Troop Finances

[hsscouts]

Well first of all, we bought the monopoly game for the boys to have for rainy days at campouts, we never in a million years would expect to be paid for it never!

 

We are not hurting for equipment we have enough tents for all our boys to double up and for 4 SM's to go as well, we have a trailer that my husband and I donated to the troop, and we filled it with stuff, there is a fire cooking grate, giant pots and cooking gear, pretty much everything they need at the size we are right now. I don't personally think we "need" anything.

 

I have to say once again it is other people who are saying we need more troop money, the boys came in with pack fundraising money some used it for camp some didn't so that left us wth about 2 boys with a balance of 200.00 each and I tink one more with a balance of 100.00, then there are about 2 boys with a negative balance I did not know this was going on, I would not have bought thier advancements had I known they had a negative balance already. I just learned one is negative 50.00 another negative at least 40.00. I had a talk with the treasurer and told her from now on I do not think this needs to go on, if they do not have the money in thier account the parents need to be told in enough time they will need to pay for something we are going to do, or how much patches will be.

 

Our Fall Court of Honor is September 20th however it will not cost much at all, I have all the pocket cards already, we gave patches out months ago at the time they earned them (we are imeadiate recognition district), I will need to buy I think 6 patches at most for this, 2 are for my son which I don't have a problem paying for them he finished second class a couple of weeks ago and is about to finish first class in a week or so, I told him he would be getting his patches at the COH since it was so close. We are doing it at our charter after a church service to involve the church, it's small and almost all the congregation knows of us and loves the troop since we help them at least once every month with something, we like to involve those who like to be involved on this type of thing so we get them to come to our breakfasts and dinners later.

 

I agree I hate SPGTI dinners I will not do that one ever again, I like pancake breakfasts they are super cheap and you make a lot of money. We are not allowed to do just any kind of fundraiser, we can't stand outside of stores and beg for money, we can't sell certain things, we are technically only allowed to do 2 fundraisers a year per our council rules and they convienantly have 2 they sponser. We do our other fundraisers as friends of Troop XXX.

 

Our Pizza cards are a bust they are a rip off, the person who researched it did not think about what it said and how much it cost, to her it sounded like a deal. We cannot return them because they printed our name on it. We took 3 ideas to the boys explained them all and gave them the choice this is the one they chose, it's a learning experience for them, they had a choice of a card that cost us 50 cents to print up but they had to get the vendors and the deals to print on it at leat 2 or 3 each boy, they didn't want to do the work so they chose the easy one or so they thought. We have been unable to sell any cards out in public most people are buying them for thier kids or family is buying them from them. Like I said it's a bad deal and a learning experience.

 

So anyway we aren't in need of money really badly, it's just this one person the CC who keeps saying we have no money, we have no money, and making it such a big deal that we borrowed money from the boys, for instance the pizza cards cost 360.00 to order the money was taken from boys accounts to pay for them, however they get the money back if they sell the cards. I didn't see this as a bad thing, they chose this route why shouldn't they pay for it initially?

 

I just thought by doing away with the troop fund account for a little while the CC would stop saying a million times during the TR report that the troop itself has 60.00 and that we are so poor and we need money, blah blah blah, I think it comes down to the fact that someone just needs to stand up and tell her we know we don't have much money right now but we also know we don't really need to buy anything right now as a troop either, so she just needs calm down and let them earn some money and then we can look at new expenses but for now we are good. See I think I know what it is, I think after sitting here I have figured it out, the CC and her hubby a ASM want us to have better things like they have said they would like to see the boys have nicer tents that will last a long time, not the walmart ones we have now, I can see the advantage of having nicer brand name hiking tents but it's not a priority it's a luxery and we just don't need them. We donated the equipment we have now and it's great new stuff it works fine no need for better things.

 

I have been reading on the net that a lot of troops require a family to pay an initial fee of 50.00 to 75.00 when they join to help seed the troop fund and cover extra expenses like say buying a tent to cover the extra child. That sounds like it might be a good idea for new scouts, does anyone do this?

 

The camp that we went to that did not provide Ice and Water was Tana Keeta in West Palm Beach, unfourtunately it was our home camp, it's more expensive than the other one we went to and provides so much less. I don't recommend this camp for a summer camp choice to anyone.

