Tenting: 2 years apart

[Sentinel947]

1 hour ago, mrkstvns said:

There might be solutions that work though:  like have buddy pairs in most tents, but 3 scouts in one....or letting an older scout have a tent to himself. Most of the time, a solution can be found, and it's best to share the objective with the PL and SPL and let them make the call.

My understanding of the rule means that won't work. The rule says "No more than two years apart in age." It doesn't specify how many scouts in a tent. So if there is a group of scouts 11, 12 and 14 in a tent, that's still a violation of the rule just like if there was an 11 and 14 year old in the tent. 

Edited May 2, 2019 by Sentinel947

[Jameson76]

Hammocks.  That's the only solution...hammocks

[qwazse]

4 minutes ago, Jameson76 said:

Hammocks.  That's the only solution...hammocks

Depends on the number of trees ... and stacked hammocks that are sharing the same tarp.

[mrkstvns]

8 minutes ago, Jameson76 said:

Hammocks.  That's the only solution...hammocks

Here in Texas, many of our state parks don't have trees bigger than cacti and scrub mesquite. Tough to hang a hammock.

Not really a problem though, since we just lay our bedrolls out on the ground near our horses.  Naturally, we make sure kids sleep next to kids and horses their own ages and we always have at least 2 female horses in any girl troop. 

[Jameson76]

5 minutes ago, mrkstvns said:

Here in Texas, many of our state parks don't have trees bigger than cacti and scrub mesquite. Tough to hang a hammock.

Not really a problem though, since we just lay our bedrolls out on the ground near our horses.  Naturally, we make sure kids sleep next to kids and horses their own ages and we always have at least 2 female horses in any girl troop. 

The level of complaining if there are not good hammocking trees is epic when we camp.  Literally there is one area we have not returned to due to lack of hammock trees.  On most outings (and we camp 35 - 40 Scouts) it runs about 80% hammock

Hard part is judging the age of the trees to make sure they are compliant with various age issues, no more than 2 years apart and whatnot.  Once you cut them down and count rings, tough to use for hammocks

[fred8033]

34 minutes ago, mrkstvns said:

Here in Texas, many of our state parks don't have trees bigger than cacti and scrub mesquite. Tough to hang a hammock.

Not really a problem though, since we just lay our bedrolls out on the ground near our horses.  Naturally, we make sure kids sleep next to kids and horses their own ages and we always have at least 2 female horses in any girl troop. 

So ... not to be the slow guy but ... I'm assuming you're joking.  ... I'm asking because it would be really cool to regularly camp with horses.  

[perdidochas]

2 hours ago, Sentinel947 said:

My understanding of the rule means that won't work. The rule says "No more than two years apart in age." It doesn't specify how many scouts in a tent. So if there is a group of scouts 11, 12 and 14 in a tent, that's still a violation of the rule just like if there was an 11 and 14 year old in the tent. 

The solution to the above is to have the 14 year old tent alone, and the 11 and 12 year old in another tent.  In my boys' old troop, they had a rule that Star and above scouts could tent alone.  Most did.  That said, had I been creating the rule, I would have had it be First Class and above, but it was troop tradition long before I was an ASM there. 

[mrkstvns]

1 hour ago, fred8033 said:

So ... not to be the slow guy but ... I'm assuming you're joking.  ... I'm asking because it would be really cool to regularly camp with horses.  

I am joking...but yeah, it would be REALLY cool to camp with horses.

There's a Cavalcade trek at Philmont that lets you do just that, and close to home (for me), the Sid Richardson Scout Ranch does a horse camp, but the BEST horse adventure I'm aware of in BSA is run by Cascade Pacific Council.  They do a high adventure trek where you ride 165 miles over 8 days.  Info is here:  https://www.cpcbsa.org/horses 

 

[mrkstvns]

11 minutes ago, perdidochas said:

The solution to the above is to have the 14 year old tent alone, and the 11 and 12 year old in another tent.  In my boys' old troop, they had a rule that Star and above scouts could tent alone.  Most did.  That said, had I been creating the rule, I would have had it be First Class and above, but it was troop tradition long before I was an ASM there. 

