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Starting a new troop: Budget items


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Ya know ... troops just don't need to build up that much stuff.  Usually troops have way way way more stuff then they need for a camp out.  

If you are asking "budget" ... part of the budget is who pays for what.

  • Who pays camping fees?  Are scouts paying per camp out or does troop cover from general fund part of the camping fee
  • Who pays food?  Does a scout collect and then spend from that?  Or does a patrol member submit a receipt for food to the troop treasurer?  
  • How is the troop funded?  

I ask as it majorly affects your budget plans?  In one troop, the troop charges $20 to $25 for each camp out.  Then they tack on another $5 for materials.  Fuel.  Stove.  Etc.  The goal is the troop should come out ahead by a few days per person per camp out.  That money builds up to be how they pay for tents and other equipment.  

But you can do it other ways too.  Fundraisers.  Or have scouts bring the equipment.  Or ....

It really is a double sided budget.  Not just what do you need to spend, but how do you raise those funds too.

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Thanks, everyone! This is the list of “stuff” that I’ve come up with. Not all of it needs to be available on Day One, but within the first year. Have I missed anything big?

Tents
Tarps
Rope
Cooler
Storage bins
Stoves
Fuel
Cook pots
Cook pans
Utensils
Campfire grate
Dutch Oven
Firewood
Fire Buckets
First Aid Kit
Bow Saw
Axe
Hand Axe
Lashing Staves
Troop Flag
American Flag
Patrol Flag Materials
Flagpoles
Flag Belts
Summer Camp Deposit

 

 

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Lots of little things will come up as your scouts determine program elements.

Storage shelves, lighters/matches, candles, tables, whipping string, lumber for projects like klondike derby sleds and camp boxes.

Compasses. GPS.

If you all are doing a lot of acquatics: pfds, oars paddles.

If bicycling: helmets, pumps, repair kits.

Map sets!

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5 hours ago, shortridge said:

Thanks, everyone! This is the list of “stuff” that I’ve come up with. Not all of it needs to be available on Day One, but within the first year. Have I missed anything big?

Tents
Tarps
Rope
Cooler
Storage bins
Stoves
Fuel
Cook pots
Cook pans
Utensils
Campfire grate
Dutch Oven
Firewood
Fire Buckets
First Aid Kit
Bow Saw
Axe
Hand Axe
Lashing Staves
Troop Flag
American Flag
Patrol Flag Materials
Flagpoles
Flag Belts
Summer Camp Deposit

 

 

Some is not even necessary for the first year. A few perhaps not at all. For example, some of the camping items are often used for car camping and might be "nice to have", but are not necessary.  Lashing staves? I would suggest gathering some from the woods. In my experience they work better than the purchased ones anyway.

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3 hours ago, DuctTape said:

Some is not even necessary for the first year. A few perhaps not at all. For example, some of the camping items are often used for car camping and might be "nice to have", but are not necessary.  Lashing staves? I would suggest gathering some from the woods. In my experience they work better than the purchased ones anyway.

I agree. This is kind of a catch-all list because we’d be dealing with a potential wide range of experience levels. A troop of mostly younger Scouts can’t be expected to go backpacking or have lightweight gear on the first trek. A cooler, for example, may be a necessary transition item to get them through a year of “lightweight car camping” before they’re ready to hike everything in on their backs. 

Lashing staves are more for practice during meetings; a CO might not like it if we dragged in a bunch of downed saplings and left bark all over the place.

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3 hours ago, shortridge said:

I agree. This is kind of a catch-all list because we’d be dealing with a potential wide range of experience levels. A troop of mostly younger Scouts can’t be expected to go backpacking or have lightweight gear on the first trek. A cooler, for example, may be a necessary transition item to get them through a year of “lightweight car camping” before they’re ready to hike everything in on their backs. 

Lashing staves are more for practice during meetings; a CO might not like it if we dragged in a bunch of downed saplings and left bark all over the place.

I hear ya.

This might not be for you, but if one considers starting to use the same gear for a backwoods adventure when first starting out near the car it might make the transition much easier as the scouts (more the adults) do not need to relearn how to do "without" a certain item. YMMV.

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Our experience is the scouts after a year had a totally different view of what they really needed for camping than what the adults felt was required for the first camp out. If I were to do it again, I would start with equipment only needed for backpacking. That is where our troop ended up four years later anyway.

We had several really nice well designed patrol camp boxes laying around that nobody except the adults used. Scouts hated them, so we ended up lending them to new troops.

Barry 

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