Been looking at ways to reduce weight and tweek gear to make it easier to set up and take down. One of my favorite sites is www.hammockforums.net. Hammock campers are by nature seeking lighter alternatives to common camping gear and tasks. They are not what one would call “Ultra light”, but by and large have some great light weight solutions to everyday camping issues.
I found a neat way to run guy lines and set up the tarp on the site and took some time to set mine tarp up using a new method. Here is a quick video showing the new set up.
Enjoy.
If you have questions or comments, please leave them here or shoot me an email.
Have a Great Scouting Day!
Category Archives: camping. planning
Thoughts on gear
As you are fully aware by now, I like gear. I have had many discussions with parents of the Scouts in my Troop that my obsession with gear is rubbing off on their sons. Half jokingly I often reply that it’s a good thing. I say “Half jokingly” because I think that gear is an important part of the camping experience… Well no duh right?
A long time ago in a Scouting world far far away I had a Scoutmaster that would talk about having the right gear for the type of camping that we were doing. He would wax on about taking care of that gear so that when needed it would be there for you. “If you take care of your gear, it will take care of you” he would say. And I believe that.
Later in life as I started to get back into camping and backpacking, I began to toy with different types of gear. Cook kits, stoves, backpacks, sleep systems, tents, hammocks, gizmo’s and gadgets that make camp life fun and easy.
It seems that the more you play with gear, the more you find your likes and dislikes, what works for you and what doesn’t. In the backpacking community there is a saying online when offering advice, gear reviews, and opinions. YMMV. That’s.. Your mileage May Vary. Meaning, to each his own and what works for me, may not work for you or you may get different results.
So back to our Scouts. Now, I don’t want to break their bank, but I do want them to start learning what they like and what works for them. I understand that I do have an influence on these young men and that when I come out with a new piece of gear or start playing with a new camp gadget, they tend to watch and learn. I do want these guys to develop a habit of exploring what works for them. I want them to try new things and not just gear that someone says is a must have a piece of equipment. Developing that habit now will keep them interested in being outdoors and hiking. It is a way that will test them and keep their minds thinking about different ways to accomplish different tasks. I assume that my old Scoutmasters wanted me and my Troop mates to develop an appreciation for the outdoors and that is what I wish for my Scouts. Gear is a big part of that.
When your gear fits, works, and is fun to use, you have a tendency to want to go out and use it. A backpack that is ill-fitting and squeaks a lot is not something you want to take on the trail. A comfortable pack will keep you on the trail longer. If you are cold at night because you got a cheap Walmart sleeping bag rated for slumber parties, you won’t want to be in after your first miserable night. Spending a little more up front though and getting a good sleeping bag makes for toasty comfortable nights of good sleep and you want to be out in it more.
It seems that I have turned a lot of our Scouts in to gear junkies. And that may or may not be a good thing for their parents, but it’s a great thing in my opinion for the Scout (YMMV).
With the fast approaching Holidays coming up, I am encouraging our Scouts to get their list together. Ask for a new pot set or stove. Maybe that single person tent you have been eye balling or better yet, join the hammock way of a great nights sleep. How about some new gaiters or winter boots? New rain gear is aways in vogue here in Oregon. Maybe it’s just a new spork that tops your Christmas list, either way this is the perfect time to add to your backpacking gear loft.
Thanksgiving a time to be with family and give thanks for all we have. It’s also a great opportunity to corner Grandma and Grandpa and slip them a copy of your gear needs. Or you can slip it into the Dinner conversation. “Grandpa, can you pass the gravy? You know, there is this pot set that I have been looking at that would be awesome for making biscuits and gravy while on our next camp out.” You know, be subtile, but get your wish list in where ever you can.
The other side of the gear collection is what you can share. As I collect new gear I have two bins. One for the stuff that I really love and can’t part with and the other for the stuff that I have tried, didn’t really fall in love with, but there’s nothing wrong with it, just not my cup o’ tea. That stuff usually ends up going home with one of the Scouts. This last camp out and set of rain gear that my boys out grew a set of gaiters, and some odds and ends made their way into the packs of a few of our Scouts. I don’t mind sharing (giving away) gear that I’m not using. If it helps with meeting their gear fix needs than I really find it nice to be an enabler.
