Almost 5,000 Scouts, plus leaders, staff, volunteers, etc. Weather was low in the mid 50’s, high of almost 80, Light rain Saturday night. Clear, some overcast during the day on Saturday. There were 76 different “events / games” for the scouts to choose from. This was NOT a merit badge type outing, but several were possible, mainly—FUN only.
Bert Adams is about 1,300 acres, mostly flat, pine trees, with lake, creeks, etc.
Please, Please Remove your drop down trailer hitch when you disconnect your trailer. Scouts LOVE to play pranks, and remove them and stack in a pile. They make perfect tie points to string fishing line between to set “traps” for the un-expecting. They hurt like a SOB, when you hit your shin on them.
Scouts can break anything; give them an anvil and a feather, 10 minutes later the anvil will be broken in half.
It was a GREAT event, but I did catch that new Chinese disease by Monday morning—Dragon A$$
With large groups, port a johns, it is important to keep your own “stash” of TP—on your person/backpack. Wet ones, hand sanitizer are extra bonuses. ALWAYS have someone (you trust) to watch the door while using, as Scouts love to show off their knowledge of Knots and demonstrate it by wrapping rope around the port a john and tying the door shut—with you inside.
With so many campers in such close setting, foam EAR PLUGS are required for a decent night sleep
Ticks, Fleas, creepy crawlers are already out and about in the Metro Atlanta Area
One 18” snake being sited turns into 100’s of 6’ snakes by that afternoon (Scout communication)
Disposable, water less tooth brushes are GREAT, like the 40 for $4.49 at WM
It still amazes (and disappoints) me that so many scout families are not prepared for the smallest of issues that come up at camp.
No Sunscreen
No Insect repellant
No rain gear
No first aid (band aides, pain med’s, aspirin, etc. small items)
No extra clothes / boots / socks / under wear, etc.
Some of the Scout families (those that expect someone else to pay, provide for their needs) Expect that the camp ground / leaders to supply ALL of their needs. They just need to “show up” and everything is to be provided / set up for them. It was a hard learning lesson for several of them, but I must place part of the “blame” on the Scout Leaders of their Troupes for not informing them better of what is/was required.
A Good / Great wagon with off road tires is Required for a pleasurable camping experience (haul gear, water, food etc. from trailer, events, campsite). Trailer parking to camp site was up to 1.5 miles away. We could, however, pull up to campsite and unload /load the trailer, during the load/unload times; otherwise it was “tote”. We still had to haul water to campsites for cooking, cleaning.
Color coordinated “T’” shirts (or clothing) is a great asset when trying to keep track of your group
Using two different colors of glow sticks on lanyards made recognizing and identifying “our” scouts after dark much easier than using a single color.
On the .22 rifle range, we generated Two 5 gallon buckets of empty brass (yes, it is recycled)
Seeing a scout “hit” the target for the first time, that smile, which is ear to ear, is PRICELESS!
We only had enough NRA trained instructors to open the rifle range, the shotgun and pistol ranges had to remain closed (Shameless plug for more NRA certified instructors to help their local Scout groups)
All types of equipment are seen at a campout of this size. Good quality equipment (new, used or Old) is always better that Cheap Quality (or lack thereof) New equipment. I saw a lot of brand new; just out of the box items that were missing pieces and therefore a “field fix” was needed to make it function.
Attending a Campout like this, you meet ALL types of Scouts, Parents, Leaders, and Staff 99.9% are great to be around, but there seems to always be “the one” that tries to ruin it for everyone else. Try and not let it ruin the event, for you, your son or group. Try not to be “The One”.
With this large of a group, it was easy to spot the more experienced campers, and make some useful new friends for future Scout/ hunting/fishing trips, outings. Some hold potential for more inclusion into our expanding family survival group.
Backpacks MUST be properly sized to the Scout (actually everyone). Only carry what you think you Might need for the trip / event, especially when at a camp, such as this. Adjust the items in the pack for the local conditions. One Troup was carrying their bedrolls, sleeping bags everywhere they went, all day on Saturday—never got a chance to speak with them about that.
On my pickup (work truck) I had 14 pieces of ½” and ¾” PVC electrical conduit; we used it all, cutting in 24” sections as “sleeves” over broken/bent tent poles. It was flexible enough and small enough to slide thru the tent pocket for the poles. Not sure how long it would last, but it was great for an emergency repair. I know they make tent pole repair kits, but this is what I had on hand. I tired shorter pieces (8-10”, but the strain on some poles / tents really made it difficult to erect the tent.
½” PVC electrical conduit will work in lieu of missing tent poles, at least on a Coleman 4 man, 2 pole type tents. It took three pieces, with one of the pieces being cut to length. We were lucky that it was a common tent and we could measure the length needed from other tents.
I had 2 rolls of Gorilla tape, both rolls were used. Not sure how, but neither roll came back, but A LOT of people told me “Thank You” for the tape. (I had written my name, pack # on the inside of the rolls)
Cable ties were used for many tents, to secure the poles to the rain fly, or to the frame. It seems many break the clips and need to be attached differently (field engineering)
Many scouts have single mothers that are trying to help their sons become better men. They sometimes need a little extra help and encouragement. A “Great Job, Well Done” goes a long way to improving their self-esteem, and keeps them active in their sons life. Offering to assist them Before they are overwhelmed also goes a long way to keep them coming back and not giving up. Bragging on them and their son REALLY makes a difference in their lives.
Good wide mouth water bottles with a means to attach to backpack, belt
Good sunglasses, I prefer the work “safety sunglasses”, like you buy at the large box stores, for wearing at all times (shooting glasses were used at / around the rifle range)
Having Tupperware containers of patches for the rifle range, made cleanup much easier. Containers of dry patches, oiled patches and patches soaked in solvent helped speed up the process of cleaning the rifles at the end of the day. It also reduced the amount of “spillage” from having open bottles of oil / solvent on the benches.
Having a large “come along”, to use to tighten up a 100’ rope for a clothes line, really makes it much easier, and you can pull it tight enough to hold many, many items on the rope.
Two way radios, worked great for communication and staying in touch with the Scouts. Cell phones worked fine, and had good coverage, but many of the boys didn’t have cell phones (at their age)
5 gallon buckets were needed for “fire safety”, since the water faucet could be a long way from the camp sites. Be sure that they have good working handles
Short hose piece, 3-5‘worked great on the water faucets
Good gloves, normal and type for working around the fire (Dutch ovens) are needed, as is a way to lift the Dutch ovens when hot.
Keep on Scouting!
Scout Campout 100, 100 years of Scouting in Atlanta, Lessons Learned
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