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Every Scout should know how to sew. When far from home, there may be a need to replace a missing button, stop a small tear from going on a rip, patching a hole in the fabric, re-attaching a pack strap.. We have merit badges for woodworking, metalworking, welding, etc, but none for sewing. Probably not macho enough for an identity questioning age group.

There were several make-it books in the 1970s such as "Light Weight Camping Equipment and How to Make It" by Gerry Cunningham.

http://www.backpacking.net/makegear.html

is an old site. The gear projects are listed on the left. I've made the tarp tent several times. The key to lightweight camping is to get it to last a year or two, and not 40.

 

Http://www.rayjardine.com

mainly promotes his sewing kits. His book "Beyong Camping" is worth a good hard read

 

Http://www.backpackinglight.com

The forums section has about 180 pages of how-to and feedback on gearmaking

 

http://www.backpacking-lite.co.uk

One of my favorites. His article on backpack design is worth considering (Ultralight Load Carrying)

 

Going to Philmont? In many cases the trails are smooth enough that you could just strap everything to a two-wheeled golfcart

 

I don't have a current source for good cheap fabrics (ripstop, silnylon, etc), but a Google search should bring up plenty of potential suppliers

 

 

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Have always wondered why some minimal degree of sewing wasn't part of the deal - think it used to be an Eagle Required MB, wasn't around for that.

It's a useful life skill not just in Scouting - no matter how much your spouse likes to sew - YOUR shirt never seems to get the button back on no matter how many other projects she completes - UNLESS you know how to sew. I like wearing my clothes and learned how to sew early on - my Mom wasn't a big believer in boys not being able to take care of themselves...

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Back before the all available,cheap plastic woven tarp, my Scout Troop made their own tarp tents out of 6 mil poly plastic , some really heavy tape (heavier than today's duct tape) that a government dad obtained from his job, and a grommet setting tool. 12' square, grommets every three feet, one grommet set off center in a reinforced diagonal spot, they took them to Philmont . Called the "Exploreer" tent in Boy's Life, I used them for many years backpacking. Seperate plastic/shower curtain ground cloth.

Might last a couple seasons if you were an active camper.

When the plastic got holed or ripped, you used it for a ground cloth. Made a new one in Mr. Coombs basement.

 

I have demo-ed a tarp tent to our present boys, but no one has taken up the idea. They seem to like the insectless guarantee of the screened in tents. But still, take a 15 by 10 foot tarp, stake one short side down for 5 feet as the bottom, curve it up over yourself, and make an open sided shelter. Four sticks, eight tent pegs, some cordage, enough room for you and your pack.

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  • 7 months later...

Sold some of our older boys on making Litepac backpacks so they'd be more motivated to come to meetings. There were a few tents, survival kit, mess kit, backpack, etc instructions published by Ernest Schmidt from Schiff then collected in a Boys' Life reprint, which someone has digitized here: http://dankohn.info/~scouts/boys_lif..._equipment.pdf

Didn't much work in terms of getting them to more meetings; they cut out the fabric then everything sat for 2 months until they took them home to finish (doubt any did). I can't imagine the cost in leather for the packs nowadays, fortunately I had a huge piece laying around from 20 yrs ago. Tents would probably still be pretty cheap.

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  • 10 years later...
On 7/21/2013 at 12:27 AM, Scouter99 said:

Sold some of our older boys on making Litepac backpacks so they'd be more motivated to come to meetings. There were a few tents, survival kit, mess kit, backpack, etc instructions published by Ernest Schmidt from Schiff then collected in a Boys' Life reprint, which someone has digitized here: http://dankohn.info/~scouts/boys_lif..._equipment.pdf

Didn't much work in terms of getting them to more meetings; they cut out the fabric then everything sat for 2 months until they took them home to finish (doubt any did). I can't imagine the cost in leather for the packs nowadays, fortunately I had a huge piece laying around from 20 yrs ago. Tents would probably still be pretty cheap.

1950's Boy Scout Survival Kit list from LitePac Camping Equipment (26-074) reprinted from Boy's Life Magazine.

 

https://dankohn.info/~scouts/boys_life_reprints/litepac_camping_equipment.pdf

 

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I earned a sewing merit badge that included sewing on my badges on my own scout shirt, so after that pride wouldn't let any of us have our parents sew the badges on anymore. (You could definitely tell at that point if we'd done it ourselves or not.)

Just a tip to offload parents and encourage independence 😉

I'm not buying any badge glue, environmentally unfriendly plastic badge holders, or paying someone at council to sew my scout's badges on. No, I will sew theirs on the old-fashioned way that prepares you for life, so that mastering the skill yourself instead of working around your lack of it is the bar set for my scout. They now have my old knife, they'll get my needles too when they're ready 😂

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When I earned Tenderfoot back in the stone age (around 1966),  I asked my mom to sew it on.  She said, "no, this is YOUR job now", and showed me how to thread a needle and do a simple stitch around the edge of the patch.  It was crude, uneven, and crooked, but it was mine.  I got better over the years.  I hate the newer patches with the raw edge of the twill cloth sticking out around the edge...looks cheap and amateurish.  I much preferred the embroidered edged patches which would hide the stitch better.

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On 1/16/2024 at 8:48 PM, DuctTape said:

Those LitePac diy gear instructions were/are awesome. 

Yes, but how times have changed. Today, canvas and sewing would likely be replaced with poly (blue) tarp and duct tape and shower curtain poncho with 33gal plastic trash bags. Lighter, mostly single-use yes, durable not so much. :unsure:

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50 minutes ago, RememberSchiff said:

Yes, but how times have changed. Today, canvas and sewing would likely be replaced with poly (blue) tarp and duct tape and shower curtain poncho with 33gal plastic trash bags. Lighter, mostly single-use yes, durable not so much. :unsure:

Sadly you are correct. SilNylon and SilPoly are not that expensive now, and would be better options than the polyblue, etc... 

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1 hour ago, RememberSchiff said:

shower curtain poncho

I was amazed recently when reading about Emma Gatewood who thru-hiked the AT at 67 years old in 1955 (and then again two more times from what I understand) with a main piece of equipment being a shower curtain as a tarp.  I thought that sounded so unusual but based on this additional source, maybe it was a common "hack" of that time in history.  Nifty.

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31 minutes ago, curious_scouter said:

I was amazed recently when reading about Emma Gatewood who thru-hiked the AT at 67 years old in 1955 (and then again two more times from what I understand) with a main piece of equipment being a shower curtain as a tarp.  I thought that sounded so unusual but based on this additional source, maybe it was a common "hack" of that time in history.  Nifty.

Emma Gatewood was quite Thrifty. Note at 2:28/3:10 comment about shower curtain, wool blanket, and Keds.

 

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