time.

Lesson 1: If you don't keep your waterproof leather boots treated with waterproofing, they won't be waterproof when you're standing in a puddle for 90 minutes during the orienteering lessons.

Lesson 2: Children are incredibly stupid and won't remember to bring their own rain gear even after you tell them to bring rain gear 100 times. Carry a few spare ponchos.

Lesson 3: Adults are incredibly stupid and won't remember to bring their own rain gear even after you tell them to bring rain gear 100 times. Carry a few spare ponchos.

Lesson 4: Hypothermia sets in fast. My co-chaperone for the group was the chief of the EMS squad near me for many years, a paramedic. Due to lesson 2 and lesson 3, I was able to see by his pointing out to me the early onset of hypothermia in children and adults and was able to act immediately.

Lesson 5: Those hand-warmer packs? You need 4 times more than you think you need.

All in all, a fun trip.

Gosh, you're a lot braver than me.

lesson 5... is there a particular brand of the air activated iron compound hand warmers that is better than others?... I bought some for a 3gun match in Ga this last weekend and while they were within expiration date, did not produce much heat

I don't bother with hand or foot warmers. I haven't found any brand that works well enough, even within the expiration date.

Regarding waterproof leather boots, if you have to spray waterproofing on them, then you have boots that were never waterproof. I have found certain models of Timberland to keep my feet completely dry in the wettest of conditions.

The boots were definitely waterproof once, they are just old and cracking a bit, so I slather this wet proof stuff on them, it's sort of like a wax... But it is time for new boots...these lasted a good many years.

As far as hand warmers, I never had any problems with one I bought, they heat up and stay warm for me no problem.

One last thing I forgot in original post was that the vast majority of the kids and parents were totally and correctly prepared and the bad weather didn't deter them from 9 hours + of outdoor fun. Just a few shivering folks...the rest were all set for the day.

Goretex socks are very useful for standing around in puddles of water as all boots that are breathable (leather) will eventually wet out. Grangers produce some good boot care products, such as Grangers G-wax. Some good advice on how to look after your boots available here;

http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid1315817391?bctid=68850608001

My Berghaus Alto Trek boots are still usable even after 10 years use. A few years ago the soles started to separate from the upper leathers, but after injecting some DOW CORNING® 3145 RTV MIL-A-46146 into the crack with a syringe, that fixed the problem.



Rather than hand out Ponchos, would it not have been more appropriate to let the children and the adults go off without their rain gear or disallow them from participating. Perhaps a more important lesson would be that there will be times when there isn't a helping hand to bail them out to keep them warm and dry.

Nah, the dads and moms gave every ill-equipped person enough of an embarrassing dressing down that it won't happen again

Kudos to you, Martin

I agree, getting cold and getting scolded is a lesson that will stick much more than simply being told "you can't attend".

Nobody dies from getting a bit cold and a bit of shivering, but they sure would not want to get that cold again. And to top it off with some well deserved, earnest scolding from your fellows... Yup, those lessons sticks.

An old army trick is to have people hold up their two most important pieces of gear as they march by. Just be sure that scanning what people hold up you stay alert enough to spot wiseacres. Instead of holding up the poncho and entrenching tool a buddy help up a large pouch of chewing tobacco and a flask of spirits. Sarge was so glazed over he missed it.

Buddy checking also works. Broken into small groups one checks the others. The threat is that if anyone in the group doesn't have the item the leader has to give up his/hers. Gets interesting if you are talking about parachutes.

Gear-inspection laid out in front of each person is an option.

All that said there will always be people who don't cover their bases. In any large group there will always be failures. Leaders are prone to failures as they get make sure everyone else is prepared and overlook their own situation. A good second in command makes it his business to check number one's gear and will be sensitive to the areas they tend to overlook. Training and due diligence can reduce the rate of failure but it will never eliminate it entirely. Part of the human condition.

Given an average set of people and reasonable levels of diligence a failure rate of two percent is a common working estimate. With close to 200 people with limited experience I'd figure at least four to eight people with issues. Half of those will be on the order of being brain-dead incomprehensible.

Some days, this reads closer to the truth:



j/k...mostly

160 6th graders...

I would run, screaming, from the scene and keep running until I hit a rock wall or the ocean, then re-evaluate and decide if I need to keep going.

Sue, shuddering

Thanks for the tips Art. We're going to build them into our routine! (Especially after having to give our troop leader my first ever prarie flower because i left a water bottle behind on our last camp - too busy keeping track of everybody else!)

Sounds like a perfectly executed F.B.L.P. to me.

Bringing extra ponchos could be viewed as coddling or setting yourself to take care of everyone every time BUT I'm an optomist. Some people will never learn and will always depend on others to take care of them, but there's always someone in the group who just needs a little life lesson to get it. Good for you so anticipating the "teachable moment" for your group, Martin!

Could you have a pre-event meeting where you get to see and check that everyone has the correct gear?

From experience This rarely works no matter how many times you make lists and check what people have THO the good part is if you do so you wont have to worry about bringing spare stuff just your sack of Itoldyaso's

We make our Scouts and Cub Scouts bring their packed gear to the troop or pack meeting the week before the trip. Everything gets pulled out, checked over and repacked, Then we throw the packs into the troop trailer. They then have one more week, and one more meeting, to be sure they have everything. Then they have to root through the trailer and repack everything wich is a TOTAL pain. Nobody's forgotten anything yet, at least on the way TO camp. Coming home with everything is a different story.

The challenge we have is with the younger kids. They have to camp with a parent or guardian, so we leave it up the adults to pack on their own, with a checklist from us. Somebody always forgets something or second guesses our list. "Why on earth would we need 6 pairs of socks two nights out?" It usually only takes one trip for the inexperienced parents to make sure eveything on the list is checked off.

Nevertheless, we leaders always bring extra for just in case. It'a vitally important that the kids have fun and it's not their fault if mom and dad don't pack properly.

I'm a scoutmaster... and I'd have trouble with sequestering my gear for a week... My camping rain gear is my daily wear rain gear (and I have worn the rain pants to the office). Other parts of my camping kit get used frequently, especially clothing for winter camping.

Not really. I mean, they sent emails, letters and more before the event. All attending adults had to go to a pre-trip planning meeting two weeks before the trip. Short of packing FOR the kids and adults, I don't know what more could have been done.

And, please, again, the VAST VAST majority of the kids and adults were exceedingly well prepared.

Your title alone almost says it all....lol.