Finally!

[cajuncody]

I have waited all year for the weekend that is up next. I have my first Woodbadge experience starting on the 21st! Finally I get to be a critter, and a good ole critter too!

Now if only it weren't supposed to get so darn chilly at night. Any tips on keeping warm in a 4 wall tent?

(cold natured in TN)

Kristi

[WDleader]

Kristi, go to someplace like Wal-Mart and get what the call a fleece sleeping bag, it is a small bag that you can put inside of your sleeping bag. If they don't have one, get a fleece throw and fpld it over and then sew the bottom and part of the side and out this into the sleeping bag. It worked for me here in Augusta, Ga last spring, during Wood Badge when it turned cold and rained on friday.

 

Robert L. DeWitt

ASM Troop 12

Chickasaw District

Georgia Carolina Council

Augusta, Ga

I used to be a good Ole Bear SR-691

[orennoah]

Buy or borrow a decent sleeping bag, one that is truly rated for the temperatures you'll be expecting. Beware of the phoney/wishful temperature ratings of the cheap brands.

 

Ask some experienced Boy Scout leaders and they should be able to steer you in the right direction.

 

Also, be sure that you have a decent sleeping pad. They are not just for comfort, but provide needed insulation under your body that is lost when your body weight crushes the sleeping bag insulation. In addition, direct contact with cold surfaces robs you of body heat much more efficiently than cold air.

 

Have fun and pray that you'll be lucky enough to be a Bear!

 

- Oren

[SueM]

We just did a program on cold weather camping at our district Roundtable last week..one of the things that they suggested was some of those chemical hand warmers...said that you could put them in the bottom of your sleeping bag to keep your feet warm.

 

I am always terribly cold..it was in the mid to low 40's for the nightime over the weekend an I have a 0 degree rated mummy bag, with 2 other blankets...several layers of silk, thermal and fleece on and STILL froze!!

 

Enjoy your first weekend and don't forget to check back in and let us know which critter has "captured" you! You will have a great time!

 

Sue M.

I used to be a Beaver

 

[theysawyoucomin']

I have only been to Nashville as a child and I swear it was 104 degress in the shade that day.

 

I have also been to Norway(above the Arctic Circle,twice), Minnesota in late December, and upstate NY in winter all with many nights in a sleeping bag.

 

Here's some tips:

 

1.)The prior mentioned fleece is a great tip WD! And probably all you'll need in addition to the hat.

 

2.) do folks have watch caps or winter hats in Tenn.?

If so, wear one to bed, you'll have hat head but you'll be warm.

 

3.) Eat something before you turn in. your body will burn that fuel while you sleep. A snicker bar is a good choice!

 

4.) Take an iron containing vitamin now, & for a few days leading up to the course. Most women are cold because of iron poor blood.

 

5.) wear dry thick socks to bed.

 

6.) Drink something hot prior to turning in, but not so much that you have to go before morning. Not a caffine drink or you'll surely need to get up prior to morning.

 

7.) If you are really desperate heat water and put it in a Nalgene like a hot water bottle.

 

8.) When you first get in the bag run in place , if the bag is big enough, to generate some heat.

 

Above all keep the sleeping bag dry.

 

If all of the above don't work, you must have forged the Doctor's signature on the Class III. You have no pulse or very bad circulation. Just kidding.

 

Best of luck and enjoy the course! maybe you'll be: uz2bnowl version 2.0

 

I took the course as a Cub Scouter too. You'll learn alot about Boy Scouts. Enjoy!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Owl62]

Congratulations on being selected to attend Wood Badge.

 

Being an Owl, I will pass on the following if I may:

 

 

I agree with the inexpensive fleece sleeping bag. You can get them for about $10-$15 at most discount/sporting goods stores. With a decent sleeping bag rated to about 40 degrees, using a fleece bag inside will increase the effectiveness about 10 degrees and the fleece feels good.

 

But, a good sleeping pad is every bit as important. I usually use a low cot with a foam pad, but if I use a sleeping pad alone, I use a self-inflating pad and in the winter I put down a closed cell foam pad first then put the sel-inflating pad down. I do not recommend air mattresses in cold weather unless you cover them with insulation such as a foam sleeping pad.

