I was going to post a long post about how to make scouting work, but nevermind

I will keep in short - there is an easy way to make sure the kids carry the stuff they are supposed to carry. It's called inspection

Done right, (and if you seperate "rank" from "leadership") soon, your patrol leaders and leadership corps will make it so that the parents don't have to do it

USE the old paramiltary stucture that the scouts used to have (don't know if they still do) to your advantage. Your "cadre" should be able to train the younger kids