Normally I would expect (demand) that they dress appropriately and carry water. A knife and fire starting materials may be carried after earning their Totin' Chip and Firem'n Chit. We do not allow youth to carry lighters at any time. The patrol boxes have them for lighting stoves and lanterns. There have been too many cases of disposable lighters exploding from a sharp impact. A former scoutmaster had seen pictures of a youth that fell with one in his shirt pocket. It has been a troop policy ever since. Other fire making materials are fine (with the appropriate Chit). A whistle is excellent. We camped in Canada one summer at a camp that wrapped around a lake. You had to canoe everywhere. Every one in camp was required to have a whistle on there person, all the time. For several years after that, most of the youth who had been on that trip carried their whistles on other events. Unfortunately, that has somewhat died out. The council owned camps do not allow fixed blade knives, so we encourage youth to use folding knives with a locking blade.