How Does Your Troop Camp And Share Campsites?

[Tampa Turtle]

6 minutes ago, ItsBrian said:

May I ask why you do that?

We backpack a lot and (the bigger ones) are a lot lighter per liter than the trusty old Nalgene. And if you leave it behind it is no bog deal. Mostly because the screw threads match the Sawyer Squeeze water filter. They are pretty sturdy...I haven't cracked mine yet though I might get some new ones after a year or so (you can clean them with denture tabs).

The only downside is you might lose the cap so boys also get the smaller size with the 'sport-sip" cap and swap them out.

The same with the bowls (I actually use an ugly plastic lemonade container) it is all about the backpacking weight and all most of us do is boil water on backpacking trips so we don't really need a mess kit. (I do have a few...my wives old GSUSA one, a 1972 Army one, and a Serbian one with the scariest spoon, fork, and knife set ever made. I only use those for car camping)

It started with being light weight and showing the boys you can be thrifty with scout gear. Save your money and get a good sleeping bag instead.

[ItsBrian]

42 minutes ago, Tampa Turtle said:

We backpack a lot and (the bigger ones) are a lot lighter per liter than the trusty old Nalgene. And if you leave it behind it is no bog deal. Mostly because the screw threads match the Sawyer Squeeze water filter. They are pretty sturdy...I haven't cracked mine yet though I might get some new ones after a year or so (you can clean them with denture tabs).

The only downside is you might lose the cap so boys also get the smaller size with the 'sport-sip" cap and swap them out.

The same with the bowls (I actually use an ugly plastic lemonade container) it is all about the backpacking weight and all most of us do is boil water on backpacking trips so we don't really need a mess kit. (I do have a few...my wives old GSUSA one, a 1972 Army one, and a Serbian one with the scariest spoon, fork, and knife set ever made. I only use those for car camping)

It started with being light weight and showing the boys you can be thrifty with scout gear. Save your money and get a good sleeping bag instead.

Ah, that makes sense. I would understand for a backpacking trip like that.

[blw2]

they fit the water filter....and smart water bottles are much more durable that the average water bottle (Zepherhills, Deer park, Dasani, etc...)

[Tampa Turtle]

When I joined the troop a group of older boys brought frisbees for plates and would line them with a paperplate or waxed paper sometimes which would be later used for fire starting. Was funny at meal time when one of them was looking for theirs after it had been thrown around hours earlier. 

[Thunderbird]

@Tampa TurtleI was wondering about the frisbees! 

[Jameson76]

The frisbee works, just gotta make sure you wipe off the dog spittle

 

[Col. Flagg]

Sounds like our unit is like @ItsBrian:

• Mess kits (no paper or plastic)
• Nagelenes (not styrofoam or disposable cups)
• KP water is Steramine (not bleach)
• Use drying cloths (not paper towels)
• Food for camp outs is fully eaten (we have awards for the patrols that have the fewest leftovers)
• Fire are only used for cooking or warmth.
• Hold LNT classes several times a year (both ethics awareness and ethic action award classes).
• Fuel conservation methods are also taught. 

Edited January 23, 2018 by Col. Flagg

[perdidochas]

6 hours ago, Tampa Turtle said:

Mess Kits! How about bowls or frisbees? For water bottles we advocate Smartwater Bottles and reused them over Nalgenes. YMMV.

Yes Scouts should be cooking for themselves. The only exception would be if for example (we did this) when the older boys were doing an overnight 25 mile speed hike and arrived at camp to find that the younger scouts had cooked them bacon, eggs, and biscuits. Was the younger boys idea and well they were pretty popular for a couple hours.

Well, my definition of mess kit is pretty broad.  They vary from the old aluminum mess kit, to the plastic mess kit with bowl/plate/cup utensils in a mesh bag, to frisbees and utensils, to plastic origami looking bowls/cups to collapsible silicone bowls/utensils with a cup (my choice), to whatever they want.  Reusable water bottles ranges from Nalgenes (which were your words, not mine :-)  ), to whatever drink bottle they drank on the way to the campout, to empty gatorade bottles, or smartwater bottles.  Nalgenes are the top choice, but that's just because they look cooler than smartwater bottles.  My oldest has had his Nalgene for about 6 years now. His goal is to break it, because the scout urban legend is that if you break a Nalgene, they replace it, and they give you a t-shirt.  

[Tampa Turtle]

16 hours ago, Col. Flagg said:

Sounds like our unit is like @ItsBrian:

• Mess kits (no paper or plastic)
• Nagelenes (not styrofoam or disposable cups)
• KP water is Steramine (not bleach)
• Use drying cloths (not paper towels)
• Food for camp outs is fully eaten (we have awards for the patrols that have the fewest leftovers)
• Fire are only used for cooking or warmth.
• Hold LNT classes several times a year (both ethics awareness and ethic action award classes).
• Fuel conservation methods are also taught. 

We do use fire for staring at. 

[ianwilkins]

3 minutes ago, Tampa Turtle said:

We do use fire for staring at. 

We do that too, and it seems to need an awful lot of very important and vital poking and prodding.

 

[Jameson76]

15 minutes ago, Tampa Turtle said:

We do use fire for staring at. 

Also it's great for napping in front of...or pondering....or just sitting and doing nothing.  Last few years the glow of the fire against the glow of phones as scores or Presidential tweets are checked has been mesmerizing.

[ValleyBoy]

23 minutes ago, Tampa Turtle said:

We do use fire for staring at. 

A camping trip is not complete with out a fire.  Adults in our unit do like to burn some wood.  A fire does have it uses.  Nothing like cooking over a fire, then letting the fire turn into outdoor TV.

[gblotter]

We have tried camping with another nearby troop on a couple of occasions. I know the other Scoutmaster well, and the boys generally know each other through school, sports, and church associations.

Never again.

The other troop has greater numbers than ours, and "Lord of the Flies" is an apt description of how their campouts operate. After observing what was happening with them, I attempted to segregate our activities in a separate area of the very large group campsite. Unfortunately, things devolved into us versus them scenario between the boys - even including some trash talking and mean-spirited pranks. The other Scoutmaster eventually came over to apologize (but I wish it was his Scouts who were doing the apologizing).

[Tampa Turtle]

39 minutes ago, ianwilkins said:

We do that too, and it seems to need an awful lot of very important and vital poking and prodding.

 

I agree, no matter who ideally laid out it does seem to require constant rearrangement. 

[Tampa Turtle]

3 minutes ago, gblotter said:

We have tried camping with another nearby troop on a couple of occasions. I know the other Scoutmaster well, and the boys generally know each other through school, sports, and church associations.

Never again.

The other troop has greater numbers than ours, and "Lord of the Flies" is an apt description of how their campouts operate. After observing what was happening with them, I attempted to segregate our activities in a separate area of the very large group campsite. Unfortunately, things devolved into us versus them scenario between the boys - even including some trash talking and mean-spirited pranks. The other Scoutmaster eventually came over to apologize (but I wish it was his Scouts who were doing the apologizing).

Yes there are different sets of rules and expectations and it seems they rarely match up and it usually is the lowest bar that is set for both Troops. I wish it were otherwise.