Good time at Wehinahay

[Weekender 10]

Just want to give a report on our S-Camp experience this year. We attended camp at Wehinahpay Mountain in southwest New Mexico. We were fairly well south of any fires. Camp was pretty good, the area is gorgeous, could have used bigger helpings at the mess hall. I liked having a church service each morning. The C.O.P.E. program and the mountain biking was great for the older boys. The first year program was seriously lacking. We pulled our boys out in favor of merit badge classes and will teach them there first year skills ourselves. The weather was very nice...we even got a little rain (Praise God). Our boys, in their BDU pants, Troop T-Shirts, and boonie camps looked sharper than any other troop there. We had worked with the boys on looking good in formation and taking pride in their appearence. We got a lot of questions about how we get our boys to be so disciplined and look sharp...Our response was "instill some esprit de corps, point them in the right direction and watch them go."

 

The first night of camp the SPL decided he didn't care for the diminutive flagpole in our site. Within 3 hours we had a lashed 50 foot pole that the ranger asked us to leave in place when we left because he said it was the best one in camp. We'll have stories for months from this camp and all who attended are looking forward to whatever we do next year. We're considering Lost Pines in East Texas for the younger boys (we went there last year...Great first year program) and northern tier high adventure camp for the older guys.

 

Hope your S_Camp was great.

Give us a report when you get a few minutes.(This message has been edited by Weekender)

[KoreaScouter 13]

Weekender;

 

Congrats on a great camp; ours just ended, and I'm going to post a report in a minute. Get ready for some questions from other forum members about the camo uniform items -- many extended cracker barrels here over that subject...

 

How do you keep your Scouts from heat stroke? Is prevention just a way of life for you guys, or what?

 

KS

[Double Eagle 128]

Thank you for your time and giving the scouts a camp. KS hit on it and I'm just wondering (no judgements) whether the pants and boonie caps were the 4 color camo or solid colors like OD green? I won't open the debate. Sounds like you guys had a great time and are keeping them doing the fun stuff and advancing along the way.

[CubsRgr8 10]

What's a boonie cap?

[Double Eagle 128]

A boonie cap is a round floppy type hat. They were worn a lot in jungle areas or you may have seen them during the Gulf War in a desert color. They have a draw string that can be used to roll up the sides (cowboy style) or worn under your chin to keep in on your head in the high winds. Overall, a good sun protector.

[KoreaScouter 13]

And, if they're water repellent (either naturally or with Scotchgard), they'll keep your noggin dry too. Ironically, Cub Scouts have an official blue-color boonie-type hat (very expensive, over $30), but Boy Scouts, with the more robust outdoor program, does not...go figure.

[Weekender 10]

DE,

The Pants are Camo (Forest) the boonies are OD green. They were an outstanding purchase...probably the most utilitarian cover I've ever seen. We got them for $9 each through a catalog company (First Cav I think?).

 

KS,

 

Heat si always an issue here in the southwest but we make sure everyone drinks lots and lots and LOTS of water. That's pretty much the motto for the camps in this area.

 

We did get some comments on the BDU pants...as always they were both good and bad. The way I see it, since the boys are not "required" by BSA policy to wear the scout pants the fact that they all have decided to wear the same style pants works for me. Some troops wear blue jeans and shirts we wear BDU pants and shirts. By policy the boys could just wear a kneckerchief or wear no part of the uniform at all. We have found that our way instills esprit de corps. Our younger boys jumped right in on the good things our older boys were doing and were very proud to be identified with them.

[hops_scout 9]

I have an olive drab boonie hat and I like it. I have seen them in many differnt colors and plan to get one in Woodland camo to go with my BDU pants. I also plan to get a pair of OD BDU pants.