Boy Scouts

I was a cub scout then a boy scout. I made it to Life Scout, well on my way to Eagle, I volunteered with the cub scouts for a while and had a bunch of time invested in it. But, I had to quit when I was 16 for a bunch of reasons, I had some problems then and the pressure to keep all that going was getting to me. I do remember that our troop would always go camping when it rained or snowed, I mean every single trip too. We complained a lot, and I did my fair share of it but that's probably why I'll be the idiot out hiking in around swamps in downpours with no problems and why I don't have any problems camping in foul weather. However, our leaders couldn't navigate any better than a $2.00 GPS. I remember this one time we went hiking to the local statepark, Parvins, if you're familliar with the area, it's only about a half mile across. A few of us got separated from them but apparently they hiked the rest of the troop right through a swamp, in a thunderstorm, we made it to our campsite before they did. But it's the reason why I pack so light now, when I first started, I packed a lot of mostly unnecessary crap, by my last couple of years, I had it down to one small pack.

I think my worst camping experience would have to be the first time we went winter camping and I didn't bring enough dry clothes, rough night. Or maybe the time I went camping in March without a sweatshirt. Or maybe one of the dozen times that we camped in a swamp. Or maybe the time a giant wolf spider terrorized us in our tent for three days. Or maybe the time I fell off the wooden walkway into the lake muck while running from a bee. Or maybe the time... well you get the picture. Fun times though, now I'll be luckey if I get to go day hiking, let alone camping, once a year. Boy Scouts teaches a lot of lessons that are valuable, such as, never trust the ground in South Jersey, because it might not be ground. I owe a lot more than I would have admitted years ago, to my time in Scouts, enough to earn my respect.
 
Neat thread. Interesting to see how many folks on here were involved in scouting.

I could fill volumes with stories from my days in scouts but I don't really remember much in the way of bad things happening to me.

I guess there was the broken arm on the first day of summer camp one year. Got it casted and then was told I couldn't attend the overnight canoe/survival trip. Tore the cast off after smacking it against a tree. I still remember how mad that doc was when we went back for a second cast. I don't think king kong could have torn that second cast off.

I'm my sons' den leader and just got bumped into the asst. pack leader role. Things sure are different than they used to be.

SDS
 
I thoroughly enjoyed my time in the boy scouts when I was younger. We did many trips canoeing and backpacking in the Adirondacks, as well as regular outings closer to home in upstate NY. I went to scout camp on Seneca Lake.

Packs were cheap external frame, mine was bright orange. Sleeping bags were cotton, tents were single wall (some nylon, some canvas) that soaked through on rainy trips. You didn't want to be the one against the side of the tent when it was raining. We cooked over fires a lot, but I also used a sterno stove, and my father used an Optimus 8R. Other guys in our scout troop had a Svea 123 and an early version of the compact single burner Coleman stove. We never thought about treating water, we always drank it straight out of whatever body of water was handy.

I have also spent a number of years as an adult scout leader, and I have enjoyed that a lot. This summer I am taking a scout troop on a backpacking trip from Onion Valley (over Kearsarge Pass) to Whitney to commemorate the 100th anniversary of scouting. The basic gear has improved dramatically over the years, and gotten a lot lighter.

I would be hard pressed to think of a truly bad time in scouting. Tough times? Sure. Times when things did not work out as planned? Yes to that too. But they were all fun and interesting and rewarding.
 
Troop 411 south Miami Dade area, mid 70's, the best times of my childhood were spent on those boy scout camp outs and jamborees, I sure would like to get in touch with some of my old troop buddies. We had the canvas tents that leaked when you touched them, and in the glades it rained every camp out. Our troop was dirt poor but we still managed to go camping almost every month, our scout master was the best. The worst memory I have will be with me for life, we were hiking in the everglades nat. forest along the main trail that's made of railroad ties and I was kinda of sliding my hand along the top rail when a splinter about four in. long went in under my right thumb nail and came out where my thumb connects to my hand, man did that hurt, my buddie grabbed a small piece that was sticking out but only managed to cause me more intense pain, I was so scared that it would end the camp out for me that I hid it from the scout master and when I got home I managed to hide it from my mom for about three days till the pain and oozing pus was to much to bare any longer, my mother took me to work with her (she was a nurse) and cut it out herself removing the thumb nail also, then she grounded me for a month cause I could of lost my thumb.
 
One ring to rule them all...
One ring to find them...
One ring to bring them all and into the darkness bind them...
Oops, wrong ring :D

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Eagle Scout of 2004 :)

I think all of my camping trips with my troop and venture crew were great memories and all taught me something. My two biggest trip to date were my two visits to Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico. My first trip was with my troop, and the second one was with my venture crew. Both trips had breathtaking views and mini bears were running amok (chipmunks or squirrels, could never tell 'cause they were so fast :o).

