How does your troop care for its tents?

Tuesday-TalkbackIt’s Friday night. Sunset is approaching fast, and those clouds to the west look like rain.

If Scouts unroll their tents to see missing stakes, ripped seams or dirty walls, this weekend campout can turn into a disaster.

How does your troop manage tent care? Do Scouts provide their own tents? If the troop provides tents, do you hold Scouts responsible for lost tent pieces or damaged tents? How do you hold them accountable? Who makes sure tents are cleaned and put away properly?

That’s great fodder for this Tuesday Talkback.

Tent care was on the mind of a blog reader who calls herself “ScoutMom2.” She writes:

How do troops manage their tents in terms of care and responsibility? Do troops have ground rules for lost stakes, damaged, dirty, and/or wet tents?

We have a relatively large troop with 75-plus boys. The troop provides tents, and two Scouts share. After a campout, the Scouts decide which one will take the tent home to clean it and make sure it’s dry before returning it at the next troop meeting.

Lately, this has become an issue, and the Scouts are trying to figure out how to address it: policy, fines, teaching, etc. So, how do other troops handle this?

First, for some tips on making your gear — including tents, backpacks, boots and stoves — last for years and years, read this Scouting magazine story.

Then leave your feedback for ScoutMom2 below.


About Bryan Wendell 3282 Articles
Bryan Wendell, an Eagle Scout, is the founder of Bryan on Scouting and a contributing writer.