Need a true Gear Test?

[Daniel Koster]

Just bring along some Boy Scouts to test your Gear.

They have a *magic* touch when it comes to putting things through the ringer.


Oh....you wanted pics...well, here ya go!!






















This is supposed to be a 8-10 man Coleman tent.

It actually started out in decent condition the night before...*groan*

Some fierce winds....a few "unintentional fires" started inside (games with matches)...a few wrestling matches too....the poles are bent and wouldn't come apart when they took it down....most tie-outs and stakes missing (from the boys dropping the tent on each other multiple times)...the backside is ripped (can't see it)...the rain fly not only leaks, you can see the sky *through* the rain fly in multiple places........and I actually got up at midnight to restake it because it was laying nearly horizontal and the boys were too *tired* to get out and do it themselves. Yes, it was actually laying on a scout's face and he "didn't mind it that much".....LOL

Like the Door Modification?

Wait....here in the South we call that "A/C"....Hahaha




I had to officially retire this tent....




Dan

 

[tknife]

Ahhh, I remember my Scouting days Luckily we had understanding leaders too :thumbup:

 

[jumpmonkey]

Dan,

Tell those boys to have some mercy on the next tent! That is quite a sight. Hope ya'll had a good time. Thanks for the laugh!


God bless,
Adam

 

[WJC01]

My scout master was a Vietnam Vet who wouldn't have put up with that mayhem.

 

[Myal]

Kids will do that
I ended up giving each kid their own tent .. they seem to respect their own gear a bit more .
But at least they are having fun

 

[Bowman1911]

My scout master was a Vietnam Vet who wouldn't have put up with that mayhem.

Exactly! Same here! My leader woulda whooped our asses for destroyin' his property! Course, they taught us to respect other folk's belongin's too.

 

[Daniel Koster]

Thankfully the tent had already given us 3-4 years of near-monthly service and was "headed south" already.

I just wasn't thinking it would go completely to crap all in one night.

Fortunately, no one was hurt.

And don't forget...a ScoutMaster always gets his revenge. Usually in subtle ways. Like "challenging" the boys to a Polar Bear dip.

Dan

 

[16VGTIDave]

You are a better man than me, Dan.

I would have had them standing at attention in front of the tent in their skivvies at the first signs of rowdiness. And they would have stayed there until I said so...

Dave

 

[WA Martin]

Sounds like you need a Korean War era canvas army tent. Heck to pack around, let alone setup and take down, but tought as all get-out unless someone uses their knife to make an emergency door.

 

[Tentmaker]

The kids do the same thing at the summer camp I work. 5 brand new tents: after the first week, 1 was GONE, and I mean stolen or taken by the wind or kidnapped by tent gnomes, or something, but it just wasn't there. 2 were wrecked, poles snapped, tears in the walls, etc. Then as we were putting the last two away, we somehow broke one (it was an InstaTent, so it wasn't difficult to break, but is apparently impossible to fix and has no warranty) and the other's bag had a faulty zipper. So we trashed the one and used it's bag for the last good tent out of 5. Total nights using the tents? 5, maybe 6. Kids!

 

[neeman]

Scouts in England in the 60s was a very different way.

We learnt to respect our equipment and tools
And Heaven help us if we did not

 

[Starlight1967]

I have fond memories of canvas patrol tents, with wooden poles about 3" in diameter. Pretty close to scout-proof. But you had to learn about siting a tent so you didn't have little creeks flowing through the tent. They weren't much fun to carry for any distance, though I preferred carrying the tent to the dutch oven Great fun!

 

[mark_r]

My cubs/scouts have been using some of the same tents for 5+ years. Some of the older ones (8 years old) are needing to be decomissioned. None of them looked like that tent though. Our group of kids are pretty good with the equipment. Actually I was responsible for the most tent damage. Setting up a fly too close to a lantern and melted a six inch hole in the bottom of the fly.