I haven’t even started writing this post and I am already afraid I am going to beat scouting to death as a blog topic in the next few weeks. I guess that is the downside to my using this blog as a place to post whatever comes to mind… anyway bear with me, it isn’t the only thing Heather and I are up to! 🙂
In an attempt to keep this brief and focused, I am just going to talk about the practical side of the training weekend, and leave my reflections on it for a later date.
First off, as you might have guessed, not all of my camping gear was 100% ready to go after having been packed away for the past ten years.
Things that weren’t perfect:
- The elastic in my tent poles — completely dead!
- My cold-weather sleeping bag
- ‘flint and steel’ kit — not really flint, whatever it was made out of was corroded beyond use
- Sleeping mat — still functional, but they make much nicer ones now
- Flashlight — got me through the weekend, but the switch tried to die a few times
- First-aid kit — didn’t need it, but the bandages are looking a little… crispy at this point
Things I apparently don’t own anymore:
- Mess kit
- Hatchet — not that I need one at this point, but I used to have one I though
- Camp shovel
- Extra rope
Last but not least, things that worked just fine:
- My tent — ignoring the pole issue
- Rain gear — didn’t need it, but still appears to be in great shape
- My hat
Beyond equipment, I felt like the majority of my ‘scout-craft’Â type skills weren’t too rusty. I still remembered most of the knots, and I don’t have any doubt as to my abilities to light a fire. First-aid is one I should re-visit I am sure, and the compass driven navigation course was more challenging than it should have been. I am really looking forward to getting more opportunities to hone all of this stuff.
Going back to equipment, I ended up feeling really sheepish when I unpacked my sleeping bag and said “oh yeah, I am still allergic to down, and this is a down bag!” The other detail I had forgotten about until the next day, when during a session they pointed out that cold-weather bags shouldn’t be stored in their compression bags long-term. I have a feeling a decade counts as long-term, and it might explain why the insulation wasn’t performing as well as I might have hoped. Luckily it wasn’t really that cold.
Most of the other things I had at least weren’t surprises; they were just products of my not finding the time before the trip to replace/restock/re-evaluate them. It’s really kind of exciting, although given the time of year most of my “shopping” probably going to be constrained to appending items onto a wish-list. At least I don’t anticipate anther camping trip for a few months now.
If that was too much naval gazing, I can at least offer you a link to the pictures I took
-Jordan
Nelsons 