Tents

[commish3]

To answer the question about what we use. My son's troop has three different tents at the momment. we have about a dozen 7ft X 7ft Coleman domes for the New Scouts, anothe dozen 7ft X 9ft domes for the older scouts, and 3 10ft X 12fts for the adults.

As far as location here is something to consider. I hate to date myself buut when I first took training they used DuKane film strips with a record that had the audio on it. Two cartoonish characters were the central characters. In one scene the "new" scoutmaster was busy lining up tents just perfect to get a good score from the judges. (sorta like Frank burns lining up condiments on M*A*S*H).

The "veteran scouter sat by in his camp chair smilin and enjoyin his morning coffee. When asked why he wasn't liming up the tents he had two answers, "first it's not my job, and second its not that important".

If the only reason you line up tents is to get a good score, even though it ignores all the lessons of how to pitch a tent, maybe its time to consider changing the way the event is scored? What makes for a good campsite when done properly is every bit as measurable as checking straight lines. As far as getting better scores for all the tents being the same style. just take a look at your neighborhood, all your homes exactly the same? Does that really matter to you? Would you like it better if they were?

Not saying anything has to change, But why are we teaching one thing but rewarding another? Just food for thought.

[cballman]

our troop has tent for all to use and they are the same either a two or three man. One of the reasons is because they all are put up the same way. parts are easier to locate. and after seting them up a couple of times then you know how to set them all up. now if you had more than three different than you would have problems learning what parts went with each tent and then if something gets lost or breaks the good luck finding parts. so IMHO identical tents are a good thing for the reasons listed above.

[ICanCanoeCanU]

Commish - let me guess but you "ate a river of liver and on ocean of fish"?

[Guneukitschik]

Lately it seems that our Troop tents do not get used as often...perhaps due to the fact that they are antiques? well not quite...but a heavy canvas, floorless Baker tent is not that exciting to new scouts!!!.

[El_Coqui]

Bakers tent, now that's some good ol' scouting. New Scouts may find them as a "problem", but I know a couple of troops here that would really like to get a couple of those tents.

The problem with the "new-age" tents is that they take away the camping skills that are developed by old canvas-floorless-tents. As time passes there would come a time when the tents will get pitched by themselves (maybe they already do), and that's not too good for us Scouts (in the sense that our kids will not pass through the experience of that sense of pride of pitching up a tent that requires skill, patience and experience).

AJN
ASM T-96

[wagionvigil]

I had a SCoutmaster tent until a couple of years ago and finally it gave up the ghost. After 35 years. ALso don't forget the explorer it was a smaller scoutmaster tent.

[Guneukitschik]

I haven't seen one of those in a long while....


Actually the Baker Tents are pretty good....they have the front flap that can be raised up and used as a canopy. They are definately more durable than today's lightweight nylon tents.

[wagionvigil]

The problem with all the old tents is weight and space to haul and store.

[Guneukitschik]

I doubt they were designed with backpacking in mind!!! Our summer camp still uses the canvas wall tents...they seem to last a long time as long as you take care of them properly. Of course that's with all tents!

[wagionvigil]

Scout camps are required to use wall tents and provide X amount of square feet per camper per tent

[Guneukitschik]

I was at Camp Rodney in Maryland for an OA Conclave in the late 80's early 90's and they have all cabins and paved roads.... I felt like I was at a resort instead of a scout camp.

[hacimsaalk]

we use the troops tents mostly, but if needed we let scout bring their own.

[diamondbackAPL]

our troop has been around for about three years, and I'm not sure if we have enough money for them. this topic has come up in troop meetings, and campsites do look better with uniform tents IMHO.

[troop173fl]

most of the older guys in my troop just use a small peice of isqueen. It is just big enough to cover you, should you need it. Its alot lighter than a tent, has less clean up, packs smaller, and is amazingly easy to set up.

[Lynda J]

Our troop has won Camp Site Awards and we have a big mix of tents.
The type of tent should not have an impact on the judging. What should is if your camp site is set up in a safe manner, tents a safe distance from any fire ring, that your cooking area is safe and that your food storage is proper. The people inspecting our camp sites could care less what color or shape the tents are.

[BM_Crawford]

Our troop has won Camp Site Awards and we have a big mix of tents.
The type of tent should not have an impact on the judging. What should is if your camp site is set up in a safe manner, tents a safe distance from any fire ring, that your cooking area is safe and that your food storage is proper. The people inspecting our camp sites could care less what color or shape the tents are.

I wholeheartily agree. When we go on camp outs some scouts have what we like to call the Tajh Ma Halls and then we have the little one man tents. One importent thing to do is make sure you have a good many fire water buckets or jugs near the fire and that the fire ring is very tidy. Also watch out for cloth lines being the right height and that the tools are saftely in the axe yard.

[Mick Scouter]

I agree too. Different tents for different campouts.

[esq185]

our troop also has some old canvass voyager tents without floors, the only thing we use them for is to setup a display of what scouting was about 40 years ago we now use ureka 7x7 dome tents for fixed camps or backpacking. for backpacking we divide up the tent among the inhabitants(fly and stakes and poles) and (tent and ground cloth) and then someone in the tent takes it home at the end of the campout and drys and airs it out.

[jk]

Troop tents are great. That way you know the tents are good. we use Eureka Timberline tents. I highly recomend them.

[SM-890]

Being a brand new troop, we are starting off with a mix of borrowed and donated tents. Our goal is to eventually have troop tents. Primarily for the reason of the ease of set-up. All are the same when you arrive at a site for a late set-up in the dark. Even as we grow, I would want the same size & type of tents for the new scouts, just to make it easier for them in the beginning.