 

Being in TX, most of the time, a sleeping bag is not even required in a tent. However, I have experienced below zero temperatures here, and as most of us know, it always seems colder in the woods than in town.

 

I have 4 sleeping bags: 1 cold weather bag rated to zero; 1 rated to 20 degrees, and two different ones rated to 40 degrees - oh and a fleece bag.

 

The fleece sleeping bags can be used as a light weight sleeping bag in mild weather, and most unzip all the way and can be used as a blanket.

 

What we recommend to our new Scouts and parents is to buy a Sleeping bag rated to 40 degrees, a fleece sleeping bag, and either a closed cell foam pad or a sel-inflating, or both. Most buy the closed cell first because they a relatively inexpensive. That takes care of most our of Scouts, most of the time.

 

Then there is in on-going debate on what to wear in a sleeping bag. Some say, nothing, some shorts, and so on. I recommend wearing something in a sleeping bag. I usually wear shorts and a t-shirt in mild weather, and sweatshirt and pants and socks in cold weather (and I add a knit cap as I am folliclly impaired). I don't recommend that you wear the clothes that you wear during the day in your sleeping bag - take clothes specifically for sleeping - year around. I know that some claim that wearing sweat shirts and pants actually make you colder - well not me - they keep me very warm. I say, whatever works - do it.

 

But then there a some Scouts and Scouters that seem to take great pride in wearing Scout shorts year around even in freezing weather - which I think is a big health and safety concern - When the temperature drops below 70, I wear long pants, and at least take a jacket along - and then cheer on those (within the bounds of safety of course) that choose to be cold while I am warm.

 

Something else. Every notice how your feet get cold when sitting on a log or in a chair, even around a campfire, when it is cold/damp. Well, cold air settles so it stands to reason that the air near the ground and even the ground itself is probably cold or or damp. One easy way to keep your feet warm is to simply put them up on something (log, piece of firewood, stump, rock, etc). Also, just being still, can lower your body temperature - particularly in your feet and hands. In early times, when homes did not have central heating, litte foot stools were very common in homes to put your feet up on in cold weather. We did a cold weather campout with some Venturers and one of the female Venturers asked me why I always put my feet up on a chunk of firewood when sitting around the campfire. I told her and the next thing I knew they were all doing it and still do and they all agree, their feet stay warmer. Plus it helps dry your footgear. I also have an old wool Army blanket that I throw around my shoulders in cold weather around a campfire - and it can be used with a sleeping bag or in case someone else gets cold.

 

Get you some wool/nylon hiking or boot socks. Look in the sporting goods department where the hunting clothing is at Wal-mart. I even found some that are O.D. Green that look ok with the olive green Scout shorts/pants. (The Scout hiking socks are VERY expensive) The wool is warm even when wet, and the nylon makes them last longer. If the wool bothers you, wear some lightweight socks under the wool socks.

 

When the weather is cold, I acually put the clothes that I am going to wear the next day (assuming they are clean) in my sleeping bag with me. (Not the Scout shirt of course). Socks, underwear, pants - I usually roll them up in the bottom of my sleeping bag. That way they are reasonably warm in the morning.

 

One of the most important things about camping, is organization. Think out and plan as much as you can and you will be better off than some.

 

I don't like being cold.

 

Problably more that you asked for or needed but hope it helps.

 

Just watch and ask others and then find things that work for you to keep yourself warm and dry.

 

Good luck!

 

 

 

 

 

 

[cajuncody]

Thanks for all the advice. I am the type of person that is comfortable in the 100 degree heat but can't stand to get chilly. It will be in the low 40's during the first weekend and I know that I will be the one that is freezing. I keep a sock of rice at home and pop it into the microwave for a couple of mins to warm my feet at night.

We will be sleeping on a camp issue cot in a four wall tent the first weekend. I had planned to take a sleeping bag and pad along with my thermal PJs. I will add a toboggin (sp?) hat with that as well as a nice warm jacket. Daytime highs will be in the low 70's or high 60's with plenty of moisture in the air from the lake.