[hsscouts]

nolesrule:

 

the 25.00 a month fee is optional in a way, we made it basically a rule that they need to have a minimum balance of at least that to participate in the activity, other wise mom and/or dad needs to pay for the cost of it.

 

We have things like for instance the Indian Lore Merit badge workshop (a ripoff for the cost if you ask me) it was 30.00 a person to attend including SM and ASM it did not give an option to not eat dinner and the SM did not do anything while there but walk with the troop to each station. We were not happy but this is the way our district and council rus things it's very expensive to be a scout here, we are not a huge city we don't have large corporate funding for either the Dst or the Cncl so they rely heavily on us to fund thier expenses.

 

Our boys want to go to the Scout Advancement Weekend or SAW as it's called here, it's 45.00 a person and does not include meals, they can choose 2 merit badges from the list to work on over the weekend, I honestly don't think it's worth the money but we can't tell them no they can't go, we advise them on alternatives like holding our own SAW sort of, we have like 10 people qulified to teach at least 10 different merit badges in reality our troop is qaulified to teach about 30 merit badges. If we did it on our own it would cost a heck of a lot less than 45.00 each person.

 

Like I said before the cost to run the troop every month is minimal and the charter fees are small in comparison litteraly it costs a boys 25.00 a year to charter with boys life that comes down about 3.00 a month roughly maybe 2.50 with extra money left over. We have no camp membership fees we have to pay, we have no monthly expenses at all, so technically thier dues are 2.50 a month the extra is just telling the parents if they want to go camping that's how much it will cost.

[boomerscout]

I am surprised Tanah Keeta did not provide water & ice without asking. Dehydration and heat exhaustion can be serious. I wonder if Dickinson State Park imposed water restrictions on them? Like you said, there are other council camps. Many allow the SM to attend free if the entire troop goes to camp. Tire Kingdom and AT&T Wireless used to donate large chunks of money to this camp.

Getting the vendors signed for the pizza card is really an adult activity. We look for good pizzarias in a 360 degree circle within two miles of the Wal-Mart or the mall. We try to sign as many as we can so all patrons are "covered". Our cards are printed free. The printer gets to put his ad on the back of the card, plus the honor patrol washes his shop windows monthly and sweeps the parking lot. Each card sold earns 20% for the individual's Scout account. We set up a weekend table in front of Wal-Mart (permission of course) with large poster board signs (Free Pizza), an American flag, and a couple display easels with pix of our Scouts camping, etc. Scouts wear our self-designed Scout tee-shirts.

Your finances seem confusing. All troops need a troop fund for contingencies. In your case, I would charge $25-35 yearly dues. Additional money would be thru fund-raising. I would let the individual Scout accounts go to zero if it's their desire, with the understanding that fees for weekend camps are then out of their own pockets. Your District has two fundraisers? One has to be the popcorn; what is the other? I would not charge an initiation fee to new Scouts. They'll have enough expenses with uniform, camp gear & pro-rated yearly dues

merit badge workshops are for the kids, not for the adults--if I'm reading your post correctly. I'm a bit worried that your own adults can counsel 30 merit badges. You're running the risk of being labeled a merit badge mill. In all merit badges with options, we try to strongly suggest the hands-on options for more lasting learning retention. Writing reports is too much like school--copy stuff out of a book, and totally forget it in a couple weeks.

For rainy days teach your boys how to play euchre. It will stand them in good stead in college. I miss West Palm; I used to live in Lake Worth.

What community service projects does your troop perform?

[hsscouts]

Gulf Stream is our council, we don't live there though we live north of there. Our other fundraiser is Mega Scout Show tickets.

 

I know what you mean about the finances being confusing, it is for me as well, this was why we were questioning this person saying we needed so much money all the time. When we really don't.

 

The pizza cards are national cards not local pizza shops, big mistake I know.

