The Phil-list Mar_2005: RE: [Philmont]: Crew gear suggestions

From: Joe Tavares <j.tavares@comcast.net>
Date: Wed Mar 30 2005 - 01:27:05 CST

You may want to look at www.scoutdirect.com before you decide you cannot
afford your own tents. They are the storefront to scouts for Alps
Mountaineering and the prices are very good for tents, sleeping bags, etc.
Worth the free look at their websites and the prices.

Joe Tavares
Troop 728
Richardson, TX

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-philmont@troop47.com [mailto:owner-philmont@troop47.com] On
Behalf Of Perkins, Mark
Sent: Monday, March 28, 2005 1:10 PM
To: Multiple recipients of list philmont
Subject: RE: [Philmont]: Crew gear suggestions

Rob,

Some of this may already have been covered in previous responses.
Whether or not you can save much weight, depends on what type of gear you
already have. Also, the need to save weight depends of course on the fitness
of your crew.
Even though you have limited funds, there are things you can do to save a
few lbs.

- Use your hiking poles in place of the dining canopy poles supplied. I
would not bring my own canopy, unless you can find a sturdy lightweight one
that fits your budget. A good canopy can come in real handy on those rainy
afternoons. Philmont canopies are good and sturdy.
- We purchased 2-8qt inexpensive lighter weight pots at Wal-Mart and used
them on our prep outings to practice 1-pot meals. These were the only pots
we carried for a crew of 12 at Philmont. There was probably little
difference in weight though between the pots we brought and those supplied
by Philmont. I can't see any reason though to carry anything but the two
pots on the trek. Leave anything else at base camp.
- Look at the weight of your tents and compare them to Philmont tents and
make a decision on whether to bring your own. If you have a few 3-person
tents, you can lighten up your load a bit vs carrying one 2-person tent for
every two boys. Your crew should each take a portion of the load
(poles-stakes, tent, tarp and fly). I believe all Philmont tents are 2-man,
but I could be wrong. Make sure your tents are good quality and have seen
RAIN before getting to Philmont.
- Leave filters at home and only use polar pure.
- Leave heavy weight/bulky clothes at home and think layering. Depending on
when your trip is planned, you could see snow in the higher elevations.
- Verify in advance where you will be able to wash clothes on the trail and
pack accordingly. No need to take extra clothes that you will never wear.
Bring clothes that will dry quickly if you get rained on or after washing.
If your options are limited to wash clothes on the trail, you can use the
zip lock bag method.
- You need to take 2 good stoves (1 as backup). Philmont sells fuel in the
backcountry (white gas and Coleman power max), so you don't need to pack
enough fuel for the entire trip. This assumes that fuel is available at each
of the commissaries you stop at. This can be a risky assumption as both Ute
Gulch and PJ were out of powermax when we went through in 2003. We came
prepared though and carried 7 tall cans of powermax on our trek and used 5
1/2 for a crew of 12.
- Take limited eating utensils. We took a Lexan fork and spoon, small
plastic bowl and plastic cup (optional). Also took larger plastic spoon for
1-pot cooking.
- A lot of folks preach "think dual purpose" when packing your gear.
- Sleeping bag and pad should be made for backpacking. 20 deg bag should be
the lowest you need to go. You can get a good synthetic bag for under $100.
- Only take the necessary items, leave the bulky clothing at home, leave the
chairs at home, leave the coffee pot at home, leave the kitchen set at home,
leave the nice to have things at home. It's easy for an adult to say that
they will carry their own coffee pot and chair, but when you are backpacking
up a steep mtn and the guy with all the extra stuff is having problems, then
what do you do? Do you let that person slow down the crew or risk an injury
or do you offload that persons gear to others in the crew? That's why you
leave all the nice to have things at home, unless you have a crew that is
extremely well fit.
- I would put all of the nice to have things in one pile, weigh them all and
then you know for sure how much weight you are saving.

Good luck and have a great trip!

Mark
Troop 14 ASM
Phx, Az
Philmont 2004

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-philmont@troop47.com [mailto:owner-philmont@troop47.com] On
Behalf Of Rob Phipps
Sent: Sunday, March 27, 2005 1:42 PM
To: Multiple recipients of list philmont
Subject: [Philmont]: Crew gear suggestions

Given a crew with limited funds, what would be your suggestions for
replacing Philmont supplied crew gear with our own gear in the most dollar
per pound efficient manner? Thanks for your help.

Rob Phipps
Advisor, 2006 Crew 710-I1

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As you gather around this virtual campfire with fellow
Scouts and Scouters, do your best to be trustworthy,
loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient,
cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent.
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Received on Wed Mar 30 01:44:13 2005

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