So parents, understand that yes, I am trying to turn your son into a backpacking gear junky. And yes, I am trying to develop in them the habit of discovery. And yes, they are doing a great job in joining the cult of Backpacking gear guys. You don’t have to worry about them wearing uniforms.. errr wait.. scratch that.. You won’t have to worry about them hanging out in gangs.. ahhh.. scratch that too… Ok.. yeah, they will be with their partol and they will be in uniform, but you will never have to worry about them wearing foil hats and chanting to the golden pogo stick. They will be out in the woods having the time of their lives, comfortable, cooking great meals, singing songs, and exploring a world of adventure. And all that great gear is going to help them in their journey!
Thanks for being patient and understanding.
Now I have to go play with my stove and put new guy lines on my tarp.. you know we have a camp out in January I need to prepare for.
Oh and my list of gear that I need…
A new wind screen for my cook kit. An underquilt for my hammock. Griz beak doors for the Tarp. Oh, I can go on and on.. after all, if it’s gear, I want it.
Whats on your gear list for this Christmas. Leave a comment and share you gear needs and wants.
Have a Great Scouting Day!
My Cook Kit
I was recently asked what I use when backpacking, or camping in general, for my cook kit. So here it is. It’s real simple and it works extremely well. I am very happy with this set up having used many different cook kits, pots, pans, stoves etc. This set up is by far my favorite and most used. And yes, this cook kit set up is used all year long, even in the snow.
If you have questions and/or comments, please drop me an email or leave a comment here on the blog.
Have a Great Scouting Day!
Be Prepared
“Be prepared for what?” I always ask our Scouts.. “Anything” is the answer and they are correct.
This last weekend, the Scouts of my Troop went camping out at one of our favorite Scout properties, Royce Finel on the Oregon Coast. Heading out to the coast in November is as the young guys say “Sketchy”. You never know what kind of weather to expect, but for the most part you can expect to get wet.
The plan for weekend was to work some camp skills and have a cook off for the dinner meal. The weeks leading up to the camp out I kept hearing the SPL announce to Be Prepared to be cold and wet. The week leading into the camp out a couple of the older scouts brought in their packs to show how to pack for wet weather and gave some tips on staying dry.
Well, the proof is in the pudding as they say and Friday night arrived and it was time to go. It started raining while we gathered in the parking lot at the church and got the packs loaded into my truck. When we got to the trail head the rain had let up a little and we started our hike in to camp. The heavy coastal rains from the last couple days made the trail interesting, especially when we got to a couple of areas where crossing swampy land was made difficult due to high water and some of the foot bridges being washed out. But we arrived in camp and got things set up.
The first thing that I noted was that instead of jumping right into setting up tents, they had carried tarps in and set them up and got all the packs under the cover. Then the older guys helped the newer Scouts get their tents set up and their gear put away. The next morning after a night of heavy rain, everyone was dry and ready to have a great day. The Troop cooked breakfast and got things cleaned up and we decided that since it was raining, and it looked like it would rain all day, that we would hike back out to the cars and head to Ft. Stevens and tour the museum there.
After a couple of hours at Ft. Stevens we loaded up and headed back to camp. The hike in this time was drier as it stopped raining. Lunch was prepared and the Scouts started working on skills, namely getting a fire going. There was nothing dry in the camp, but they managed to find some undergrowth beneath a fallen tree that would prove to be just the thing to get a fire going. They gathered anything, wet or dry, lying around that would burn and they were successful in getting a fire going. I checked on the guys sometime after the fire was roaring, the scouts were dry and having a great time.
The cook off went well, and everyone was thankful that the rain held out. Around 6 PM it was dark and we all stood around the fire singing songs and telling jokes. At 7:30 it started to rain, then came the thunder and lightning. The guys decided it was time to head to their tents and we all went down for the night after the fire was put out.
Sunday morning we had a little drizzle, but the Scouts got packed up, ate breakfast, and we hiked back to the parking lot. At the end of the parking lot is a dock going out into the lake, it was decided that the dock would be a good place for our Scouts own service. At the conclusion of the service, the SPL went around the circle and had each Scout tell us what they learned over the weekend. Some talked about how they learned to make fire in the rain, some talked about their gear, some talked about what they need to do better next time. As I listened to them talk I heard one theme come out, and that was being prepared.
