bakerjw

I stuff my sleeping bags. They came stuffed when I bought them. When I use my pack with a zippered compartment at the bottom I have a plastic trash bag in there and stuff my sleeping bag in there without the stuff sack. In another pack with just one large volume I stuff my sleeping bag into a compression stuff sack. I have some cheap coleman sleeping bags that don't stuff well so I fold then lengthwise, roll them and put them in the stuff sack.

I used to stuff my tent because of the argument that folding and rolling caused damage at the fold lines. Also, when the tent was folded and rolled it was a tight squeeze to get it into the tent bag. Almost 20 years stuffing it didn't appear to damage my Moss Olympic tent. I recently bought an REI Quarter Dome T3 Plus with a compression bag. It came nicely folded and rolled and I noticed that it fit easily into the bag then the straps cinched it all up tight. I think it was Backpacker that interviewed the head of each of the major tent manufacturers and every one of them concurr

Our troop's gear situation sounds similar to yours. We have grown considerably in the last 3 years to the point that either we go toward compact, lightweight backpacking or buy another gear trailer. Our troop provides tents, stoves and cookware, but are encouraging scouts to buy their own backpacking tents as they are able. The troop has a number of 2-3 man tents, but they are a bit heavier than we like. We recently bought a dozen primus canister stoves from REI for about $22 each. These and some old Coleman single-burner backpacking stoves we have and some personally owned backpacking st

If there isn't an REI near you or another good outfitter store then at least go to their website and readup on how to size a pack. Torso length and waist size are important numbers to know. A short person may have a long torso and if the torso range on the pack doesn't fit them then it can make for a miserable 2 mile hike. Waist size is important because in the lower price range many of the packs don't have removeable waist belts so you are stuck with what they have. As far as pack size for weekend backpacking, a 3000-4500 cubic inch volume (50-74 liters) is probably the range you'd wa

I haven't used these tents so can only comment based on the pictures and description. The BSA X Country tent looks like a slightly smaller, but heavier version of the North Face Bullfrog 23 that used to sell for about $180-$240. Does it have a vestibule? I don't like that it has long pole sleeves instead of clips. It can be a hassle to slide poles through the long sleeves when it is windy and rainy. The BSA Pine Bluff maybe a good, cheap starter tent, but would be heavy for backpacking. Have you looked at Alps Mountaineering and their Scoutdirect.com discount program for Scouts? For abo

Beagle Scout, I read the Bear arrow point requirements statement also and that added even more uncertainty to whether or not extra Wolf achievements could apply to arrow points. I don't want this to seem argumentative because, frankly, I don't like the legalistic view I sometimes see when people argue about the requirements for cub scout awards. I would rather give the boy the award than argue about some nuance or ambiguity in a requirement. I have never seen anyone mention their Cub Scout awards on a job application or resume, but I have seen the excitement in a boy's eyes when he

Since my Council Program Director gave the o.k. to use extra Wolf achievements as electives toward arrow points then that's the direction I'm going to go with. I have already given arrow points based on this. It's so close to the end of the scout year for our pack that it wouldn't be fair to pull them back at this point anyway. It's interesting that none of these replies identified anything from a BSA-approved/authorized source (website or document) that stated that either there are no other Wolf electives other than the 23 in the back section of the Wolf book or that extra achievements

I have a question whether extra Wolf achievements (those beyond the minimum needed for the achievement) can be applied toward electives to earn arrow points. The current Wolf Book doesn't explicitly state that they can or cannot. I spoke with my Council Program Director who stated that the extra achievements could be counted as electives toward earning arrow points for the Wolf rank. My Cubmaster doesn't think they can be used as electives. My dilemma is that I have been using the CubTrax spreadsheet which counts extra achievements as electives and have awarded arrow points based on tha