That article was actually pretty good, in light of some of the superficial things that come out of Boys Life. Both my boys read it and it opened up some good conversation.
Thanks to reading on this board, and help of so many posters, I made PSK’s as one of our Webelos den projects. These were complete with true parachord, rite-in-the-rain paper, pealess whistles, space blankets, micro lights, and other items. I’m proud to say that 5 of the 6 boys still had theirs 8mos later when we had a winter “Klondike” event. One of the boys pulled theirs out of the underseat drawer of their parents mini-van. Both of my sons have one in their school backpack (obviously doesn’t include a knife).
On a road trip, I found some fishing bait zip lock bags at Bass Pro Shop in Nashville. These are pretty sturdy, clear, about the right size.
Thanks again to all those who provide valuable help.
Travis

Its cool enough to have a dramatic affect on your son's life, but being a Cub Scout Den Leader you get to increase that by six or more times ... at least for a little while.

Those were six lucky boys.

"At least one adult leader has said that the gear isn't that important while camping in the midwest since there really isn't much that can happen to them."

Most Scouts probably point to UT as being the most dangerous place for a Scout.... <img src="/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />

But you can die anywhere, even in the Midwest.

Sue

What do you suggest the Boy/Cub Scouts carry their small kits in? Pockets, fanny packs, small back packs?? It seems the challenge is to get them to carry it All the time so they are truly prepared at any given point in time.


ONE DAY CLOSER

Er, um - I'm not a PSK-in-a-tin fanatic. More of an EDC + augmented Outdoor Essentials fanatic...

A typical scout past the joining requirements will have on their person a pocket knife, a Photon II type light, a BIC or matches, a BSA Hot Spark, and possibly a small mint tin with PJ cotton balls (and some fatwood). That's "EDC" kind of stuff... all the rest - and some of these items, depending on the circumstances, are in a small pack (book bag sized, although many of them have aquired hydration packs). The topic of separation from pack is one that I bring up regularly in appropriate thought-provoking environments, and that's part of why most of them have items stowed in various pockets.

These fellows are not perfect, but they're pretty darned good at it. It has almost gotten to the self-sustaining point with the boys. I keep it fun - serious, but fun. YMMV.

Tom

Tom,

Got some more lost Scouts here in Arizona. The weather report was rain Saturday and Sunday and high in the low 40s. Too much gung-ho and too little discretion. The TV said some had frostbite and at least one was in shorts. Our troop was planning to go to Seven Springs last weekend but decided it was a bad idea. It was pouring rain when they met Saturday morning. It snowed where our boys (my son) planned to camp.


Lost Boy Scouts in the news.

Any thoughts on how a PSK would have helped these boys and what items would have helped with what?

Thanks!

As you pointed out, what they needed most was to stay home. Sounds like they really could have used a topo map and compass as well. Once lost and hunkered down, they needed fire (PSK) for staying warm, drying out clothes, being more visible to rescuers. Using some aluminum foil (PSK) to melt snow over the fire, they would have abundant water, a luxury in the desert. A whistle (PSK) might have made the searcher's job easier.

How could a PSK have helped the Scouts from Mesa?

They were backpacking. A backpack full of equipment is better than any PSK. Their main problem was that they were wet and had no dry clothes left. They also indicated they were low on supplies. They planned to hike in Friday, spend the night, and hike back out Saturday. They got snowed in and stayed put. There is no water and little vegetation in the Superstition Mountains. We have just had our longest period of no rain in Arizona history. Any wood was now wet. They were huddled in three tents and had sleeping bags.

Fire:
PJ Cotton balls and fatwood sticks could help start wet wood into a fire. The “leave no trace” rules would have made them very reluctant to burn any plants.


Water:
If they had dark trash bags they could have put some snow in a bag and the sun might melt some into water.

Navigation:
None. Stay put. A GPS, map and compass would be good.

Shelter:
They had tents.

Signaling:
Not a lot of sun for a signal mirror. (plastic mirrors has a very weak reflection) Whistles might help. There are almost always hikers in the Superstitions. 2-way radios and cell phones?

First-Aid:
They had to treat for hypothermia. Water bottles with hot water might help. They were out of dry clothes.

I think the main focus of the adult leaders should have been to keep the boys in the tents so they would stay dry. The adults should have known the weather report. By Sunday afternoon the sky would be clear. All they had to do was wait out the Saturday rain.

No knock, but I suspect it was an LDS Troop. They have to be back home by Saturday night. They are not allowed to camp on Sunday. I’m sure they were anxious to get back home by Saturday night.

Craig,

Thanks for the story link - we'll talk about this tomorrow night at closing; there are several lessons. We'll see how our scouts do as arm chair QBs on this one. What became of the other adult?

PSK? Since they had packs, tents, and sleeping gear, (and presumably the rest of the essentials) the PSK itself is not all that helpful. No speculation from me on that - as I wrote earlier, I'm not a PSK-in-a-tin zealot. I wasn't there and not enough detail in the story to be sure, but it sounds like they had bad weather by Saturday morning and tried to hike out. That seems to have been a mistake. Staying put at the designated campsite probably would have been better - my guess is they got soaked and tired trying to hike out. That's OK if you make it safely back to your vehicle... and BTW, I would not take a single vehicle on a Scout outing like that.

Once you're wet and your (wet) tent is pinned in by deep wet snow, you really need to know a lot more than BSA 1st class scout skills to properly take care of business. BTDT; no big deal for folks like us, but for the average scout leader... most are there for many good reasons, but usually not because he/she is a skilled and experienced outdoors person.

Regards,

Tom

Here, Here, "Loud applause"