Scoutmaster

Mess Kit

Crow at As The Crow Flies writes about her minimalist approach to a mess kit: A Vagabond’s guide to kitchenware and dishwashing

Whether you are on the road, trail or home this is a simple system for cooking and cleaning that will save you time and water:

Cook dinner in pot
Eat heartily, out of the pot, with big spoon.
Lick spoon clean
Scrape out pot with spatula. Licking off the spatula as you go.
Fill pot with water
Heat
Pour hot water into Nalgene bottle and add instant coffee, hot chocolate, or tea.
Drink up.

Also see One Highly Evolved Mess Kit on the Scoutmaster blog

Scouting with the iPod Touch - The Backpacker Checklist

The Backpacker Checklist application allows you to build a virtual inventory of all your camping gear and construct trip-specific lists to aid your preparations for backpacking or any other sort of camping trip.

Aimed at backpackers but not limited to backpacking trips users can create car camping or cabin camping lists. Each piece of gear is identified by a description, category, weight and location (where it is stored at home) and can be assigned to multiple lists. As items are added to the list the weights are added so one can keep an eye on total weight.

Items are also assigned a status when they are included in a list "need it, have it, maybe" so they can be tracked as they are found and packed. The list may then be filtered by status and location to help focus your packing on relevant items and locations.

The Backpacker Checklist may not guarantee that I won't forget some vital piece of gear again but it is a step in the right direction!

Making Small Gear Harder to Loose

A tip from Crow at As The Crow Flies

I put red reflective tape and bright flagging tape on small pieces of gear that would be easy to lose.   Neither of them makes a recordable difference in weight.

I got the red reflective tape at Walmart in the auto supply aisle.  They probably have flagging ribbon as well; most likely with the tools.  But flagging ribbon is also easy to attain  hanging from trees in the wilderness; help your self.

Mountainsmith Lumbar Packs

My old Mountainsmith Day lumbar pack that I bought used on eBay a few years ago has served me very well and it's time to replace it. I bought a newer, smaller Mountainsmith lumbar pack for my son to use a while back and I like the updated version even more than my older one.

A lumbar pack makes a great 'day bag' when canoeing. A 'day bag' holds gear that one needs to access easily throughout the day (camera, binoculars, rain gear, etc.) without digging through a large portage pack. Lumbar packs ride securely out of the way when portaging a canoe.

Stoutly made and versatile I use the pack to carry my camera and other gear for short hikes, walks around town, and any other time I need to stow a few things. In fact it makes a great bag for disk golf. The waist belt stows away in its own compartment when using the bag with the detachable shoulder strap.

Load adjusting straps assure I can carry pretty heavy loads (15-20 lbs) without the pack flopping around or sagging. Two mesh water bottle holders hold a 1 qt Nalgene bottle or other gear. The pack has a front compartment and a generously sized main compartment with a zippered pocket that is ideal for stowing a wallet and there's a clip for keys. There's also a ticket pocket behind the well-padded back panel. Larger gear can be carried outside of the bag (most often I carry a wet raincoat or a waterproof map case) with an adjustable lashing cord.

I really appreciate the large zipper tabs and sturdy, trouble free, two-way zippers on the main compartment. Both compartments are lined with tough yellow nylon - a great feature when you are trying to locate something in the pack. My older model Mountainsmith has no lining and is like staring into a black hole.

Finally the pack is advertised to be made of recycled soda bottles.

Dimensions	13'' x 12'' x 8''	33 x 30.5 x 20.5cm
Weight	1 lbs 7oz	.77 kg
Volume	854 cu. in.	14 liters

Mountainsmith Day Recycled-Fabric Lumbar Pack at Amazon

Special Cammenga Lensatic Compass Offer for Scouts

Cammenga manufactures the familiar, often imitated M-1950 military lensatic compass issued to our soldiers for decades. They offer Scout Troops the free use of their compasses for up to two months and a generous discount should they elect to purchase the compass.

The particulars of the offer below are quoted directly from the Commenga website:

Do you have a scout group ready and willing to learn? Do you want free equipment? You’ve come to the right place! Here are the details: Borrow as many US Military Lensatic Compasses as your group needs for up to two months at a time. At the end of your training course, simply send them back.

Requires a Security Deposit of $10.00 per compass. Security Deposit is fully refunded upon return of compasses. Your only cost is the return shipping.

BONUS – if you wish to keep any or all of the compasses, they may be purchased for 50% off the retail purchase price! Submit your request this week; your group will have compasses next week! Just so you know: These compasses are genuine US Military Tritium Lensatic Compasses (Model 3H – either refurbished or new – all in perfect working condition). They feature tritium micro lights and “glow in the dark” without the use of batteries or flashlight. If you want to purchase any of the compasses you’ve borrowed, you may do so for $45.00 each! A brand new version of this same compass sells for $89.95 each.