Knowledge, skills, learning from mistakes, the right gear used correctly. All of these things lead to being prepared. Prepared for anything.
As we arrived back in town for pick up, one of the parents made a comment about how clean everyone was. Yeah, we had muddy boots, but uniform pants, and wet rain gear, were all clean. One of the newer Scouts looked to his dad and said, that’s how you stay dry and warm and have a good time camping. I smiled and said to the dad, “well I guess they do listen.”
Whether it is gear, skills, or knowledge, putting it together is the key to being prepared. It is great when you see it put to the test and when the Scouts see themselves a success in being prepared. It is a lesson that they will never forget and one that they will use more often in scouting and in life.
Have a Great Scouting Day!
Lighten up
As we get into the colder weather of fall and then winter our packs will start to get a bit heavier. At least that is the norm. Winter gear is a little heavier and you tend to carry more. That is unless you have a rich uncle or top of the line winter gear or both.
Well, I have great gear but no rich uncle, but I know some ways that we all can lighten up our packs in the winter.
The first thing that you can do is in the planning and preparing stage of your next trip. Food and water account for a lot of weight in your pack. You have to eat well and increase the hot food consumption in the winter, so dumping food is not an option. What you can do though is look to repackaging your food. You can shave a pound in getting rid of boxes, can’s and wrappers. Invest in zip lock bags and repackage your food. You will shave weight and space by doing this. While you are thinking food, think dehydration. Pick up a dehydrator and start making your own light weight, great tasting food. A nice way to get started is by dehydrating left overs.
One of the benefits of dehydrating is that you need to watch what you cook to dehydrate. You will automatically reduce the fat content in your food. Fat will not dehydrate.
So there’s a pound.
The next thing you can do is to make sure that everything in your pack does double duty. Loose the pillow. In the winter you should have a nice fleece layer.. Shove that fleece into the hood of your sleeping bag or use the compression bag with your fleece in it as your pillow.
Drop the mess kit. You really only need a spork and bowl. You may be able to shed precious ounces here.
Do not take any cotton.. synthetics, poly pro wear better in the winter, allow moisture to wick and as a result you don’t have to change as much and thus carry less. That’s weight out of your pack.
Water. Loose the bladder. Your platypus or camel back will have a tendency to freeze up in the winter. Now, you can buy an insulation tube, but then you are adding weight. A Gator Aid bottle works way better than a Nalgene and while it will freeze too, if you drop it in a wool sock and store it upside down, you will be fine. A 32 oz. capacity bottle weighs 1.6 oz. A Nalgene typically runs at 6.2 ounces. If you must use a bladder… don’t fill it all the way and use it as your pillow at night.
Shelter and sleeping. Your tent really only keeps you out of the elements.. get a tarp and learn how to set it up against the elements. I switched to a tarp a few years ago. Incredible weight savings and no loss in comfort and shelter from the elements. In the snow, the tarp works exceptionally well.
Look at your sleeping bag. New stuff is best as it is designed to be light and warm. If you can’t get something new, get something rated a little higher.. The lower the rating the heavier the bag. Add a sleeping bag liner. It will add 10 degrees to your bag and there is no real weight in the liner. You can save the weight of the bag and maintain the comfort. Fill that gator aid bottle with hot water before you hit the rack and throw it in the bag with you. You will stay warm, have water in the morning, and shave weight.
Finally, leave stuff at home.
Do you really need to carry your whole wallet, your cell phone, that extra pocket knife? How about that extra pot that came with your MSR Cook kit? You only need one pot.. leave the other one at home. Do you carry a poop trowel? A stick will do the same thing.
Here is my rule of thumb. If you have not used a piece of gear in 6 months.. it’s out of the pack for ever. I have a box that I keep my winter specific gear. Stuff I only use in the winter. Each year, I look at it and reevaluate whether I used it last winter. A critical look at gear will shave lots of weight. Now I don’t pull out the scale and weigh all my gear, but I know when my pack gets heavier and I know how to reduce the weight when I need to.
The older I get the lighter my pack needs to get. Which is actually the last thing you can do to shave unwanted pounds. Get a smaller pack. You won’t put as much in it and it will force you to look at each and every piece of gear that does go in, on, or hang from it.
Share some of your weight saving techniques. Leave a comment. We all learn when we share.
Have a Great Scouting Day!
