Jump to content

Troop Trailers - Luxury or necessity


Recommended Posts

Oh, I do have another reason for troop trailers. Still not a dire necessity, but sure are a welcome helpful device to have.

 

WEnt to my first Boy Scout summer camp. 11 boys and 3 adults rode in 3 vehicles. One pulled the trailer.

 

The trailer isn't just for hualling, but does act as an onside storage unit. 11 boys and 3 adults carried a weeks wworth of gear to camp. Backpacks, day packs, sleeping bags, duffle bags, wall tents 5 gallon coolers, our washing machine( two 5 gal buckets and clean plunger , laundry detergent).

Shovel, rake, axe and hatchet for campsite maint and/or any potential service projects.

 

Trailer ia a 5 X 8 enclosed trailer. It's not a car carrier sized behemoth.

 

One trhing thevtrailer does is allow scout to work together. Everybody loads their gear in trailer the day before even if you are driving. My son and I could have easily carried our own gear in our own truck, but we didn't. All scouts work together to load trailer neatly, aand when we get to camp ( after check in and med check) the form a line and unload gear from trailer. Nobody walks off and sets up until all gear is unloaded.

 

WE hosted another unit at our campsite for ice cream, cookies, and hot dogs. Well, our Sm went out in the morning to get supplies and we stored them in the trailer until needed to make sure they were safe from wildlife, insects, heat and scouts :)

 

Keeps campsite neat for inspection too.

 

Trailer also stores a box of chem lights, lanternes, extra tents, rainflys, stakes, first aid kits, wall mounted file box for med forms, fire extinguishers, and any extra gear that may be needed.

 

Sure, we could have put most of that stuff in the back of the two trucks that went to camp, but suppose it rained on the way there? Alot of wet gear .

 

What if scouts carpooled in 4 Honda cars or such? There wouldn't have been room for backpacks, blankets , sleeping bags, clothes, etc...

 

 

So no, the trailer isn't a real, dire necesity.

 

But neither is a refrigerator in your home. You can always buy pints of milk and buy your meat daily. Would save you some space and electricity too. But it makes things easier and more convienent to have. Plus teh time spent going back and forth to the store could be used to plan your next scout outing.

 

As for real scouting...well how about stop using your A/C? A real scout in the woods has no access to an A/C so why have one at home?

 

 

It could go on and on.

 

Trailer is not imperative to life, but neither are most things we have or do either...like scouter.com

 

 

But it makes things easier.

Link to post
Share on other sites
  • Replies 90
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Top Posters In This Topic

Popular Posts

There are times when there is just not enough room to carry the backpacks alone based on number and size of cars. My Corolla can take 5 people, albeit a tight fit, but there simply is not enough trunk

There is a huge difference between sending lowes a picture of the Troop with the trailer with a thank you note and having a 3 foot long lowes logo on the side of it.....

 

Fish I would make the CO aware you are accepting a $1600 donation from lowes and have them issue the appropriate tax form. Because lowes is selling it to you below what an ordinary customer can purchase it for...... I forget what it is called.....there is a phrase for it....Little help please.

 

Link to post
Share on other sites

I've seen troops go to camp on a Greyhound before... We took 35 boys and 8 adults to an out of state camp years ago that was 14 hours driving away, and would have required an overnight stop due to the tour permit rules on how many hours of driving we could do in a day. Got a quote from the local bus company, found it was cheaper than renting 14 passenger vans, so we did it. All our personal gear fit in the underfloor bays with a little room to spare.

 

But back to the topic, which has been flogged to death... For summer camp and maybe Camporee, having a single 6x10 open trailer works just fine for us. The open trailer means it doesn't become a clutter-collector like the enclosed ones do, and it also doesn't present a high profile therefore causing a gas mileage hit.

 

There are several troop families who have these for their quads, so we don't own one as a unit. Even if we did, our state offers permanent utility trailer registration, so there'd be little to no recurring cost except for tire replacement every three or four years due to sun rot...

Link to post
Share on other sites

At camp I saw a multi-trailer unit with a trailer that turned into a mobile kitchen for their two meals they had to cook on their own. They also had a generator in another going all the time with flood light towers. I heard stereos going all the time. No doubt the leaders were working on piping in AC to all the individual tents. Must have been tough on the poor laddies...away for 6 days and all. Kinda soured me on the trailer thing a bit.

 

Must say they always looked marvelous...Zippy uniforms and all. Maybe there was a laundromat tucked away somewhere.

Link to post
Share on other sites

>>Heh, heh! Now that you mention it, I would like to see a troop arrive for summer camp that pile out of a Greyhound style bus, followed by a 14 wheeler packing their gear!

 

I'd be hustling over to this discussion board to report that event, you can be sure!

Link to post
Share on other sites
  • 2 months later...

Son's troop DOES do the charter bus to summer camp every year. Much nicer than trying to have the parents move them all 4 hrs each way. Gear fits down under, except what the SM takes in his pickup. Usually the farthest travelled troop for the summer. Enough CM show up by the end of the week for BORs.

Even the BK lunch stop on the way home has come to expect us to drop in.