 

We do a lot of community service projects, we cleaned the fairgrounds, they planted trees at TK, they do about 4 hours a month at least doing TK service at the camp things like the trees, cleaning up etc., we do a cleanup for the church every month it can be trimming the trees or cleaning the grounds or cleaning the church itself, we do the street cleanup and we do a beach cleanup a few times a year also. The boys make cards from donated stuff for a nursing home, they are for the people living there to have to give to each other, so if mrs. jones knows it is mrs. johnsons birthday and they can't get out they can ask the nurse and look through the box of premade cards we make and donate the residents really love this.

[hsscouts]

I wasn't implying that we would do 30 MB in one session I was just saying we are qualified to teach about that many if we wanted or needed to. I am all for the hands on of teaching I agree retention is bet that way. We even go so far as to have scouts who already have it help teach it the skill that is because you truely learn and retain something when you teach it.

 

Tana Keeta was bad, I give them the benefit though it was the first week of a year with a new camp director and about 85% new boy staff, but there was just a lack of training for them, it wasn't thier fault it just wasn't provided so they knew nothing. If you stopped a boy in charge and asked where something was they could not tell you, we were told we had to buy ice from the camp because they did not have enough ice to provide it to us. We were told to drink from the hose at the campsite. There was no water at each MB class or along the trails. We were there on a week that reached 106 degrees, our SM's decided to get ice and water outside camp because we had 3 scouts down with heat issues the first day. We told the council head about everything. and it has been taken care of but we just felt that the second camp we went to La No Che in Orlando (and yes I know they are a rich camp and council) had such a better moral, attitude and just everything was better all around and it was week 7. We paid less got 2 free leaders, and actually got 4 free since I had to go up to help with the kid who was having sleep issues, the camp fed me my 3 kids another women her 1 child and 3 other adults for free just to make sure the scouts were happy and taken care of. We did not pay one penny more for any of us that were extra. I speak so highly of that camp it was the best experience I have ever had.

[nolesrule]

There are some good resources online for setting a boy scout troop budget and then realizing the revenue side of them through dues and fundraising. They all include within the budget planning process some room for petty expenses incurred as well as setting aside a contingency fund as well as dealing with capital expenditures (which should be fundraised, not billed to the scouts).

 

And it's all done through a combination of dues and fundraising.

 

Do you have a member of your committee who is dedicated to finding, researching and planning the fundraising endeavors? It's a big responsibility and a large enough job so that it shouldn't be multi-tasked.

 

As for scout accounts, if you are touching that money to pay general troop expenditures, then it isn't a scout account. What you are doing is like a bank saying, well, we didn't have enough money to pay our expenses this month, so we're just going to debit every account $10 to make up for it. A scout account is a holding account for the scout, and the troop should not be touching the funds except as directed by the scout or his parents.

 

Again, you're not running a co-op, and financially, it's setting a poor example for the scouts.

 

I'm pretty sure that by now you've learned that there are always going to be unexpected expenses with the troop (just like in real life). But even those need to be reasonably budgeted for. Are you really going to bill everyone in the troop $15 when the trailer needs a new tire? What happens when it has a blowout, tears the side off the trailer, half the equipment falls out and gets run over by trailing cars? Are you going to bill everyone in the troop a few hundred dollars? Do you think they'll stick around for more than 5 minutes after they receive the bill?

 

If you want the treasurer to stop harping about the troop only having $60, the best way to fix that is to raise some money. Yesterday. Sitting around feeling sorry for yourselves isn't going to make the budget shortfall go away.

[shortridge]

nolesrule has a good point - dipping into scout accounts means that you don't really have scout accounts.

 

hsscouts, I have to admit that I've read through your posts now twice, and can't understand how your troop's finances operate. It seems like everything is far more complicated than it needs to be.

 

You need a troop treasury, with an annual budget. IMHO, you owe that to the COR, in whose name you are carrying out the Scouting program. Paying for things on a month-to-month basis, seeking reimbursement after the fact without a clear idea of the costs in advance and tapping the scouts' accounts does not, to me, seem indicative of having a clear financial plan.

 

You may have enough tents and supplies right now for the 8 boys in the troop, as you say. But consider next spring if you get an entire Webelos den joining up. What's your plan? Will you charge those eight boys a fee for the costs of their tents, stoves, dining flies, etc., that the original boys did not have to pay?

