Tents – Back To The Basics

Sometimes it’s best to set aside the things that seem important and focus more on the things we do most often. That’s exactly where we found ourselves after our last camping trip.

We recently returned from a camping trip. The event went great, as usual. However, it didn’t start off as smoothly as it could have. 

As is the case for some of our more distant trips, we didn’t arrive at camp until after the sun had set. This meant that our Scouts had to set up camp in the dark.

Even the most skilled individuals will, from time to time, have some difficulties setting up a tent in situations such as this. That said, on this trip, our group had more issues than normal.

In fairness, many of the Scouts on this trip were fairly new to our troop, having recently crossed over from Cub Scouts. As a result, they don’t have as much experience in setting up campsites themselves compared to our most experienced Scouts. Despite the challenges, they did a great job, all things considered.

Not wanting to miss an opportunity, we suggested to our troop’s youth leaders that perhaps we should practice setting up and taking down our tents during on upcoming troop meeting. That way, we’ll be more prepared for our next trip. 

The Scouts really liked the idea, even more than we anticipated because they decided to do it the very next meeting! Unfortunately, the weather didn’t really cooperate, as it started raining right when our meeting began. Not wanting to have to dry out the tents (again), they decided to just do it in the church basement where we have our troop meetings. It was a little cramped, but we made it work.

As usual, they took it up a notch. When it came time to actually put up the tents, they decided to turn it into a competition. The Scouts paired up with one another, and they raced to see who could CORRECTLY set up their tents the quickest.

In the end, it worked out great. While each group tried to get the best time, it was all friendly competition. No one took it too seriously. And best of all, the Scouts were able to better familiarize themselves with our tents. That’ll definitely come in handy next time we head out for the weekend.

Interested in learning more about what we do at our troop meetings? Be sure to visit our contact us page!