Many wilderness camping / hiking texts and forums address the concept of the "10 Essentials". This forum certainly deals with survival and emergency preparedness gear and training in great depth, and I've picked up a lot of great tips and strategies that I've tried to pass along to the Boy Scouts in our troop.

Many of the discussions deal with "personal" gear that you should have available, whether it's your EDC, PSK, BOB, FAK etc. [color:"blue"] The question I have is: What "extra" gear do you recommend carrying if you are the leader of an outdoor excursion? [/color] I find myself bringing a bunch of extra's, beyond my normal individual equipment, to deal with the "What if _____ happens" situations with someone in my group?

Obviously, the type of trip, camping, hiking, canoeing, climbing, etc, will determine some specific equipment needs. I'm just trying to build some basic checklists and guidelines to supplement the information that comes in the "Guide To Safe Scouting" book, and the "Scoutmaster Handbook" that I can share with the other adult leaders in the troop. I was hoping that some of the experienced outdoor leaders reading this forum might provide their thoughts.

Thanks for the help - Ron

Ron,

First - welcome to ETS! And as far as Scouts goes, there are quite a few active Scouters and several Scouts here, so many of us know the jargon...

<sigh> To your question: That all started for me about a month after I got married, when I took my bride on what she describes as her first REAL camping trip - Alaska, January, skis, packs, etc. It was about 10 years after that that we got soft and bought a tent... anyway, I fretted then about what "extra" stuff to carry and I guess it hit its apogee when the kids were 11 - 16 on a winter trip thru the Boundary Waters.

But as for Scouts - knowledge + some extra stuff, gained about at the same time, but DON'T ever let them depend on you and what you may be carrying!

What I do - and I am ruthless about this in a fairly benign way - is make each and every scout responsible. They ALL carry a ready pack or equivalent at all times - meetings, camping, day trips, community events, you name it. They only forget once <grin>. And we check contents regularly and practice with most of the gear. You cut yourself around one of my scouts, and the FIRST thing they're gonna ask you is - "Give me a bandaid out of YOUR FAK so I can patch you up... because MINE is for YOU to use ON ME if I hurt myself - unless you don't have a FAK..." They start fires with BSA HotSparks and tinder they prepared themselves (I'm not even sure they remember how to use matches anymore... yeah, but it's a matter of pride with them to use a spark instead). They always have raingear. Water. Red and white lights (we like our night vision) ETC. Are they perfect? Heck, no! And I'm careful to not be critical if one shows up with something that is just a piece of gee-gaw junk - I just make them use it and nature takes its course... some of the lads are pretty disadvantaged (THANKS AGAIN, PARAMEDIC_PETE!) and I or another adult will sometimes slip a little better bit of gear to one of them when it's appropriate.

I've got a bunch of city boys, most (not all) of whom would never get out past 30 feet from an automobile if it weren't for Scouting, and I truly believe that any of them that have been with us for more than a month can take care of business if they ever get in a bind. Not pretty, not professional, but they can make it. They're good boys.

Let me give you an example - very trivial - of how this feeds back in a positive way. Several of us were at an OA Section Conclave recently. Somewhere on the other side of the reservation, a scout in another unit tore the heck out of his pants - in an embarrassing location. Cltuching the shreds together, he slinked around thru the woods until he found our unit and asked for help. I was amused. "Sam, why did you come all the way over here to find us?" "Because I know your troop carries all the stuff we're supposed to carry..." Of course, he was right, and he was loaned a needle and thread ( a LOT of thread, LoL). And... I have run across that scout 3 times since then and guess what - he's become something of an "apostle" in his troop now and carries what he fancies our scouts carry.

So what do I carry extra now? Not much. I have an extended FAK - not complete; work-in-progress. I carry knife sharpening items that I am comfortable loaning to a scout with a dull knife. Much of the other items I carry above-and-beyond are what I carry anyway. Things like a poncho liner; a military poncho (soon to be replaced by a Tyvek tarp + ground sheet); a couple of HD large garbage bags (JUST IN CASE someone forgets or tears up raingear). A better repair kit than most scouts carry. Umm - I guess I'd have to really paw through my stuff. One of the things to watch out for: Scouts start paying really close attention to whatever "extra" items you may carry, exactly what style or brand of thingamagig, and then decide that they are gonna die if they don't exactly emulate your gear. (only a little hyperbole...) Discourage that as nicely as you can. They can get into a stupid "arms race", expecially those with indulgent parents. I'm almost sorry that I switched to a CamelBak for my daypack...

Hmmm. I think I'll demure for now on more specifics. This is more of a philosophy thing for me - I want our scouts to take care of themselves as much as possible. They get it - there has been more than one duct tape "bandaid" applied to a minor cut because the scout did not want to draw attention to the fact that he FORGOT to replenish his bandaids... and similar expedients. I always compliment the scout for taking care of his problem and then go chew out his Patrol Leader privately for not checking - it works fairly well.

I'll lurk for a few days while you gather some more info from the other folks here.

Regards,

Tom

I have only one example, from the time a scout-leader friend and I took a group of boys for a weekend camping trip. In spite of our pre-trip checklist, many of the boys were unprepared for sleet turning to very cold weather. My buddy and I are gear-heads, so of course we had extra everything. But what saved the day was a roll of super-heavy plastic trash compactor bags. Imagine a group of boys sitting out in the woods with parkas, overboots, "kilts" etc. made out of heavy plastic bags. White bags, at that. Scary! But warm.

