Being prepared doesn’t only apply to the Scouts, leaders help enable scouts by being prepared to when things go wrong.
Show Notes:
When deciding what to keep in your pack you are always balancing weight against potential benefit. These items below have saved me numerous times. The rain suit is of particular use even though it does add significantly to the weight of the pack. In a pinch you can always leave the upper or lower layer at home depending on the circumstances.
The gorilla tape comes in a small compact roll, no need to cut a roll down with a utility knife. It is ideal for camping.
- Frog Tog Rain Suit (Amazon)
- Disposable Ponchos (Amazon)
- Waterproof Matches container (Amazon)
- Gorilla Tape (Amazon)
Transcript:
As a follow up to last week’s ScoutMaster Dave videocast on what to do when things don’t go right, and how to prepare for it.
Many of the items I have for preparation simply lie in wait for when I need them. I keep a lot of things in both my pack and in my car. These are just there and don’t come out. As you can see, I keep an extra set of boots in my back seat, matches in a waterproof container, some trail food, an extra flash light and of course a pen.
In my glove compartment I have a small first aid kit, and my personal BSA medical form. I staff a bunch or events so having this handy is always good.
Looking at my trunk space, I have a hidden compartment with paper towels, tshirts, hat and rope (update with what is in trunk). Additionally I keep a fleece blanket and jumper cables.
These items don’t take a ton of space and if there is any problem with it, it can be that you forget they are there, so this is a nice reminder.
Taking a look at my pack, I keep a set of rain gear for myself. These generally stay in my pack from trip to trip. The good thing about this set is in cold weather I can pull it out and stick it on a boy as an extra layer if needed, or even for myself.
Also in the pack I keep some trail food, a rain poncho – this is just one of those dollar store items, use it once and toss it. I keep a small roll of gorilla tape, a lighter, extra batteries and some tissues.
I also stick more troop related items all over the troop gear bags. These include extra garbage bags, and lantern mantles. There is nothing worse that setting up a lantern only to find out that the mantles are broken, I keep extras taped in every lantern case and an extra one in the first aid kit.
Over the years I’ve extended this to the adult patrol box, where I keep a baggie with instant coffee, tea bags, sugar and Splenda along with some soy sauce packets, plus another plastic ziplock bag with a few plastic forks spoons and knives.
It’s impossible to plan for every contingency, and realistically you don’t want to do too much for the boys. There is something to be said for having them go without, figuring out how to repurpose what they have for something they forgot.
As Baden Powel said, Scouting is a game with a purpose. Having the boys, come up with creative solutions to their problems is all part of the fun, but this is what works for us.
Take what you like and leave the rest, and as we say in Woodbadge, feedback is a gift, leave yours below in the comments, with the hope we can all learn together.
I’m Scoutmaster Dave, and this was being prepared.
