scoutmaster

[Weekender]

Kevin M,

 

You hit on something that has helped our troop get started in the direction of backpacking. Here in West Texas there is no an aboundance of backcountry trail for us to use and most places that you can camp are car accessable. But that doesn't mean you have to drive the boys right to the site. Maybe you could find a site in your area that has a 1 or 2 mile dirt road leading into it and start off by having the scouts walk that road with or without their gear. Work your way up from just walking to carrying personal gear to carrying all gear to leaving the trailer home once in a while. I've found the boys take to this much better than the parents, I've even had a few adults tell me they won't go if they have to actually walk and carry anything, but we're slowly turning it around.

 

BTW: If any of you ever plan to be in the San Angelo Area drop by Troop 44, Cornerstone Christian School, Monday nights at 7:00.

 

[Weekender]

Ozemu,

 

I agree 100% that the boys need to be reasponsible for their gear. Our problem with the chuck boxes is that they are used on the campout and then once we get them back to town they are never looked at again until they reach the next campsite. Our storage location is one problem (we're working to fix that) but the gear is used and then stuffed in the box and not checked when it gets back to town. By having the boys carry it in their packs they tend to be more aware of how dirty it is. By making them bring it with them to the next meeting and checking it in, either to a troop or patrol QM, there is an opportunity to inspect it for cleanliness and condition. Our troop Qm (when I was young) checked tents, tarps, and dutch ovens, etc. Patrol QM's took care of pots, pans, utensils and any other patrol gear.

[rparoski]

Thanks for all the insights on chuck boxes. We are still camping from the car but as soon as we get the troop up and running good I would like to go on some hikes. I liked the idea of having the boys hike the last couple of miles to the campsite. Thia sounds like a good way to get them started hiking. Being a new Scoutmaster I am learning more every day. I have only been in Scouts for 4 years, but love it. This is the first year for all my scouts but one so we are all learning together. Again thanks everybody for the help.

[FScouter]

The home-built boxes I've seen are nice. We use the Wal-Mart plastic tubs. Just haven't found extra time to build a custom box.

[akela]

We have the 3 ton trailer (2 of them) and the 100 pound chuck box. When I was a kid camping with family we had a chuck box made out of old milk cartes. I'll have to ask mother what ever happened to that thing. but it had a part of almost half of the old back door screen on it, I think Dad cut the top of the screen door off, because the bottom had a hole and they attached it to the milk crates and we had a light weight chuck box, with handy compartments Oh the MEMORIES. If I can locate a pattern, I will let you know, it was something that Dad just whipped up. I'm sure of.

 

There are pros and cons to both. I prefer to hike in a short distance, This way if you have to get someone out in a hurry you can do so.

 

But we have several greene horns who are still carrying the suitcase! My son carries my old Kelty back pack from when I was a kid, he has done some real changes on packing, because you can only fit so much. The last campout, a weekended he only took his cot(it is in a bag) and a change of clothes, that was it. So he traveled much eaiser than everyone who packed the whole house.

 

supermom

 

[rparoski]

We also have one of the big plastic tubs from Wal Mart and it works great for the dry goods. I did get a plan for a box and built it. It is heavy but they can still carry it a little ways. I don't plan on using it much longer as we are going to start hiking soon. The troop is going slowly, but we set a gole to double the troop size this year. This will only give us 12 boys but the ones I have now have been fast learners and are going to be good teachers to the new boys. Thanks for all the help.

[DoubleD22]

I have a patrol box I designed about 1990. It is lightweight (made of 1/4" and 1/2" plywood), designed to stack tightly with other boxes, carry the patrol cook gear, Dutch oven, 36 cup coffee boiler (for constant supply of hot water), wash basins, bow saw, small shovel, staples like paper towels, aluminum foil, etc. It uses EMT for legs and they store inside the box when not in use. Two legs are used to carry the box for distances with four scouts. I train my scouts to cook on pins rather than a grate using coals from a fire or charcoal if we have too, but a scout cook grate can go in it too. I have sent a message to the site webmaster about it and hopefully it will be posted soon. In the meantime e-mail me and I'll send a PDF file of the plans. My troop does about half car camping and half back packing so we use these for car camping.

 

Don

 

 

[LauraT7]

I did a search for boxes last summer and got quite a few plans and instructions and websites for our boys to chose from. they took all this and designed their own!

 

Still haven't built it yet, but we're working with a stingy troop comittee.

 

If you e-mail me I'll send you all the plans and links I collected - one on-line site's plans let you adjust the dimensions to your equipment!

 

e-mail me at tlaurat7@hotmail.com