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How many boys can be in a tent? Can there be 3?


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Depends on the tent. Most I've experienced was maybe 24. Growing up, our troop had a "circus" tent donated from the national guard. We'd set it up on winter campouts. (Mainly 'cause it was easiest to move via Klondike sleds.) Like 'HAWK said, geometric curve ... as in bedtime snowball fights (the snowballs on parabolic trajectories, of course ;) )!

 

As far as minimums, I've allowed -8. That is, if a group of boys wanted to sleep under the stars, and only a couple set up a tent or an emergency tarp in case of rain, that was no problem with me. Site clean-up is actually a lot easier because stuff stays in boys' packs rather than splayed all around a tent.

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There aren't any rules for number of scouts. If you're not backpacking, so weight isn't a concern, we generally take the manufacturer's spec and reduce it by one. So a four man tent sleeps three, a three man tent sleeps two. TAHAWK is right, the more scouts in a tent the later they'lll be up and the louder they'll be. Not to be pedantic, but I think he means exponential not geometric curve. Three scouts aren't just half again as loud as two, they will be twice as loud.

 

A few years ago on a Tenderfoot weekend, the weekend in spring when we have our crossovers out for their first camping trip, my Troop Guide, QM, and SPL thought it would be a good idea to put six brand new scouts in a tent together. About 1:30, when the aforementioned trio still had not been able to get them settled down, I'd had enough and dragged them out and read them the riot act. When I asked the older scouts whose bright idea it was to put them all in one tent there were a lot of sheepish looks. We have n't made that mistake since.

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... I think he means exponential not geometric curve. ...

 

... About 1:30, ... I'd had enough and dragged them out and read them the riot act. ...

 

No I think geometric covers it, specifically though, the amount of chaos per body-count is typically hyperbolic rather than exponential. There's an asymptote out there somewhere ... a.k.a. "Shh, the SM's gonna hear us!"

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My old troop always took the manufacturer's recommendation and divided by half so you could also store gear in the tent. So a 4 man tent became 2 with packs. 8 man tent became 4 with gear.

 

Now my son's troop has tents with a vestibule. So they can have 3 inside like the manufacturer suggests, and the gear is in the vestibule.

 

On a different note, may I suggest you take Introduction to Outdoor Leadership Skills as these questions are covered in that training.

 

Also some of these questions can be answered by your older scouts.

 

Finally, WELCOME TO DA FORUMS!

 

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Also remember those 3 scouts have gear! so now that tent is even more crapped. A 4 man tent is ideal for 2 scouts and gear. I make my son (webelos) sleep on his own now, hopefully it will encourage the other Webs to get out of Moms tent! UGH

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Also remember those 3 scouts have gear! so now that tent is even more crapped. A 4 man tent is ideal for 2 scouts and gear. I make my son (webelos) sleep on his own now' date=' hopefully it will encourage the other Webs to get out of Moms tent! UGH [/quote']

 

Gear is best kept out of the tent: packs outside against a tree (or your walking sticks) and covered. In bear country food/garbage suspended from a limb. Only thing that goes in a tent: the tent-bag and spare pegs/poles, sleeping bags/pads and their stuff sacks/chords (pjs should already be in the bag), and a ditty bags with change of clothes.

 

Anyway, that's the only way you get anywhere close to fitting the advertized capacity.

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. I make my son (webelos) sleep on his own now' date=' hopefully it will encourage the other Webs to get out of Moms tent! UGH [/quote']

 

When oldest was a Webelos I, he made tarp shelter for camp out. Birthday before becoming a Boy Scout, he wanted, and got, a 1 man tent from ALPS Mountaineering. He thought he would be able to use it with his troop. Alas troop has a policy of patrols staying in the patrol tents, so he hasn't used with Scout yet. But now that is is no longer in a patrol for the next 4 months.... :)

 

 

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