My son and I are going camping with our Cub Scout Pack this weekend. We’re repacking our survival kits tonight so I thought I post his list of gear to get your feeedback.

Background: He’s 9, in his second year of the Scouts Canada Cub Scout program. We’ll be in a cabin on Friday night and in tents on Saturday night. He’s bringing a separate pack with jammies, extra socks and hat, sleeping bag, wool blanket, thermarest, closed cell sleeping pad, etc. Our group provides all tents, meals, mess kits, etc.

In addition to this pack, he’ll also be wearing a lanyard with Fox 40 whistle and fauxton whenever he is not in the cabin. We teach the kids “Hug-a-Tree” and this kit is designed to be aligned with that strategy should he get separated from the group. We’ll be working on basic camping and hiking skills this weekend, including helping our new Cub Scouts to build their own survival kits.

PSK Backpack:
-Pack with bear bell attached
-Water (full SS water bottle, koolaid jammer)
-Signaling (whistle and fauxton on lanyard, AMK mirror)
-FAK (a.k.a. “Boo Boo Kit” - bandaids, polysporin, gauze pads, maxi pad, ziplock bag)
-Extra Clothes (in dry bag - incl. Blaze orange fleece hat, bandana, fleece pullover, rain pants, hotpaws socks, extra gloves, poncho)
-Shelter (AMK bivvy, sportsman's thermal blanket with paracord tie-outs, paracord, contractor's bag, hand warmers)
-Light (LED glow stick, chem light, crank flashlight, LED headlamp)
-Snacks (tuna & crackers snack pack, cliff bar)
-Navigation (compass, map of the Scout Reserve we are camping at this weekend)
-Comfort Items (sunglasses, small teddy bear, small deck of playing cards)

Stuff he can’t carry when he’s with his Pack (no permits/chips until he's a Scout) that I’m bringing for him to use under direct supervision this weekend:

-small folding knife
-Gerber Suspension multi-tool
-fire kit (Gerber BG fire steel with PJ cotton balls, bic, strike anywhere matches, birthday candle, lip balm and tampons)

*He also carries a little cook kit when we go out together but it’s not needed on this trip so is staying home

BTW - It looks like we're in for partly overcast skies, with highs around 8C and lows about -2C.