 

boomerscout has a great piece of advice. With only 8 Scouts, you really don't need a computer system to track anything. Pen and paper should work just fine, especially since it's a substantial financial outlay.

[hsscouts]

nolesrule:

 

We have a great set of parents in our troop who started it together and have never grumbled or complained about sharing expenses for big items, however it also has never been a mandatory thing it's always if you can afford it or if you want to no explanation needed if you can't help or just plain don't want to.

 

Our boys fourtunately do not know of any this money stuff right now, thank goodness becasue your right it would be a bad example.

 

It's not the treasurer complaining of the money it's the comitte chair, she has issues with so much we do and say and is very controlling we have tried to talk to her but she just says we can't do anything so we need to live with her, which is true I guess we just try to walk lightly around her. She has mental problems and honstly shouldn't be in charge but I digress on that subject.

 

Her attitude at meetings is atrocious I had to snap at her this last comittee meeting because I was talking to the treasurer telling her and everyone else for that matter that I had gone and gotten a quote for the patrol patches had printouts of the final cost etc. and said I would be willing to put them on my credit card and be paid back, that I would bring in the final reciepts from the online order. She in the middle of this conversation she snapped at me and said it needed to be tabled because we need to move away from the treasurers time as we had gone over the alloted time for that portion of the meeting and we could discuss it next meeting. I snapped at her and said no I need to say this now everyone needs to hear it and kept talking. These are the kinds of things we deal with from her, she is supposed to contact our charter about things we need like we have been requesting another night to met from the church because the pack meets on the same night and it makes it impossible for the boy scouts to work inside if needed because the little cubbies run in and out of the classrooms and try and join our meetings. She says she is asking and being told no, but when we asked at the comittee meeting the COR he said sure he would ask the elders like he had never heard of us asking before. He comes to our comittee meetings we invite him so he can see where things are and what is going on.

 

She went to summer camp as a second adult because no one else could go, she told a child who wouldn't sleep that she was going to call the sheriff and have him picked up so he could wait for his parents there so she could sleep. Very inappropriate, we understand some people without sleep especially those on heavy medications can have issues and can snap and say things they don't mean under stress but it was taken very hard when she told his mother the same thing on the phone at 3am. We talked to her about it though and is was resolved I guess and apologized for I assume.

 

Every single member excluding the COR and her husband would like her to step down from the CC position but she won't do it and we cannot make her. She called off a campout because my husband the SM could not attend it, even though there were 3 other ASM's that could. She claimed the SM needed to be at all cmapouts and activities. Her and her husband have changed dates of things because of thier schedules. We had to put a foot down about this and told everyone as to not single them out that under no circumstances would things be moved or changed because 1 leader or child could not attend, including summer camp. We chose week 2 of summer camp which happens to fall during someones family vacation we reserved in advance to get the campsite we wanted and also because we will be camping with another troop from GA. I told these parents I was sorry but it's not fair to the men who already requested the time off and the other boys to change everything for 1 child. We said we would look into it but that we can't enforce rules for 1 and not the the others.

 

We talked today we are planing a family meeting to get together and discuss what is troop expenses and what is a boy expense and how things should and should not be paid for. How everyone should be trusted and if you don't trust someone with money it needs to be brought out as to why you don't trust them.

 

In the past and some people may not agree with this but in the past we have allowed certain people the ones on the escrow account to deposit thier cash or use thier credit card to deposit money into the troop escrow account at the scout shop, this way they could buy uniforms and books and things of a scout nature tax free, it helps even though it's only a few dollars it still helps. Well we did this recently we bought 170.00 worth of stuff but they told us the total with tax instead so we paid 176.00 into the escrow account, well that made thier be a 6.00 plus to the account. this greatly upset the CC she was so upset we did this even though we have done it in the past and so has she and it's allowed. She said we screwed up the account making things not come out right. It's just a stupid statement but she didn't want to give him a bank check for the campout because of that, I found that out today. Because of this she says she doesn't trust him with money now she thinks he can't manage money correctly. Also it has to do with the fact that I gave them a round about figure of 178.00 for advancements but it ended up costing 206.00 so she was upset about that saying I should have not bought some things i should have used what I said I was going to spend and nothing more and then go back and get the rest later.