Can't wait to be a critter

Kristi

[eagle-pete]

I hope you get this before you get back to Gilwell

 

A 100% wool blanket INSIDE your sleeping bag is very effective. I have used this technique on many cold campouts and it has saved my cold "you know what" more than once.

 

My course was in April, and though it wasn't winter, it got chilly at night so I can sympathize. However, it brings back good memories nonetheless.

 

Just a question... I see you have been a forum member for over a year. What took you so long to go to Wood Badge?

 

Have a GREAT Wood Badge Course! You will never forget it!

 

Eagle Pete(This message has been edited by eagle-pete)

[theysawyoucomin']

Sam McGee was from Tennessee

We read this to cub Scouts when we do family cabin camping in January

 

I hope you fair better in Tennessee

 

Here's what Robert W. Service thought when he went to Alaska

 

The Cremation of Sam McGee

by Robert W. Service

 

 

Robert W. Service, a Canadian poet and novelist, was known for his ballads of the Yukon. He wrote this narrative poem which is presented here because it is an outstanding example of how sensory stimuli are emphasized and it has a surprise ending.

 

Robert William Service was born in Preston, England, on January 16, 1874. He emigrated to Canada at the age of twenty, in 1894, and settled for a short time on Vancouver Island. He was employed by the Canadian Bank of Commerce in Victoria, B.C., and was later transferred to Whitehorse and then to Dawson in the Yukon. In all, he spent eight years in the Yukon and saw and experienced the difficult times of the miners, trappers, and hunters that he has presented to us in verse.

 

During the Balkan War of 1912-13, Service was a war correspondent to the Toronto Star. He served this paper in the same capacity during World War I, also serving two years as an ambulance driver in the Canadian Army medical corps. He returned to Victoria for a time during World War II, but later lived in retirement on the French Riviera, where he died on September 14, 1958, in Monte Carlo.

 

Sam McGee was a real person, a customer at the Bank of Commerce where Service worked. The Alice May was a real boat, the Olive May, a derelict on Lake Laberge.

 

Anyone who has experienced the bitterness of cold weather and what it can do to a man will empathize with Sam McGees feelings as expressed by Robert Service in this poem.

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are strange things done in the midnight sun

By the men who moil for gold;

The Arctic trails have their secret tales

That would make your blood run cold;

The Northern Lights have seen queer sights,

But the queerest they ever did see

Was that night on the marge of Lake Lebarge

I cremated Sam McGee.

 

Now Sam McGee was from Tennessee, where the cotton blooms and blows.

Why he left his home in the South to roam round the Pole, God only knows.

He was always cold, but the land of gold seemed to hold him like a spell;

Though hed often say in his homely way that hed sooner live in hell.

 

On a Christmas Day we were mushing our way over the Dawson trail.

Talk of your cold! through the parkas fold it stabbed like a driven nail.

If our eyes wed close, then the lashes froze till sometimes we couldnt see;

It wasnt much fun, but the only one to whimper was Sam McGee.

 

And that very night, as we lay packed tight in our robes beneath the snow,

And the dogs were fed, and the stars oerhead were dancing heel and toe,

He turned to me, and Cap, says he, Ill cash in this trip, I guess;

And if I do, Im asking that you wont refuse my last request.

 

Well, he seemed so low that I couldnt say no; then he says with a sort of moan:

Its the cursed cold, and its got right hold till Im chilled clean through to the bone.

Yet taint being dead--its my awful dread of the icy grave that pains;

So I want you to swear that, foul or fair, youll cremate my last remains.

 

A pals last need is a thing to heed, so I swore I would not fail;

And we started on at the streak of dawn; but God! he looked ghastly pale.

He crouched on the sleigh, and he raved all day of his home in Tennessee;

And before nightfall a corpse was all that was left of Sam McGee.

 

There wasnt a breath in that land of death, and I hurried, horror-driven,

With a corpse half hid that I couldnt get rid, because of a promise given;

It was lashed to the sleigh, and it seemed to say: You may tax your brawn and brains,

But you promised true, and its up to you to cremate those last remains.

 

Now a promise made is a debt unpaid, and the trail has its own stern code.

In the days to come, though my lips were dumb, in my heart how I cursed that load.