Most of my summer camp events were local at Camp Karankawa and we did a one time visit to Buffalo Trails up in North Texas somewhere. After earning every merit badge that Karankawa had to offer, my week long summer trips there were a lot more fun hanging out with the older scouts and BS'ing around doing what we wanted during the day without a set schedule (we were the JLC - Junior Leadership Corp). I miss those days, learned a lot, burnt and cut a lot, and have friends and skills for life now :)

I hope my unborn son gets into scouts, it will give me an excuse to go camping once a month and spend quality time with him in the future ;)

Great thread, J.
 
I am an Eagle scout from the Pacific Northwest, and every overnight I went on for the first two years rained like cats and dogs.
One particular horrible adventure included an A frame tent setup on a slight incline, and sometime in the middle of the night, I noticed we had a small stream running between my tent mate and I, thus creating a reservoir in the foot of the tent...no bueno.
 
I couldn't wait until I was old enough to join the Boy Scouts. My first camp out it stormed and our canvas tents (no floors) weren't up for the job. My twin brother and I were hanging onto the center pole to keep the tent from being blown down, but then we decided that all the lightening made holding onto that too dangerous. The tent stayed up somehow, but we were soaked! Even though that was my first camp out, I loved camping and Scouting.

I made Star Scout and then realized at 14 while in 9th grade that scouting was not "cool" with the girls and I drifted away from it. I still have lots of my old gear and uniforms. I am very glad to see that one of my nephews is in Scouts. I read his Scout Handbook and can see that Scouts today have lots more issues to deal with than we did.
 
I earned my Eagle Scout award back in 1984 in troop 791 Fountain Valley, CA. That was a long time ago. I was and still am proud to be a Scout. I've held many positions since then including Scout Master, Merit Badge Counselor, Advancement Chairman, Unit Commissioner, and currently Cub Master of Pack 591 in Huntington Beach, CA.

Both of my son's have been in the scout program, My oldest made Star, and my youngest now 17 will be Eagle soon.

My best experience in scouts has been watching boys (especially my son's) experience the wilderness. My youngest son is a true outdoor junkie. Who loves everything he's learned in scouts.

My worst experience came when I was 16 years old. Our troop was hiking the Sierra's. We were on day 4 of a 7 day trip. We had just hiked over the highest pass I've even been on. It was real butt kicker. We where just below treeline in bear country, and had to hang our food every night. We spent most nights sleeping under the stars, and this particular night was no different. Four of us were sleeping next to each other, and the guy next to me failed to police his food trash after eating a candy bar in his sleeping bag. Needless to say I ended up next to the trash. In the middle of the night I felt something breathe on me. Then it started to sniff my face. I had my mummy bag pulled tight around my face, and was to afraid to open my eyes. Then this thing tapped my head with it's paw. I was scared to death, and slid down inside my bag as far as I could go. I moved slowly as far away from this beast as I could. After about 5 minutes, the beast left. I didn't move for the next half hour. When I finally had the courage to open my bag, there were bear paw prints all over my sleeping pad, along with the shredded remains of a candy bar wrapper. Needless to say, I woke everyone up and then beat on the fool who didn't police his trash. I've never been so scared in my life, and will never forget that bear.
 
TXBulldawg,
I still have my old Scout mess kit, I used it after my scout days hiking in the North Georgia Mts. I cooked many tasty meals with it. I have my GI canteen also, I still use it.
 
Let's start with the worst. My family was stationed at Gitmo. I was 11 and the first campout I had ever been on with out my dad. We were at a camp site near the beach and I was so excited to get my tent up and out in the water. I got the shelter half pup tent set up and got my trunks on and went running bare foot toward the beach. I was running through the sand when I realized the sand was getting very hot so I ran faster. I did not know that they had built a bond fire there the night before and had covered it with sand. Thus I got second degree burns on the bottoms of both my feet and had to be evacuated out to an aid station. No camp out for me, but I got some tough feet from it. I never wore shoes when I was a kid.

The best was a camp out I had in the Berago Desert in Southern California. I had my military pancho/tent, a pancho liner with a sheet of plastic for my bed. I had an old military ruck sack that really smelled like old wet canvas. I also had a Svea 123 climber stove that I had saved up for. Man that thing would get hot fast and cook. I was set up near a rock out croping from the rest of the guys. I had the pancho set up with a cord from the hood up to a small tree branch to act as a chimney. My fire was set up in front. When I woke up that morning there was 2" of snow on everything. That just amazed me that it would snow there.
 
readyme said:
I am an Eagle scout from the Pacific Northwest, and every overnight I went on for the first two years rained like cats and dogs.


another eagle scout of the pnw... sent lots of time at cooper and worked at the archery range at baker for a while... brotherhood member of the oa.. spent loads of time doing cerimonies in the rain at melakwa and baker... worst time was everytime i didn't go... best time would be every other time... learned alot, made mistakes and kept on rolling... give me my backpack and some free time and im a happy man...
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readyme said:
I am an Eagle scout from the Pacific Northwest, and every overnight I went on for the first two years rained like cats and dogs.
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That's nothing, it rained on every single one of our campouts, the whole time I was in scouts.

m48shooter said:
brotherhood member of the oa
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One thing I could not do was the Order of the Arrow, I went to that first thing and left, that was kind of a wierd BSA cult. Don't say anything about it to anyone else though or they'll have the OA assassins come and give you a lobotomy with the can opener on thier pocket knife. :eek: My leaders were not happy with me when they found out I left that thing and went home, but that was downright spooky.
 
