This weekend we went camping specifically to test the readiness of our family’s 72-hour emergency kits. We spent 24 hours with little else at the gorgeous Old Mill campground in the Spring Mountains area. I thought this would be my best opportunity to do the first three requirements for the rank I’m working on.
1. Present yourself, properly dressed, before going on an overnight camping trip. Show the gear you will use. Show the right way to pack and carry it. I dressed for warm weather for obvious reasons, with a pair of old work boots I rarely wear, which I now realize are too small and need to be switched out for a real pair of hiking boots. I’ll check at Deseret Industries for some. As we packed our backpacks with the relatively sparse supplies that would constitute our emergency kits, we discussed what was essential, including our tent and sleeping bags, our food and water, and our tools. The packing was difficult and taught us a lot about saving space and making priorities. I tried to make my bag look like the picture in the handbook. Good packing is a lot like playing Tetris.
2. Spend at least one night on a patrol or troop campout. Sleep in a tent you have helped pitch. It was a very enjoyable campout, though since we were trying to skimp on supplies, we didn’t have any padding for our bedding. I was surprised to wake up not very sore at all. I pitched the tent myself since my wife was busy preparing lunch and watching the baby. Did you know that seven people can sleep almost comfortably in a 9’x7′ tent? It helps when five of them are children, and nobody minds snuggling up.
The Man Scout Project 