Cub Scouts is pretty much community-based, so they don't really go too far from their area until the last few years - and until Boy Scouts. Given that, help is simply not that far away - usually.

I first got into equipped.org when I was a new Cub Scout leader and my worse case scenario was a lost (missing) boy. I knew I could deal with first aid issues, but the horror of realizing that a boy was missing haunted me.

While visiting a local county event I came across a search and rescue team, chatted with them, and came away determined to teach "my boys" how to prepare for - and react to - finding themselves lost.

Given that, besides the excellent advice already provided in this thread, I would suggest you find the "Survival For Kids" link on the left side of Equipped.com, read it carefully, and help you boys (and their siblings?) gear up and prepare. I found orientaltrading.com an excellent source of cheap little fanny packs and whistles. Go to you local highway department and ask for orange plastic trash bags. If you tell them its for Cub Scouts they'll by more than happy to help.

I also had my boys create SIMPLE little first aid kits with wet wipes, band-aids.

Now that my son - and Eagle Scout - has aged out of Boy Scouts and is in college, and I think back to those days...

The best advice I ever got was to avoid letting my excitement about exposing the boys to outdoor skills try to do too much too soon. The Boy Scout program is VERY carefully designed to expose boys to age-appropriate skills. Eventually they will be amazingly independent and able to prepare, buy, pack, and carry out adventures with limited input from adults. It doesn't have to all come in the first few years of Cub Scouts.

Oh, my other bit of advice is to try to get the other Cub Scout parents involved too. Not as helicopter parents, but to bring their own experiences and talent to the boys. I had an amazing group of parents that came with even more amazing boys. Great times!