GWashington1732 said:
That's nothing, it rained on every single one of our campouts, the whole time I was in scouts.


One thing I could not do was the Order of the Arrow, I went to that first thing and left, that was kind of a wierd BSA cult. Don't say anything about it to anyone else though or they'll have the OA assassins come and give you a lobotomy with the can opener on thier pocket knife. :eek: My leaders were not happy with me when they found out I left that thing and went home, but that was downright spooky.
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You thought that too?!!! I'm glad I'm not the only one. It was more of a cult that used us for child labor and brush clearings for camp Karankawa :eek: Then they tried to make us pay dues, even my parents didn't like it. So I just stopped attending those meetings and stuck with my Troop where my friends were :)

And they made it seem like being "tapped out" was a good thing :grumpy:
 
I got Eagle in 1980. I have a lot of good memories of the camping and other activities. I had a tru temper hatchet, a down filled sleeping bag, canteen, and mess kit from an army surplus store, a canvas backpack with an exterior aluminum frame and a scout pocket knife. We usually slept in surplus GP smalls during the colder months. We learned a lot about cooking, orienteering, safety, first aid, knots, and teamwork.

wes
 
J's Knives-N-More said:
You thought that too?!!! I'm glad I'm not the only one. It was more of a cult that used us for child labor and brush clearings for camp Karankawa :eek: Then they tried to make us pay dues, even my parents didn't like it. So I just stopped attending those meetings and stuck with my Troop where my friends were
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I never made it to the brush clearing stage on that thing they called "the ordeal" that just sounds like something suicide cultists might do and from what I got to see of it, it was a death hike, in a thunderstorm, three times around the entire camp, followed by sleeping outside in the rain, without a dry pair of clothes, no speaking, no food... no thanks. So I was like "screw you guys, I'm going home." My leaders were quite unhappy that I decided to blow it off.
 
Great memories. Whenever we had a new kid join our troop we had a 'Famous Foot Reader' initiation skit. The FFR would invite several stooges up and tell them their futures, like they would trip on the way back to their seat or drop something out of their pocket, which they of course would, then he would invite one of the new scouts up. After taking their shoes off he would tell them they would be going on a long and arduous journey and proceed to fling their shoes off into the woods. Funny stuff! Anyway, we had a great time together and learned valuable outdoors and interpersonal skills. I hope my boys get involved when they're old enough.
 
GWashington1732 said:
That's nothing, it rained on every single one of our campouts, the whole time I was in scouts.


One thing I could not do was the Order of the Arrow, I went to that first thing and left, that was kind of a wierd BSA cult. Don't say anything about it to anyone else though or they'll have the OA assassins come and give you a lobotomy with the can opener on thier pocket knife. :eek: My leaders were not happy with me when they found out I left that thing and went home, but that was downright spooky.
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I didn't think is was as creepy as much as it was pointless. I just stuck with my Troop.
 
Boy, what times those were - backpacking and canoeing in the Adirondacks in the 70s. It really whet my appetite for that type of activity, which might explain why I am still doing it as a scout leader.

Lots of challenges, being blown off the top of a mountain, wet, cold, but lots of glorious days of adventure.

As for gear, the orange pack, the big, non-compressible sleeping bag. And for several years I used a sterno stove, while I looked on with envy as my buddies fired up their Sveas. No water filters - just dip the Sierra cup and drink.

The last year, at Lake Colden (IIRC, Lambertiana may disagree), we hung our food for the first time ever as advised by a ranger who came by. During the night a bear came and tried to get the food, but could not. It found a garbage bag at my brother's feet that we had forgotten to hang. It batted the bag around, and finally stopped after I found a whistle and started to blow it (it seemed like it took forever to find it in the dark with a bear just feet away). It then stopped batting the bag around and walked around us sniffing. Talk about a bunch of scared scouts.

As for other good stories, I have lots of them about the scouts I have dealt with as an adult leader, but that's for another day.
 
I remember a camping trip where each tent (two scouts) had to prepare a meal for the whole group. The designated breakfast team was so excited about the propect of making pancakes for everybody that they mixed up the batter (about 2 gallons) after dinner and put it in a large tupperware bowl which was placed between them in their tent overnight. They tossed and turned as they slept and in the morning everything in the tent was coated with batter including the cooks.
 
TXBulldawg said:
Troop 317, Richardson, TX. We didn't do a lot of hiking and hard & heavy survival stuff. I think our 400lb+ scoutmaster was somewhat of a limitation, so we learned the fine art of car camping for the most part. We sure did eat good, though.
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I've been laughing since you posted this! I can only imagine the spreads he cooked up for you all!
 
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