Re: Equipping New Troop
Kirk Barley (kbarley@EROLS.COM)
Fri, 17 Jan 1997 21:34:43 -0500
I joined a troop last year that seemed to have just the right mix of
gear. Gear has a lot of hidden costs in time and labor, so budget for
it before you invest. There are a lot of places to get "CHEAP" even
free equipment that could cost you your program. Lots of troops have
more gear than this and some less, I think that it's about the right
mix.
Your gear shows your Council's culture, some "Car" camp more or less
than we do. We did about 5 "Car" camping events a year with Patrol
boxes, including three Camporees that had significantly more gear (gate
way, pioneering poles, E-Tape ...). When we backpacked or canoed much
of the gear on this list stayed home.
We had:
Patrol 3 man tents, enough for every boy.
Patrol Coleman propane stoves
Patrol Chuck Boxes fully equipped with standard cooking gear
Patrol Kit tables that fit together
Patrol Propane bottles with coleman trees, hoses and Lanterns
Patrol dining flys or Bakers tents
Patrol Water bottles and Ice chests
Patrol Grills and griddles
Patrol and a Troop First aid kit
Dutch Ovens
Pioneering box with lots of 5/8" manila rope
Safe Swim Defense Kit
Troop Flag
American Flag
Troop Sign for Camporees
Engineering tape to mark out camp site at Camporees
Back packing tents, stoves and lanterns as necessary
We had patrol gear for the Adults too.
A key, I thought, was that we marked all of the patrol gear, down to
tent stakes and inspected patrol boxes and inventoried much of it back
in to the QM after each camp out. Thre was little pressure for lost or
damaged gear, but the PATROL had to live with how well they took care of
their gear. It was up to the boys to report their gear problems or they
didn't get fixed. I found that having a committee QM, often someone who
couldn't come to meetings but who liked to tinker, was required to keep
the gear in good repair. The SM Corps is too busy with the boys.
--
YIS
Kirk Barley
ASM T-121
MCB Quantico VA
SE-574
Terry Howerton Sakima Group, Inc. SCOUTER Magazine Kansas City | 