In the long, long night, by the lone firelight, while the huskies, round in a ring,

Howled out their woes to the homeless snowsO God! how I loathed the thing.

 

And every day that quiet clay seemed to heavy and heavier grow;

And on I went, though the dogs were spent and the grub was getting low;

The trail was bad, and I felt half mad, but I swore I would not give in;

And Id often sing to the hateful thing, and it hearkened with a grin.

 

Till I came to the marge of Lake Lebarge, and a derelict there lay;

It was jammed in the ice, but I saw in a trice it was called the Alice May.

And I looked at it, and I thought a bit, and I looked at my frozen chum;

Then Here, said I, with a sudden cry, is my cre-ma-tor-eum.

 

Some planks I tore from the cabin floor, and I lit the boiler fire;

Some coal I found that was lying around, and I heaped the fuel higher;

The flames just soared, and the furnace roaredsuch a blaze you seldom see;

And I burrowed a hole in the glowing coal, and I stuffed in Sam McGee.

 

Then I made a hike, for I didnt like to hear him sizzle so;

And the heavens scowled, and the huskies howled, and the wind began to blow.

It was icy cold, but the hot sweat rolled down my cheeks, and I dont know why;

And the greasy smoke in an inky cloak went streaking down the sky.

 

I do not know how long in the snow I wrestled with grisly fear;

But the stars came out and they danced about ere again I ventured near;

I was sick with dread, but I bravely said: Ill just take a peep inside.

I guess hes cooked, and its time I looked; . . . then the door I opened wide.

 

And there sat Sam, looking cool and calm, in the heart of the furnace roar;

And he wore a smile you could see a mile, and he said: Please close that door.

Its fine in here, but I greatly fear youll let in the cold and storm

Since I left Plumtree, down in Tennessee, its the first time Ive been warm.

 

 

 

There are strange things done in the midnight sun

 

By the men who moil for gold;

The Arctic trails have their secret tales

That would make your blood run cold;

The Northern Lights have seen queer sights,

But the queerest they ever did see

Was that night on the marge of Lake Lebarge

I cremated Sam McGee.

[CA_Scouter]

Lots of great suggestions, I have only to add that on our polar bear campouts, we tell the scouts to bring TWO sleeping bags, and use them one inside the other.

 

Socks and hat are also essential.

 

Have Fun!

 

 

[cajuncody]

Eagle Pete

I did join quite a while back and my first posts were the "Help I need training" posts. After I found out what training I needed I went on to University of Scouting (Pow Wow), and National Camp School to became the Day Camp Director here as well as my pack position of CM. All during training I had heard what a great experience Wood Badge would be but our council didn't have one until now. I do admit that I was the first person signed up but the wait has been long. My first year I wasn't a registered leader due to a mistake made by a past CM but I still was a TDL (I didn't know I wasn't registered) so this is really the begining of my second registered year. (Ignorance was not so bliss - no one received membership cards so their was no way to know I wasn't registered the former CM still has the old cards).

Actually I think at this point, Wood Badge is the only training in our area left for me to take. I have taken everything else. Maybe I will get an "Over trained" patch just to keep in my scrap book.

Kristi

[eagle-pete]

Ah...

 

I must have misunderstood. Sorry about that.

 

I found that Wood Badge topped all other trainings in BSA... combined, although I am glad I did them all, too.

 

Have a great time, cajuncody!

 

Eagle Pete

[theysawyoucomin']

Hey Cody did you enjoy Happy Land?

 

We had Webelos Woods near Lake George N.Y. this weekend.

We slept in three sided lean-tos and woke to a 1/2 inch of slushy snow. Webelos were fine.

What animal/patrol were you in ?

Was it all you hoped for?

[cajuncody]

Had a GREAT first Weekend, quite chilly though, down in the low 30's. Had a visitor in camp at night (What is black and white and stinks all over) but good packing prevented any problems in my tent.

Back to Gilwell Happy Land, I'm Gonna Work my Ticket if I can !!!!!

 

Kristi

I am an Eagle ( and a good ole Eagle too)

SR 725

[eagle-pete]

Kristi

 

Excellent!

 

Welcome to the Eagle's Eyrie!

 

Eagle Pete