Time dedicated to setup and breakdown

[Cito]

This is my first attempt at spinning off a thread and I'm hopeful this hyper linking works. My apologies if not. trailer thread

 

We were discussing the merits of troop trailers and I realized that maybe they are appropriate above a certain length of time but overcomplicate quick camping. For summer camp when you'll be there for a week, clearly more time for setting up and breaking camp is acceptable than for an overnighter.

 

So my question is how much time is appropriate for making and breaking camp and where does it cross into being too much and needing to simplify. Should it be a percentage of the weekend, like 5% or is it a non-linear function or should it always be 30 minutes on both?

 

I'm sure there is no easy answer, but as usual that's why I'm asking.

[desertrat77]

Cito, that is a great question. But as a die-hard C student in math, I'm kinda at a loss to quantify. But I'll venture this far: if a unit spends more time toting, setting up, using, maintaining, and tearing down the gear than they do enjoying a hike, birds, campfire, cooking, tell stories, looking at clouds or stars, etc., then something is out of whack.

 

 

[boomerscout]

30 minutes if you're very good, 90 minutes is typical, 2 1/2 hours if many wander around aimlessly or run off to play.

[Cito]

Sorry, that did sound like I was building a spreadsheet.

 

To simplify, how much time do you typically see tied up in setting up and breaking down for a week long camp vs a weekend camp. Is it different or do you want your scouts to treat them the same?

[shortridge]

Setup always seems to take more time than teardown. On Friday night, you have to pick your campsite, place your tents, figure out where your cooking/campfire, eating and latrine areas will go, set up the tents, unpack any other gear, get dinner going, etc.

 

On Sunday morning, you can do a light breakfast, you should have most personal gear packed up the night before except for your sleeping system and clothes, you're putting stuff in bags instead of taking them out and figuring where to put them, and most tents are generally faster to collapse and roll up than unroll, fasten, tie down, bungee together, stake out, etc.

[IM_Kathy]

for week of summer camp it will take my son's troop about twice as long, but then we use camp tents and have to set them up and tear them down and the boys only use them once a year so some will have forgotten the "how to's"

 

at summer camp we also have the troop sign, gathering and tarping wood if it's still dry (don't need as much for just a weekend), setting up axe yard (we don't use at most campouts).

 

but sadly what seems to take the longest at summer camp is waiting for the trailer to be hauled to campsite.

 

on weekend outings - the time really depends on the boys... when they want to work together it goes sooooo much quicker. Last campout we had 1 scout asking his tentmate to hurry up so they could fold up the tent, but when the tentmate kept asking for help with his sleeping bag he kept saying that he'd wait then. of course boy that just sat and waited was upset that he was last to make his sandwich I just asked what he could've done to get done sooner - he didn't like my response LOL

 

for me - when I wake up on pack-up day my gear is all packed up with my uniform shirt on top (rain gear is kept easy to get to) so when it's time to take down tent I put on my uniform, pull my pack out, help fold up the tent, and walk to the car. then I just wait for the boys to get done.

 

As I tell all new parents - yes it would be quicker if we got in there in did everything, but they wouldn't learn a thing out of that - so expect everything to take longer than it should!