Wilderness First Aid
Well, I completed more training today. Yep… can never have enough training. But today I completed a Wilderness First Aid course. Two reasons for the training. First, it is a requirement for each crew on a Philmont trek to have at least one person in the crew certified in Wilderness First Aid. You also need to have a current certified CPR/AED member of the crew.
Last week at our Troop meeting we certified everyone in the troop on CPR/AED. It’s just a good idea.. more training never hurts. So we have lots of CPR certified folks heading to New Mexico.
Second, Wilderness First Aid is a great idea for a troop like mine. Being in the back country each month we have to be prepared and part of that preparedness is being trained.
So lets talk about Wilderness First Aid for a second. Three things:
First. Depending on your level of competence or skill level in first aid the Wilderness first aid course will either bore you or you will learn a ton. Having said that, there is never a reason not to take the training to reinforce your skills. Much of the Wilderness First Aid class is a review on basic first aid. IF you spend a good amount of time training your Scouts on their trail to first class you will know much of the first aid introduced in the class.
Second. There is material to learn. What I took home from the course were two things. Rapid Body assessment and spinal injury training. Those two things were a fantastic piece of training and extremely valuable. Basic First aid rarely discusses spinal and or head trauma.
And finally, it’s about muscle memory. If you don’t use it.. you lose it.
The course places you in scenarios that allow you to develop and hone your first aid skills. It places you in situations that require thinking, skills, and working as a team to assess, treat, and stabilize a patient in the wilderness.
Take Home points.
Here is what I learned (aside from the additional skills). I learned that assessment is critical to negotiate a good treatment and stabilization plan. I learned that CPR really is [in most cases] a token effort that with a few exceptions will not save a life. It may sustain life until professional help arrives and ‘calls the time of death’. Like I said.. there are exceptions and for us Scouters the good news is that it works well on kids, people who have been submerged in freezing water, and lightning strikes. So the next time you are planning on an injury. Be a kid struck by lighting on a cold lake. I am kidding, but I was surprized to hear and see evidence of just how ineffective it is. Having said that… do it.. it’s better than doing nothing. But really, once someone goes into cardiac arrest.. there is too much damage to the heart. So says the Red Cross and most search and rescue folks.
Assessment is critical, I have said that? Wilderness First Aid has given me tools to use to do accurate and timely assessments. The other reality that we were introduced to was the fact that (out here in the west) help is not on the way any time soon. For search and rescue you can expect to sustain a victim for up to 5 hours. That is a long time to sustain treatment. It is a challenge and one worth the time, but as a Scout leader in the Northwest, knowing that help is a long ways out.. It equips me with the knowledge that we have work to do when it comes to treatment.
And the last thing that I learned is that I have a good foundation of First Aid skills and am not afraid to use it. controlling a situation, assessing the victim and the environment and moving to rapid treatment seem to be a strong suit of mine. And so it goes into the tool box of Scoutmastership and the confidence that taking these Scouts into the wilderness is worth the risk inherent in the activities associated with being a backpacker.
So the wilderness first aid course is complete. Never stop learning, and I will re certify in two years.
One step closer to Philmont and one more training class that made my Scouts a bit safer or at least prepared.
If you get a change to take the course.. take it.
Here is a link to the BSA site on Wilderness First Aid.
Have a Great Scouting Day!
Backpack Cooking
As most of you know I am Troop Guide for Wood Badge Course W1-492-11. One of my Might Buffalo patrol members needed some help with his ticket. One of his items is to introduce his Troop to the many different ways of preparing meals while camping. So he called me up and asked if I could do a presentation on Backpack cooking. Well, one thing led to another and we just could not get dates that worked for me, him, and his Troop.. So I thought.. the next best thing to being there is video. So my son and I shot this video on Backpack cooking. It was an excuse to get out a bunch of gear and a way that John could break in his new GoPro camera.
Hope you enjoy.. I did.. got to eat some good chow at the end!
Have a Great Scouting Day!
SMMPodcast # 103 – Talking with Bob
In this show I have a lengthy chat with a fellow Scoutmaster and great Friend Bob Pierce. Join us as we talk a little bit about everything. Jamboree, Dutch oven cooking, Troop Guides, JLT, Anuual planning, Parents and Philmont just to cover some of the bases. It’s what happens Scoutmasters get together and shoot the breeze. The show was recorded on location at the Annual rendezvous of the Order of the Arrow at Camp Meriwether, so the crashing of waves and other camp sounds fill the background of this nice talk with my buddy Bob.