 

I get no reimbursement for my gas and I have to drive an hour to buy these things so i am not going back 2 days later to get things I could have gotten then, it would cost me more money in gas, as it is I spend on my own dime about 20.00 in gas for both ways.

 

Anyway I have some budget stuff I got from the net to help me show them the right way to approach this money stuff, I have learned a lot from all of you as well and again wanted to say thanks so much for all your help.

 

I understand fully your all just trying to help and not being mean so don't be afraid to tell me I am doing it wrong I have been a leader for 6 years but cubbies and scouts are 2 different things so i know I as well as all of my troop have so much to learn It would be nice to have this stuff in our trainings but alas we didn't get properly trained either.

[scoutldr]

For the record, our camp does not provide ice either. It is nice to have, but is not necessary for hydration. It is available at the Trading Post for $1.25 for an 8# bag...and then when they run out by Tuesday, there is no more.

 

Several things still bother me. Advancements should be part of the troop overhead. It's not proper, in my opinion, to withhold advancements if the scout doesn't have money in "his" account. My unit still charges $25 per year annual dues (which includes registration fees and Boys Life), plus $1 per week patrol dues. That covers the "overhead". Fundraisers cover the rest, including equipment purchase and planned replacement due to wear and tear. IF the fundraisers are real successful, the scout can have his entire year of scouting paid for (in his scout account), never having to ask his parents for anything. One of Baden-Powell's tenets was that a scout should earn his own way. A Scout is Thrifty. (A SM Minute for next week, perhaps?)

 

Finally, I reread your posts to find out your position in the troop. You said, "I am not a Scoutmaster I am a mother who is the advancement chair, I hate financial stuff it creates such problems with everyone"

 

I think that's the answer to your dilemma. To put it as gently as I can, focus on your job...and let the CC and Treasurer focus on theirs. Good luck and enjoy the journey! It's not supposed to be this stressful.

 

Edited part: Wow! Just read your last post more carefully. My opinion is that using the troop account to avoid paying tax is probably illegal and could put your CO's tax-exempt status in jeopardy. The behavior of the CC is bizarre, as you describe it, but to be fair, we only hear one side of the story on this forum. SOunds like your unit is in trouble and could benefit from some "therapy" from a Unit Commissioner and Troop Committee Challenge training.(This message has been edited by scoutldr)

[nolesrule]

Seems to me that the problems run a little deeper than just the finances.

 

Begs the question if the members of the committee, the COR and the SM/ASMS are all trained in their positions and know what their responsibilities are (and aren't).

 

In addition, the situation of threatening the non-sleeping child with calling the police should have been addressed, possibly through the chartering organization, regardless of whether this person is the CC or not.

 

If, as you say, all the adults have a problem with the CC except the COR, youmay have a serious long-term problem if you can't learn to get along and do your respective responsibilities without stepping on toes. Because only the chartering organization can force out a CC.(This message has been edited by nolesrule)

[hsscouts]

Wow this hs gotten way off I think it's all my fault though sorry.

 

it's not illegal as far as I know troops and packs have been doing it in our council for at least the 6 years I have been here and probably before I came. We are purchasing things for someone in the troop a boy or a game for the boys perhaps, not going in and buying uniforms and t-shirts and stupid things. All we ever buy is Merit Badge books that I am currently building a library out of for the troop as well as the game we bought and some things for boys in the troop itself. An escrow is not just for advancement.

 

It's interesting to hear people say they don't think it's the boys responsibility or the parents to pay for advancements, do the packs in your area work the same way? This stuff is seriously expensive and every single troop and pack in our council as far as I know does it this way, making them pay for it. We would not withold advancement because say Johnny has issues at home and both parents lost thier jobs and are scraping just to eat. We would pay for them and apply for a scholarship for him.

 

In our council the scholarship money is to be used for that boys individual things he needs, be it advancements, a new shirt, etc. so if we as a troop paid for advancement and did not charge them individually this would make things like that hard to give out, would we just put the money in the general fund? No we wouldn't we would put it all in his account and he would pay for his things.

