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Baloo skills check list


Basementdweller

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Ann had a great idea about a Baloo skills Check list.

 

So what skills are essential for a fun successful campout at the cub level?

 

Under gear

 

Stoves.....

 

Selection, assembly, Fueling , lighting and storage

 

Lanterns

 

Selection Fueling lighting and storage

 

Tents

Selection, assembly, site selection, storage,

 

Kitchen Gear

 

Dish washing

 

Food Selection and prep

 

 

 

 

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List could go on for ever.. and ever..

 

Tarps or rain flys

water jugs

coolers

bug juice holders

ropes & tent stakes

Flag & flag pole (or staves & rope)

first aid kit

Games/activites for quiet time

energetic games/activities

(Maybe) a raised firepit & something to take home ashes (depends on requirements)

 

(We are talking general equipment, not personal right? Because personal adds things like sleeping bags & rain gear etc..)

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I think we're onto something! I think Basement Dweller's list is pretty good; yes, it could go on forever, but BD's list addresses some of the basic baffling stuff when you're new to camping. I would say the "on and on" list COULD be passed out as a hand-out to copy off to hand to parents. Bug spray, etc...

 

Someone mentioned having Boy Scouts at the Baloo training to demonstrate stuff. May I recommend that it would be AWESOME if when people arrive at Baloo (especially noobs, as I was), that there be a little area all set up?

It could have a tarp, a tent (NOT pitched yet), a folding table (appropriate for setting a camp stove upon), a lantern pole, a lantern, a cooler, a bottle of propane, a shovel, a little stack of kindling, etc...

 

If everyone registering for "B(ASIC)ALOO" who files past it already KNOWS what to do with it all, and claims proficiency, then GLORY HALLELUJAH! Let's debate YP vs 2D and whether Water Buffalos and Port-o-Lets really count as "running" water for Cubbies.

 

But if someone like ME (as someone previous described as from a very small Pack with NO other adults willing to be campmaster) with no experience, say, changing out lantern manifolds, shows up, a lovely and talented Boy Scout can lead the noobs through the basics while everyone else compared Dutch oven recipes.

 

I would have been THRILLED to have someone show me how to light those darned things ahead of time.

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I think we are talking skills not gear.

 

Lets face it.....there is some skill involved in selecting a site and getting your tent setup. Things that you and I take for granted such as check the trees for dead branches, look for roots, rocks and low spots, tuck your ground cloth in.

 

As pointed out, Lanterns, stoves, dutch ovens are not as intuitive as maybe they once were.

 

 

 

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We've had good success with using scouts in helping present the BALOO course. The course content covers things pretty well and there are some good checklists in the handouts, but there's no substitute for experience. It would be better presented as part of a weekend outing with all that extra opportunity for hands-on experience.

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My thoughts.

 

 

1)Transporting gear. Biggest complaint I hear from folks who think 'Cubs don't need to camp," and also the ones who I see do the exact same thing, is that Cubs tend to bring every conceiveable thing with them, and expect to be able to drive up to a campsite and unload the car. And by transporting gear, I do mean personal gear, using carts, wagons, and my personal favorite, wheeled garbage cans.

 

More later.

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Base,

 

No disrepect inteded, I actually do LOVE the idea. But the last time I bought a large, wheeled garbage can, it was about $75-$80, and that was 11 years ago. I got a collapsable cart for about $52 from ALDI, an they will be in stock again this week.

 

Now my fron wheels did break on the sucker, but I have a friend who's going weld them back on. I will not let the kids play with it again.

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For many, many years, I've used a big, wheeled garbage can for storing my kid's yard toys - balls, rackets, trucks, sand toys, ... you name it! It was easy for them to tip it to get out what they want, it was easy to put everything back, easy to put where I wanted, and it was weatherproof, keeping things dry and clean. I really see no drawbacks for storing and transporting gear - probably less expensive than some other alternatives.

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Missed two huge points to put on the list

 

1. toilets - be it latrine, flush toilet, chemical toilets... People need to be prepared from ANY deviation, even if the only difference from the bathroom at hom is the bathroom is not heated about 50 degrees

 

2. drinking water - 1 galon per person per day

 

Both are assumed by everyone to be ubiquitous, we know better!

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