Troop had a trailer in years gone by, replacing it comes up every 2-3 yrs, with not enough interest to make it happen.

Camporee and beach trip are the car camping variety, the rest are geared more like backpacking even if the only hike is into camp.

Link to post
Share on other sites
  • 3 weeks later...

We use a trailer but could do without if we changed our current "personality". We've gone from a backpacking/dirt camper troop to a more high adventure type troop. We do lots of paddle and bike trips, laid-back car camping trips usually turn into cooking type competitions so we end up taking everything including the kitchen sink "just in case"

 

"At camp I saw a multi-trailer unit with a trailer that turned into a mobile kitchen for their two meals they had to cook on their own. They also had a generator in another going all the time with flood light towers. I heard stereos going all the time. No doubt the leaders were working on piping in AC to all the individual tents. Must have been tough on the poor laddies...away for 6 days and all. Kinda soured me on the trailer thing a bit."

 

Funny, We went to Rock Enon (West Virginia) for summer camp a few years ago and saw a trailer similar to this except it had a flat screen TV and Direct TV dish with adults sitting around. (I didn't see kids watching) It's quit sad but I guess you do what you need to do to keep it going.

Link to post
Share on other sites
  • 1 year later...

Good evening all! I've been an ASM for about a year now, and was selected to take on the SM role starting In a couple days. At our last outing, we barely had enough room in the suburban for 3 scouts and all their gear, plus all the patrol boxes. My immediate response was to buy a 7'x14' v-nose tandem that I could multi-purpose (troop camp, motorcycling, personal camp outs, church cleanup...). In my search for troop trailer design ideas, I found your thread. Adding in my two cents, I would have to say 'opportunity cost.' Although our troop is led by the scouts, opportunities are typically provided by the adults. As the new SM, I want to ensue every scout has the opportunity to attend outings, regardless of what kind of outing they decide on. I appreciate the perspectives everyone has, and for sharing them. My take away is that the trailer should not to be used for permanent storage. They can load what they need, take it back home with them, and patrol boxes go back in storage. Hopefully this brings the pendulum back towards the middle, and increases the scouts opportunities to attend, to learn, and to become leaders. If anyone has some pics of good storage designs, it would be appreciated. My initial thought is three shelves on each side, each pinning the other against the walls so it does not have to be nailed down. I would think a modular design which could be customized to the their activity (camping, hiking, biking...) would be ideal.

Link to post
Share on other sites
Good evening all! I've been an ASM for about a year now, and was selected to take on the SM role starting In a couple days. At our last outing, we barely had enough room in the suburban for 3 scouts and all their gear, plus all the patrol boxes. My immediate response was to buy a 7'x14' v-nose tandem that I could multi-purpose (troop camp, motorcycling, personal camp outs, church cleanup...). In my search for troop trailer design ideas, I found your thread. Adding in my two cents, I would have to say 'opportunity cost.' Although our troop is led by the scouts, opportunities are typically provided by the adults. As the new SM, I want to ensue every scout has the opportunity to attend outings, regardless of what kind of outing they decide on. I appreciate the perspectives everyone has, and for sharing them. My take away is that the trailer should not to be used for permanent storage. They can load what they need, take it back home with them, and patrol boxes go back in storage. Hopefully this brings the pendulum back towards the middle, and increases the scouts opportunities to attend, to learn, and to become leaders. If anyone has some pics of good storage designs, it would be appreciated. My initial thought is three shelves on each side, each pinning the other against the walls so it does not have to be nailed down. I would think a modular design which could be customized to the their activity (camping, hiking, biking...) would be ideal.
Sometimes packing it in tight is the way to go. Others, not. If you keep interacting with the boys about the design, and how this "tool" should be used, it will be a great experience for the lot of you.
Link to post
Share on other sites
Good evening all! I've been an ASM for about a year now, and was selected to take on the SM role starting In a couple days. At our last outing, we barely had enough room in the suburban for 3 scouts and all their gear, plus all the patrol boxes. My immediate response was to buy a 7'x14' v-nose tandem that I could multi-purpose (troop camp, motorcycling, personal camp outs, church cleanup...). In my search for troop trailer design ideas, I found your thread. Adding in my two cents, I would have to say 'opportunity cost.' Although our troop is led by the scouts, opportunities are typically provided by the adults. As the new SM, I want to ensue every scout has the opportunity to attend outings, regardless of what kind of outing they decide on. I appreciate the perspectives everyone has, and for sharing them. My take away is that the trailer should not to be used for permanent storage. They can load what they need, take it back home with them, and patrol boxes go back in storage. Hopefully this brings the pendulum back towards the middle, and increases the scouts opportunities to attend, to learn, and to become leaders. If anyone has some pics of good storage designs, it would be appreciated. My initial thought is three shelves on each side, each pinning the other against the walls so it does not have to be nailed down. I would think a modular design which could be customized to the their activity (camping, hiking, biking...) would be ideal.
You hit the nail on that. (Pun intended). Another learning opportunity for the scouts. Have to figure out which merit badge that can be applied to.
Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...