Crossover Info
Welcome to the Troop. This guide should provide some basic information of the gear you’ll need during your years as a Scout. Gear can be expensive. Our goal is to help you prioritize what you need for your first overnight outing and what you’ll need over the long haul.
GENERAL PRINCIPLES
Cotton is bad
Lite is good
Lite is expensive
Scouts lose the small stuff
Cotton is bad
For camping cotton is bad. Cotton does not wick moisture, does not keep you warm when it gets wet and unfortunately does not dry out very quickly. We recommend synthetic fabrics that wick moister. This helps keep you cool in the summer and warm in the winter.
Go lite. Keep the weight of gear in mind. As we will be doing a lot of backpacking over the next few years it’s best to start getting low weight gear now instead of heavy gear now and buying another set later. Lite gear tends to be more expensive so prioritize purchases on the important stuff first.
Where did my ___ go? I know it’s a shock but things tend to get lost. Knives, headlamps, compasses... anything small and expensive will be the first to go. We suggest not going overboard and buying expensive versions of anything that’s likely to get left, broken or misplaced.
RESOURCES
There are a number of places to get more detail on gear and to buy gear. Below is a sample list. We encourage you to check out Ozark Out Door Supply, ask about there scout discount. And remember your Scoutmasters and fellow Scouts are usually your best resources.
ozarkoutdoor.com, Backpacking Lite New Boy Scout article, campmor.com, rei-outlet.com, northernmountain.com.
WHAT DO I BUY FIRST?
If your first overnighter is in a week do you have to buy everything right now for it? No. In fact, the Troop Scoutmasters and others probably have some of the basic gear you can borrow. Check before you buy. After your first outing, after you’ve been bitten by the camping bug (and a few mosquitos) you should plan on what to buy first. Below is a general guide.
Sleeping Bag
Sleeping Pad
Rain gear
Hiking Boots
Anything missing from the Scout Basic Essentials
THE SCOUT BASIC ESSENTIALS
From a simple day hike to a 5 day 50 miler, there are essential items you need to carry with you. You can find this list on pages 268-269 of your spine bound or spiral bound Boy Scout Handbook.
Pocketknife: Wait. Even though they may have a knife from Webelos, they need to get their Toten’ Chit before they can use a pocket knife on outings.
First Aid Kit: Do not buy. We will make personal first aid kits during a meeting.
Rain Gear: Buy. The Backpacking Lite article has a good breakdown on rain gear. Gore Tex and other breathable waterproof fabrics are ideal but expensive, especially when they will be growing out of a number of jackets between the ages of 11 to 17. A simpler solution is a poncho.
Water Bottle: Buy. Simple and cheap. Just make sure it doesn’t leak. The recommendation from the troop is get a few Nalgene water bottles. Even if you get a backpack with a Camelbak water system in it . . . have a water bottle as well. Should be at least 1 quart size, and no glass.
Flashlight: Buy a headlamp. You can get a decent, high quality LED headlamp for about $15. Headlamps fall into the category of things that are likely to be lost or broken. Don’t spend too much here.
Sun Protection: SPF 30 or higher. When we go to summer camp you are not allowed to bring aerosol spray bottles e.g. sunscreen, etc. This is because they can be used to make blowtorches. Instead you can use non-aerosol sunscreen such as banana boat, or other non-spray sunscreens.
Map and Compass: Buy a compass. Scouts use Silva-type compasses. Avoid lensatic type compasses.
PERSONAL CAMPING CHECKLIST
So you’re doing more than a hike and going out overnight camping. Here is the list from page ____ of your Boy Scout Handbook with notes and links to specific gear.
The Scout Basic Essentials: See above
Clothing appropriate for the season and weather:
Footwear: All new Scouts can use the sneakers that they wear for everyday use for some of the campouts but a decent pair of hiking boots go along way when they start backpacking . Since these boys are constantly growing out of shoes, I would not purchase real expensive shoes for hiking Academy has decent mid rise Hiking boots that will provide ankle support. When you go camping ALWAYS bring a pair of spare shoes!
Base or Wicking layer: (most of this comes from the Backpacking Lite article) From shirts to boxers/briefs you want the layer of clothes closest to your skin to move the moisture (from sweat, rain, etc) away from your body (to wick) so that your body can properly stay warm. Cotton does the opposite. There are a number of synthetic materials like Coolmax , Capilene and others that work well for this base level. You can find clothes made from this at REI and other sporting goods stores. Same rule applies for socks. But in addition to these synthetic materials wool provides the right combination of cushion, wicking and warmth.
Insulation layer: This is the next layer out. We dress in layers, often piling on 4 or 5 smaller layers instead of 3 big ones. Generally this layer is your fleece layer. We live in the Pacific Northwest. Fleece is pretty much the standard uniform. Because of this we can often find fleece jackets of various thicknesses and sizes at thrift stores. Check here first.
Outerwear and rainwear: See the rainwear discussion above. Also, depending on the season, a light nylon windbreaker may be all you need (especially if you have enough insulation layers). Generally this layer serves to protect you from wind and/or rain. Check thrift stores here as well.
Backpack with rain cover: Even though there are two general options for backpacks – internal and external frames – Scouts tend to like to have what the other guys have and the other guys generally gravitate toward internal frames because they are “cooler”. Your best bet is to go to Ozark Out Door Supply and to try one on, to load some stuff in it and have them walk around a bit. It’s important that the pack fit. If you get it at Ozark Out Door Supply they can fit it to the Scout. Three season hikes should not take more than 50L.