To sign up for this offer visit the Cammenga website

As the Crow Flies

Sister Crow describes herself as a long distance hiker, hermit, primitive cabin dweller, seeker.

Her blog As the Crow Flies chronicles her months hiking the Pacific Crest and Appalachian Trails and life in her backwoods cabin. I have been following her writing for a year or so.

Crow shares a great deal of practical advice for backpackers (long range hikers have lots of great time-tested methods) and writes eloquently of the outdoors and a simple life.

A Tour of her cabin

Backpack Liners

Wear your Jacket Backwards

Soothing the Reptilian Brain

Leak-Proof Plastic Bottles for Backpacking

 

Here's a great tip from Trail Divas
I don't know about you, but I carry a few plastic bottles for things

like sunscreen, alcohol (the fuel variety, of course) and various other sundries.  I learned the hard way a few years ago that in rare cases if you squeeze the bottle hard enough or somehow in your pack, the
material inside the bottles can ooze out from the cap and between the threads of the cap.  After doing some home plumbing it dawned on me to put Teflon Tape on the threads of my little bottles in my backpack.  Teflon tape is used during plumbing projects to seal threads when screwing fittings on like shower heads.  It fills in the gaps in the metal or plastic threads and creates a tight seal.  So I tried it and
no more oozing!!   You just wrap a good 3"-4" long piece around the threads of the bottle neck and make sure it is on there good.  Be sure to wrap the tape on the threads clockwise, i.e. the same direction as
tightening the cap.  Otherwise the tape might slip or shread when you put the cap on.  The tape only really sticks to itself, but not really stick like normal tape.  You will see what I mean when you use it.  Make sure to keep the tape taught as you wrap it around.  

A roll of teflon tape should be less than $2 in the plumbing supply  section of your local hardware store. 

Sewing on Scout Patches

I picked up a new centennial uniform shirt this summer and have only just now put together all the patches and started sewing them on.

The new unit numbers and square knots have a slick plastic backing that looks a lot like it could be ironed on. I emailed the folks at our National Supply Division:

I have recently purchased unit numeral and square knot patches - they appear to have an iron on backing. Is this correct? If so how does one iron them on? Are there other patches that have iron-on backing?

They replied

Our emblems are not iron on - the plastic backing is to keep the emblem from rolling up. You will need to sew them on or us badge magic adhesive.

Badge Magic has been around for a few years now and seems to work just fine for most folks. It seems sort of pricey to me ($8.99 for a 8 1/2 x 12 sheet).  TackyFuse looks like a promising alternative.

Hand sewing isn't all that difficult. I use masking tape to hold the patch in place, turn the uniform inside out and sew the patch on by stitching through the raised border not the patch itself.  Unit numbers and square knots don't have raised borders so I'll stitch through them or use a fabric adhesive of some kind.

BSA Insignia guide online

Scout Leader Uniform inspection PDF (shows placement of badges on the centennial uniform)

Other Uniform Inspection forms are here

My updated Square Knot Resume

.01 oz Insulated Cup Costs $.01

Here's a video from Jason Klass at Gear Talk.  A really good way to shave several ounces from your pack. I'd add a lid and maybe wrap it in duct tape. Why did I not think of that?

The Trangia Camping Stove

A review of the Trangia Stove from Cool Tools:

I’ve used the Trangia 25-7 UL/HA for a year now, and it’s as reliable as sin. Since I got it, I no longer use my MSR Whisperlite stove. This model comes with a frying pan lid (which doubles as a pot lid and serves as the top to the kit when it’s all packed up) and two pots; the pots and burner combine in a neat, self-contained package. The stove itself is basically an alcohol burner (think Sterno can) with a custom top by which you semi-regulate/extinguish the flame. The stove sits in a two-piece extremely stable wind screen (picture two pots bottom to bottom, with a hole through the middle for the stove).

The Trangia uses denatured alcohol, which is easier and quieter than white gas. Easier because you don’t have to prime the stove or pressurize the fuel canister. To start the Trangia, you set up the windscreen, put the stove in the middle, add fuel and light the top. To turn it off, you slide the lid on the custom top, cutting off the oxygen. And it’s quieter because there’s no hissing or roaring -- again, think Sterno.

Another advantage the Trangia has over the MSR stove is the windscreen design, which makes a far more stable cooktop than the MSR’s three-wire tripod. As for weight, since I usually pack stove and cook pots together, the combined weight and size of my MSR and REI cook pots is about the same as the weight and size of this Trangia kit (around 2 pounds).

Negatively, you can’t regulate the Trangia's flame very well. The Trangia is a little slower, too: it takes a few minutes longer to boil a couple of cups of water for tea. Without a stopwatch, both the Trangia and the MSR take about the same time to boil a pot of water for dehydrated dinners, always too slow for whoever isn’t cooking that night.

-- P. Chang