Back when I was in the BSA, the Scout Leaders (us boys) checked each other and the adults spot checked before we left to insure that everyone had the right gear.

JEEZ LOUEEZE!

I feel deprived! Where were you guys when *I* was a scout??? We never did anything fun, never went camping, etc. All we did was sell, sell, sell! Never did find out where the money went...

You guys are great for what you're doing. <img src="/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" /> Maybe "your" kids won't be these idiots that go somewhere totally unprepared (mentally AND equipmentally, if there is such a word). We'll probably never hear about them in the newspaper because smart rarely makes it there.

Sue

Here, in the United Kingdom we have the Army Cadet Force. This group basically consists of a government funded organisation give juniors, between 13-18 years of age, insight into the armed forces. I was there from the age of 14 until I was 17 (had to emigrate). Never looked back and would like to become instructor one day....

Reinhardt

We often camped on the beach and had wild greens with rice for dinner along with fresh mussell meat on a stick wrapped with a piece of bacon. One end of the stick in the sand and the other over the fire, no hot dogs roasts for us.

Regarding the cold, wet conditions...using trash bags, etc..

That's the kind of experience that I had as a young Scout, way too many years ago, and it's why I think about this stuff now as my son is going through Boy Scouts and I'm the scout leader. Back around 1970something, we were doing a hike along the AT in New Hampshire, and were up in the Presidential Range, near Mt Washington. We were somewhat prepared for cooler conditions, but, us newbies never expected to start our day hike in shorts and t-shirts, and need arctic gear later that afternoon near the top of Washington. (Mt Washington at a little over 6200ft, is known for nasty winds and weather.)

Of course, our leaders, and some of the senior Scouts TOLD us what to bring, and suggested more gear. They even checked our packs, and there were a couple guys who had to get extra gear that were way below "minimum". Being young and somewhat thick, we didn't want to lug more than we "needed", or so we thought. <img src="/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />

Well, things got rainy, windy, and cold. We put on everything we had, and wished we had more.

In retrospect, I realize that my old Scoutmaster made sure we all had enough to keep us safe, but, not necessarily comfortable. Those who had proper gear, and enough of it, were comfortable. All of us new guys got back down the mountain ok, but, we were NOT comfortable. I don't think I've ever gone on any serious outdoor adventures since that time that I wasn't prepared for conditions to degrade significantly.

What I didn't know, until I saw him pulling some things to eat out of his pack when we were back at the car, was that our leader had a tightly packed stuff sack with a sleeping bag in it, presumably to deal with someone in the group if they were getting hypothermic. I'm sure he had a few other goodies in there that would deal with other issues.

That's the type of thing I always struggle with, how much extra I bring as one of the leaders on the trip? As some have mentioned, a well stocked FAK is pretty important. The boys all have to bring their own, but, they tend to be cut/scrape type kits. Most of them won't carry a SAM Splint, (although they should be good at improvising splints), they don't all carry Sawyer Extractors, but one of the adults, (me) always does. Repair gear, an extra poncho, some "comfort" foods, the list goes on, which is what prompted me to write the original post.

I agree with the idea that we're trying to teach the boys to be self sufficient. My old Scoutmaster was smart enough to let us feel the pain of being less than prepared, but, also being ready if things got dangerous.

Thanks again for your thoughts and ideas, keep 'em coming. I have been a reader of the forum for a long time, and appreciate the opportunity to participate.

Regards - Ron

Ron,

Hi!

I second Tom Ayers' approach. Do not go into outings fully prepared and equipped to bail out the boys from every misadventure of their own ill preparation. Naturally the boys need to be thoroughly briefed in advance on what gear they need to bring and how they need to prepare. And, they do need to be protected from their own misadventures when the consequences are serious. But the minor errors and omissions are opportunities for them to learn. First aid tends to be an exception to my policy of benign neglect. The newer boys are also likely to be indulged on their early mistakes.

This somewhat hard approach is something I have gradually developed. As a new assistant scoutmaster, I was constantly lending gear to the boys. And the boys were characteristically equipped inadequately. I eventually hardened to force the boys to prepare for and handle the minor and foreseeable problems on their own. I try to minimize the gear that I take which is different from what the boys are supposed to be carrying. I also avoid things which are inappropriate for the boys to use on such outings since I want them working on their basics, not attaching excessive importance to equipment.

Our own troop has tended to be more solicitous of the boys' comfort than I have wanted. A lot of basic planning, preparation, equipping, and skills have been given short shrift. I have been the scoutmaster for only a few months, so we'll see how effectively I can implement my ideas.

Good luck

John

>>What I didn't know, until I saw him pulling some things to eat out of his pack when we were back at the car, was that our leader had a tightly packed stuff sack with a sleeping bag in it,...<<

Then there was the trip when I was in such a hurry to get of the train from work and over to the departure point that I forgot MY sleeping bag at home. <img src="/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />

Fortunately we have a couple of extra in the trailer for such greenhorns! <img src="/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />

BTW, one danger of playing hardball with youth is that they'll often disappear from the troop after a "hard" weekend. There's a fine line between toughing them up and ultimately discouraging them from the outdoors forever.