fox709

Moxieman: I looked at the list of current threads before I started this one and didn''t see anything on this topic. I''ll go look again and be a bit more tenacious. Thanks for the suggestion! To the rest of you (you, too, Moxieman), thanks for sharing your experiences and recommendations. I''ve invited my fellow ASMs and our QMs to all take a look at your comments. Great food for thought -- THANKS! Dave

Our troop is still in the process of transitioning from being adult-led to being a boy-led, adult-supported unit. Our tents are starting to wear out and the Scouts, through the PLC, have come to the Committee requesting new tents. The Scouts have taken a real liking to backpacking and canoe treks over the past year and/or to at least carrying their gear into a camp area in their backpacks. The tents we have are rather heavy, all things considered, So, the Scouts have requested that we purchase new tents, and they would like to get 2-man backpacking tents rather than more of the heavier, traditional 3-man Scout tents -- they have selected a pretty sturdy make and model that is a lightweight modified dome. The one concern to the Committee, SM, and ASMs is that the Scouts have not demonstrated very good maintenance habits with the tents they currently have. Despite a lot of training and cajoling by the QMs many of the Scouts just plain show little respect for their tents when cleaning and stowing them after each campout. So, this begs the question: Should a troop purchase tents for it''s patrols OR should Scouts be required to purchase their own tents, all of the same agreed-upon make/model? I''ve recently heard that several troops are taking the latter route to encourage ownership and insure that if a tent is damaged through misuse, abuse, or poor cleaning and stowing habits then it is the Scout''s problem rather than the troop''s problem. I''m very interested in hearing pros and cons on this. If you are using this latter method does it interfere with the development of a strong patrol by encouring a mine mentality rather than an ours, patrol-based mentality? How do you handle a situation where a Scout can''t afford the troop-specified tent? Which Scout''s tent is used for each campout -- who decides? How do you handle Scout A being paired up by his PL with Scout B, a guy he doesn''t care for, who then damages Scout A''s tent to the point it (or some part) has to be replaced? My question isn''t tied to a particular kind of tent, the real problem is poor supplies maintentance habits. With little success so far modifiying the Scout''s attitudes on this should we have them buy their own tents? Will pride in ownership actually rear it''s head? What''s your experience with this? Thanks for the insights! Dave

Beavah: This has been another insightful and informative thread! Can you elaborate a bit more about the "lead patrol" concept at campouts and other outdoor activities? Do they decide on the major activities and scheduling for that outing? Or, is that handled at the PLC and the "lead patrol" simply takes responsiblity for insuring that the plan and program occur as intended?

We are just getting started with a Venture patrol for our older Scouts and I've seen reference in several threads to having Scouts in a Venture patrol simultaneously belong to a regular patrol. For those of you successfully using this "dual citizenship" approach I'm curious how you work the patrol duties and patrol breakout time in a troop meeting. Do the Venture patrol scouts only meet and/or server together as such outside of the normal troop meeting time? Or, do these Scouts abandon (sorry, that sounds a bit harsh and isn't meant that way) their regular patrol duties and gathering opportunities during the troop meeting -- and wait for their PL to fill them in on what's going on in their regular patrol? On those campouts where the entire troop stays together in one location do the Venture patrol scouts set up and perform camp duties with their regular patrol, but take some time for separate Venture patrol activities? Or do they set up and interact as a separate patrol throughout the campout? Thanks for your wisdom and experience on this!