 

Maybe I am wrong but I thought we were supposed to be teaching the boys how to be thrifty, how to save thier money and spend it as well on the things they need and want. If we don't give them items to purchase they will never know what it is like if everything is just handed to them. Plus our troop cannot afford to pay for advancements for every boy just can't and niether can any other in our area except a few who have massive sponsors who pay for it all.

 

We do not have underlying issues or bigger problems, I think things don't come out right in emails or written form, it's hard sometimes to form my thoughts in a way that sounds right. We are doing great we are the best troop in our district as far as honest advancement, spirit and just overall morale in the whole troop. Now I said we have some issues with our CC it's not a big deal really she is just super controlling she wants to control the world and is frustrated she can't do that here.

 

She doesn't get that it's a boy run troop she wants to hand them thier choice and say this is what you can do, she doesn't like that they plan thier own meals she wants them to be given a choice of X or X but we just ignore her and the men do it the right way not whichever way she wants.

 

Our Sm and ASM's are all trained very well, my hubby and I are trainers we didn't do the training but he was there so he knows what was taught, he then taught them anything that was left out. Unfourtunately the women are not trained excpet in committee training stuff and it's hard for them to understand the boy lead thing.

 

Like I said our Unit Commish comes to our meetings and the COR comes too there isn't anything bad going on they know how it works and how we are working things, it's just this one women really causeing a few rifts but nothing huge that cannot be dealt with.

 

This topic really got out of hand and I feel it's my fault I think a lot of what I said may have been confusing to some and didn't come out just right. I only really wanted to know if anyone else had worked thier accounts that way, had anyone else made boys pay for everything. We have quite a few troops that work the same way so I mean this isn't an idea out of nowhere I was just curious if out in the real world was it done the same.

 

That said I totally love my position in the troop I like advancements and keeping good records, I agree we do not need expensive software for 8 boys, there are plenty of free things out there that work just as well. I think the big thing is there are some people in my troop who are trying to make this something bigger than it should and like someone else said make it more complicated than it has to be

 

Again I am now truely in favor or rules or bylaws of some kind where this stuff is put down in writing and it is adheared to. This way when something or someone isn't doing it right they can be directed to the rules and see no one is picking on them it's just the way we wrote it to be and for a good reason. You cannot run a troop saying one thing one month and saying another thing the next month, it cannot be run without full honesty and personal issues left at the door, it's not a hard job to do this I don't know why everyone has to make it so hard.

 

Again our troop is not in trouble and is not failing or having major issues, it may have seemed that way from waht I said but our boys advance and honestly not like some troops who fudge rank requirements, our boys meetings are run the correct way, the kids are super happy, learning bunches of new stuff and practicing all the time, some are starting to teach others even so it's awesome and all of them are 11. I am in it for them I could honestly give a rats bum what happens as long as the boys have what they need to succeed.

 

So I apologize for all this I didn't mean to confuse or rile anyone up really I again am still learning as well.

[nolesrule]

No one said the boys or their parents shouldn't pay for the advancements. What was said is that advancement purchases are part of the operating budget for the troop and should be accounted for in the budget plan.

 

Ultimately, the boys should be paying for everything either directly or indirectly, whether it's through dues, activity fee payments or time put in during fundraising.

 

But having dues, not doing enough fundraising, then billing boys and families for budget shortfalls on a recurring basis is only going to result in losing families either to better managed troops or they'll drop out entirely.

 

When the treasurer's report says you only have $60 in the general fund and all dues have been paid for the year, you need to be concerned. But the answer is still to do fundraising and possibly reconsider how you handle dues.

 

And while it is not unheard of for the individual families to pay for their specific advancement expenses, it creates more work and confusion trying to track the "billing" for each individual. Personally, I've never seen a pack or troop actually do that. I've seen all expenses covered through annual/monthly dues, fundraising and then pay-to-go fees for all outings, as each of those will have an individual budget based on where you go, what you do and how many are attending.

 

Keep it simple.

 

 

[boomerscout]

I'm not understanding what you mean when you say you give your Scouts items to purchase?

Also, could you go into more detail on your expenses for advancements? I'm really confused!

