I'll clarify the knife use subject... in our Troop we only allow folders up to 3" blades and sheath knives up to 4" blades. For those not familiar with Scouting, before a Scout can carry a knife, he has to earn a Totin' Chip, which is instruction designed to teach a new Scout the proper and safe use/maintenance of knives and hatchets. Only when they can demonstrate mastery of the fundamentals are they awarded a Totin' Chip, which is card that basically says they've completed the training and are authorized to carry a knife when and where appropriate. Ironically, hatchet use isn't discouraged. Hmmm... In my Troop, any violations of safety, such as horseplay, "Stretch", throwing knives into trees, etc, are handled with an on the spot correction and one corner of their Totin' Chip card gets cut off. All four corners get cut, they lose their Chip and knife privilege, and have to go through the class all over again, at the Scoutmaster's convenience (so it could take a while). If they lose their card two times, they lose the privilege, period. That really ticks off parents who think their Scouts are special and deserve special treatment, not like those, and I quote: "others".
Our base camp is where all external supplies will be based: surplus water (just in case), advanced 1st aid supplies, extra 52g trashbags, and other survival items. We'll let the Scouts on the exercise suffer enough to get the point, but not enough to endanger anyone. Safety is stressed and is paramount. We will be balancing that with not wanting our Scouts to feel that they have an "out" and don't need to bring their basic PSKs.
My course is titled "Survival 101." I want my Scouts to know the time-tested fundamentals, and I'm not going to address wilderness living skills. Basics work, that's why they became the basics.