Hope you enjoy the show.
Please leave some feedback, drop us an email, or leave a comment in the comments section. Thanks for listening.
Have a Great Scouting Day!
New Tour and Activity Plan to Be Unveiled
From our Friends at the BSA Internal Communications via Scout Wire:
Dateline February 29, 2012
The new online tour and activity plan has been developed and will soon be ready for use.
When compared to the former tour permit process, the new plan will no longer require signatures or approvals. Rather, as the plan is completed online, the required prerequisites for that type of trip or activity will be displayed.
For any prerequisites that have not been met (for example, not having someone on a trip who has Hazardous Weather training where this training is required), and before being allowed to submit the form, the person completing the form will have to certify that all prerequisites will be met prior to conducting the trip or activity. Once submitted, an email notification will be sent to your council, chartered organization, committee chair, unit leader, and emergency contact to let them know that a plan has been submitted. Receivers of this notification can log in to MyScouting and review the plan.
Other tour and activity plan enhancements include the following:
- Because email notifications will be sent once a plan has been submitted, it is important to maintain current leadership information in the system.
- Links are provided to current program-required training and education.
- System prompts and warnings are included.
- You will be able to review and fix any deficiencies flagged by the system prior to submitting the plan.
- You can store, retrieve, copy, and reuse completed tour and activity plans.
- Files such as trekking plans and flight plans may be uploaded.
- Unit volunteers who currently have access to the tour and activity plan will be able to view and update all plans submitted for their unit up to the day before the scheduled tour date.
- There will be leader certification of the plan prior to submission.
For those who do not have Internet access or simply prefer paper over an electronic version, a PDF version can be found on the tour and activity plan FAQ page.
Tour and Activity Plan Demo
Before implementation to unit volunteers, we are providing a demo to familiarize you and your employees with this new tool. The demo will be accessible to councils on MyBSA until April 30. You will have the ability to create, edit, copy, or print a plan, but not submit one. On May 1, the new tour and activity plan will be activated for authorized unit volunteers to access in MyScouting. We encourage your employees to show the demo to key volunteers, but due to the need to protect the personal information of the membership, this must be done via MyBSA.
The demo may be accessed online. When the MyBSA login screen appears, enter your current MyBSA user name and password. It will take you to the tour and activity plan home page, where you can begin and create a new plan.
A training video has been developed that guides you through the application process and can also be shared with your unit volunteers.
Modeling the Expected Behavior
This weekend, our Troop conducted Junior Leader Training. Because we have so many young Scouts, we decided to do things a little different this year. This year, wanted to ensure that the leaders clearly understood what was to be expected as a leader. Instead of the typical classroom environment, we took the training out doors where we do the leading. An over night camping experience in which the Scouts attending the training committed to doing everything right. The committment of the Scouts that arrived on Friday evening at Camp Discovery was apparent from the word go.
We built a camp fire and pulled our chairs up close. The theme for the weekend was Modeling the Expected Behavior. What that means to the Scouts of our Troop is that as leaders they need to set the very best example that they can. As examples they model the behaviors that we expect to see from the rest of the Troop.
So this weekend, the leaders learned about the Teaching EDGE, Leading EDGE, Ethical decision-making, Communicating effectively, and Learning to teach. The leaders shared expectations and demonstrated to one another what “Right looks like”. This morning after teaching one another how to properly pack gear, leave no trace, and cook a meal, they spent some time on the C.O.P.E course working on team development.
At the end of the training it was time for reflection and reinforcing the theme of the weekend. Modeling the Expected Behavior.
This theme will be the driving force for the rest of the year. It is the hope of those that attended the training that they will affect a positive change in the Troop. They all understand that as they go, so will the rest of the Troop.
In my opinion this was the best Junior Leader Training session I have seen our Troop do. There was a clear understanding at the end of the training and I too feel that the Troop will better for it. With so many young Scouts in the Troop and more coming at the end of the month, Scouts that are willing to take responsibility and be the very best example by modeling the expected behavior, will be have a lasting impact on our unit.
Have a Great Scouting Day!