We take a Scout is thrifty to mean each Scout must earn the money to pay his yearly dues. Also, that he needs to keep his individual account up to pay for campouts. His personal equipment he buys or makes himself--not counting birthday, Christmas and other gifts, but not handouts.

This is the troop's first year? It will be easier next year as you will then know what has worked, or not, and how much it cost

[boomerscout]

This is considered troop supplied gear. The reason is that it's too expensive for the typical 11 year old to buy, it lasts for years as Scouts come & go, it may be used by several people at the same time

 

1 nylon dining fly 12'x12', weight about 4 pounds

2 collapsible poles for dining fly, weight about 1 pound

I BSA Philmont backpacker nylon tent with poles

(per each 2 persons), weight about 5!4 pounds

1 trail chef kit: 6 pounds or: 4 pounds

8-quart pot 6-quart pot with lid

4-quart pot with lid 4-quart pot with lid

I fry pan with handle 1 fry pan with handle

1 chef cutlery kit: 2 large spoons, 1 large spatula,

2 pair hot-pot tongs

1 extra %quart or 6-quart pot for washing dishes,

plastic trash bags, salt and pepper

dishwashing soap, hand sanitirer

scrub padr

water purification chemical

150-foot length of %-inch nylon rope,

3-5 bear hags (for hanging food)

plastic strainer (or screen) and rubber scraper

toilet paper

1 sewing kit with heavy thread and needle

*metal tent pins, 10 per person

*2-3 collapsible water containers, 2 112 gal. each

*2 or 3 backpacking stoves

*2 one-quart fuel bottles and funnel

1 crew first aid kit-see page

*duct tape for equipment repair

spices for cooking (optional)

padlock for your crew footlocker (extra security)

*waterproof ground cloth, 5'6"x7'6", 1 per tent

*3 fifty ft. %" nylon cord

Field Guide

*sunscreen and shampoo

*insect repellent-not aerosol

*2 or 3 water purifiers/filters

I multi-type tool

*insect repellent

* 1 bottle sunscreen, at least 25 \pf

* 1 camp shovel/trowel

 

The following is personal equipment. Each Scout supplies his own by making, buying or borrowing it.

 

uniform (or parts thereof as money is earned)

pack with padded hip belt

'pack cover-waterproof nylon

'6 t012 (gallon size) Ziploc plastic bags to pack clothes

sleeping bag in stuff sack lined with plastic bag

sleep clothes-worn only in sleeping bag

(T-shirt and gym shorts)

'straps to hold sleeping bag on pack

'foam sleeping pad (closed cell or Therma-Rest)

Layer A (Hiking Clothes)

hiking boots-well broken in

lightweight sneakers or tennis shoes

'3 pairs heavy socks

'3 pairs lighter inner socks (polypro)

3 changes underwear

'2 hiking shorts

'2 short sleeve shirts (not nylon)

'1 hat or cap-flexible, with brim

Layer B (Cool Evening)

1 long sleeve shirt (wool or flannel) .

'1 long pants, cotton or nylon (not heavy jeans)

'1 pair insulated underwear (polypro)

Layer C (Cold)

'1 sweater or jacket (wool or polar fleece)

'1 stocking cap (wool or polypro)

'1 glove liners or mittens (wool or polypro)

Layer D (Cold, Wet, Windy)

'1 sturdy rain suit

Eating

deep bowl (small, plastic)

'cup (measuring style)

'spoon

'3 or 4 one qt. water bottles

"small pocketknife (A)

"matches and lighter in waterproof container

"flashlight (small with extra batteries and bulb)

"compass-liquid-filled

"2 bandannas or handkerchiefs (BB)

"lip balm (with SPF of 25) chapstick __

"soap, biodegradable

"toothbrush/toothpaste

"small camp towel

sunglasses (inexpensive)

"ditty bag (for personal items in bear bag)

"whistle

watch, inexpensive

rubber bands (large for packing)

"foot powder

"note pad and pen

"daypack for side hikes

list was cribbed from a Philmont guidebook, but is fairly indicative of what is troop supplied, and what is Scout supplied

 

[boomerscout]

"I could honestly give a rats bum what happens as long as the boys have what they need to succeed."

 

Good for you! Absolutely!