Our troop has the same rule. After my son earned his Star rank he made me take him to REI to buy the same small, lightweight tent that his friends got. No rule telling them what kind of tent to get, but fitting in with your peers is evidently its own motivation. Now if he were a hipster like me, he'd buy a heavy army surplus tent....

[Eagledad]

18 minutes ago, mrkstvns said:

I am joking...but yeah, it would be REALLY cool to camp with horses.

There's a Cavalcade trek at Philmont that lets you do just that, and close to home (for me), the Sid Richardson Scout Ranch does a horse camp, but the BEST horse adventure I'm aware of in BSA is run by Cascade Pacific Council.  They do a high adventure trek where you ride 165 miles over 8 days.  Info is here:  https://www.cpcbsa.org/horses 

 

I always wanted to do that. Not only is it fun (once you get past the saddle soreness), it teaches responsibility of animals because the horses require maintenance everyday. I’ve not done a cavalcade trek, but I’m pretty sure the scouts are taught to take care of their mounts after a long ride (grooming, feeding, etc.) before they set up camp. Certainly before they start preparing the evening meal.

Barry

[Eagle1993]

1 hour ago, mrkstvns said:

I am joking...but yeah, it would be REALLY cool to camp with horses.

There's a Cavalcade trek at Philmont that lets you do just that, and close to home (for me), the Sid Richardson Scout Ranch does a horse camp, but the BEST horse adventure I'm aware of in BSA is run by Cascade Pacific Council.  They do a high adventure trek where you ride 165 miles over 8 days.  Info is here:  https://www.cpcbsa.org/horses 

 

This is second hand but Many years ago our (20+) our Troop took a multi day horseback camping trip.  The first night they forgot to hobble the horses.   When they woke up,  all the horses were gone and no where in sight.  

They ended up hiking (quickly) back 15 miles or so with the leaders worried how they were going to tell the owner they lost all of their horses.   As the they approached closer to the ranch, they found the owner on the trail who yelled... you forgot to hobble the horses, didn’t you.  The leaders admitted it and told the owner they lost all of the horses.  

After letting the scouts sweat a bit, the owner said the horses all walked back to the ranch in the middle of the night and they could restart the trip.

 I was told it was a great experience and they never forgot to hobble the horses again.

[perdidochas]

1 hour ago, mrkstvns said:

Our troop has the same rule. After my son earned his Star rank he made me take him to REI to buy the same small, lightweight tent that his friends got. No rule telling them what kind of tent to get, but fitting in with your peers is evidently its own motivation. Now if he were a hipster like me, he'd buy a heavy army surplus tent....

My oldest got a series of tents and other shelters.  He got one he called the coffin--small one man single-layer tent. He hated it, because it had almost no ventilation. Then he bought himself a cheap popup tent--the instant kind.  Next was a hammock, then a two man backpacking style tent.  He also camped in a tarp, as well as under the skies in a bear burrito (because of dew, they would put down a tarp, then their sleeping pad, then their sleeping bag, and would then cover themselves with the rest of the tarp).    Youngest just got a one person tent and was happy with it. 

[Buggie]

I don't have the link, but there's a scout trek in the Big Bend area of Texas that has a week long adventure riding horses and camping. My son's old troop is attending this year. 

[mrkstvns]

2 minutes ago, Buggie said:

I don't have the link, but there's a scout trek in the Big Bend area of Texas that has a week long adventure riding horses and camping. My son's old troop is attending this year. 

Really?!?!

That sounds very interesting to me because I love the rugged, open terrain of Big Bend and would love to take a crew out there for a horse trek.  I can't seem to find info about this via a simple Google search, so if you do come across any contact info or a link to info, I would definitely be very interested.

Thanks for the idea!

[dedkad]

I hate backpacking on trails where horses are allowed. They chew up the trails so they are really dusty. You get stuck behind them on the trail and you're eating more dust. You get to your destination and finally find the perfect campsite only to find horse manure all over the nice flat area where you want to set up your tents. Worst of all, though, is the amount of gear that people put on those horses that they would never think to bring on their own into the wilderness. At one lake we had a horse group camping nearby with boom boxes and ice chests full of beer. Really took away from the backcountry experience.