Welcome to Boy Scouting!
If you’re like we were several years ago, we had no idea what our new scout needed. Even with the camping packing lists given to us and our own outdoor experiences, we weren’t sure of the best brands to purchase.
I still remember sitting with another new-scout-mom and listening to a 16 year old give us his sage advice for camp. All of the chairs were put away around us as we listened. I had so many questions.
We had no idea how we’d ever send our firstborns off to camp. Is this you too? Somehow we’ve managed and they had a great time. We’ve been sending our sons away to Boy Scout Camp for several years now and have made a Master List for Boy Scout Camp and Parent Tips for Camp.
Boy Scout Camping List
1. Boy Scout Gear
We’ve learned that every new Boy Scout needs the following outdoor essentials. All of this camping & outdoor gear can really become expensive if you purchase it all at one time.
Mom Tip: Starting Christmas of our son’s 5th grade year, we started purchasing some of these items. We even added them to our son’s wish list for relatives to purchase too. Spreading out the expense really helped out.
*Amazon affiliate links added for your convenience. Clicks on words in italics for links.
Essential Boy Scout Gear:
- Official Class A Scout uniform – (uniform shirt, convertible pants, socks)
- Official Boy Scout Handbook – Only purchase the newest version.
- Handbook cover – the “official” Boy Scout version works best.
- Rain jacket– Camp is outside 24-7, boys need good quality, closed seams and breathable jackets.
- Mess Kit for meals
- First Aid Kit
- Flashlight or headlamp + extra batteries
- Compass
- Pocket knife – My boys love this one, but it is super sharp.
- Water bottle – This simple bottle is light weight and has a ring for each gear attachment.
- Rubbermaid boxes – This size is perfect for scouts to carry and stash their gear in. They also fit under the cots at most scout camps.
- Hiking boots – This type of boot has a great feature for kids – they have an insole that you can remove to add about 1/2 size to make them last longer).
- Sleeping Bag – This really depends on the climate your child will be camping. Tip: It’s always better to be too warm when you’re sleeping outdoors, than too cold.
2. What Your Boy Scout Will Wear to Camp:
- Official Class A Scout uniform (uniform shirt, convertible pants, socks – don’t bring neckerchief/slide)
3. Boy Scout Packing List
Mom Tip: Make this boy scout camping list below into a packing checklist for your scout. Let them gather all their supplies and pack themselves. Packing “themselves” means that they gather supplies and we call out the checklist while they pack it in the box. We usually keep most of their supplies in one large box and then pull out what’s needed each month.
We have zero tips on getting kids to change underwear while they’re gone. Funny-but-not-funny. One child just said to us, “I changed my underwear everyday, but the tent was dark. So, maybe I was just putting the same pair on everyday.” << BOYS!
Clothes for Boy Scout Camp:
- 5 Wick away t-shirts – Official Boy Scout gear is not required at camp, but keep t-shirt decorations appropriate for scouting. Tip: Cotton clothes often get wet and stay wet, wick-away shirts dry quickly.
- 2-3 Lightweight shorts – Official Boy Scout gear is not required. The uniform’s convertible pants are top notch. Many boys will wear them and (this is important) only open up the knees to vent. Teach your son to never separate the top from the bottom. They just get lost too easily in a sea of boys.
- 7 Socks
- 7 Underwear – This wick-away underwear dries fast. I cannot guarantee that they will change their underwear daily – sorry!
- Rain jacket (good quality, closed seams, breathable)
- Water shoes or closed toe sandals (this is our favorite brand)
- Hiking boots – This type of boot has a great feature for kids – they have an insole that you can remove to add about 1/2 size to make them last longer).
- Old sneakers
- Hat
- Fleece or non-cotton sweatshirt
- Swimsuit, Swim Shirt & Goggles
- Old Towels (2)
Toiletries for Boy Scout Camp:
- Medicine – All medication needs to be in it’s original bottle and turned over to an Assistant Scout Master.
- Sunscreen – Stick, Spray, or Lotion – just buy something they’ll use.
- Bug spray
- Toothbrush & Toothpaste
- soap/shampoo
- Deodorant – for the sake of all humanity, please don’t forget this!
- Body Wipes – Showering tends to be limited, send some of these to help with hygiene.
Gear for Boy Scout Camp;
- Official Boy Scout Handbook – Only purchase the newest version.
- Handbook cover – the “official” Boy Scout version works best.
- Rain jacket– Camp is outside 24-7, boys need good quality, closed seams and breathable jackets.
- Mess Kit for meals
- First Aid Kit
- Rubbermaid boxes – This size is perfect for scouts to carry and stash their gear in. They also fit under the cots at most scout camps.
- Hiking boots – This type of boot has a great feature for kids – they have an insole that you can remove to add about 1/2 size to make them last longer).
- Sleeping Bag – This really depends on the climate your child will be camping. Tip: It’s always better to be too warm when you’re sleeping outdoors, than too cold.
- Camp pillow – Get this kind, not the inflatable ones.
- Pen or pencil
- Flashlight or headlamp + extra batteries
- Compass
- Pocket knife – My boys love this one, but it is super sharp.
- Water bottle – This simple bottle is light weight and has a ring for each gear attachment.
- Mess kit & Eating utensil
- Camp Chair (an inexpensive foldable one) – Watch local sports store ads for good deals, the chairs do no come back in good shape after being outdoors all week. Our last one was used a stepping stool for the boys to get into the hammocks. Needless to say, it did not come back in one piece.
Optional Gear for Boy Scout Camp:
- Money – suggest around $20 – $40 for visits to the General Store (snacks or forgotten gear).
- Mosquito netting – Purchase the double size to have enough space to move around.
- Small lantern for tent
- Battery powered fan
- Games: Playing cards, small football, frisbee, etc.
- Nylon Bag – somehow everything expands at camp. This bag collected all the random stuff at the end of camp. Not neatly, but it came home.
Parent Tips for Sending Your First Child to Scout Camp
- Depending on you or your child, it may help to go the first 1-2 nights of camp. This is usually only an option for Assistant Scout Masters. If you do go, be generous and send back pictures to all of the other new parents. Do not promise this to your child until you have checked with the Scout Master.
- If your child calls crying, just listen. If they can make it until Wednesday (halfway), they’ll make it the rest of the week. No Boy Scout really wants to leave camp. Scout Camp teaches perseverance, independence and develops their sense of grit.
- Even if your troop or camp allows technology, do not plan on relying on this as a source of contact for your child.
- I’m okay with the old, wet tennis shoes be thrown away at the end of camp. The same goes for a few other things we sent along (towel, camp chair, swim suit, etc). We’re not sending our best things and I don’t send anything expecting it will return in pristine condition.
- Everything expands at Scout Camp and somehow does not fit back into the original container. This is where a laundry bag comes in handy. I originally thought that a trash bag would be best, but they can easily get confused with the trash and end up in the dumpster.
- Showering and Teeth Brushing are minimal. This year I finally wised up and sent a little pack of wipes.
- Label all things. No fancy labels needed, duct tape and a permanent marker work well too.
- Have low expectations when your man-child returns. They will feel older, wiser and may even look taller, but they are also exhausted. Be prepared for this, don’t plan anything except feeding them and showering for the first 48-hours. They’ll recover and come back to being your son.
- Do expect growth. Your son will have had a different level of independence while at camp. Use this to your benefit. Increase their responsibilities around the home and in the caring of their things.
- Still struggling on whether or not you did the right thing sending your child to camp? You’d probably like to read Homesick and Happy.
True story: One child came back from camp one year with a pair of someone else’s underwear. What?! Hilarious. We still get a big laugh out of it. I can just imagine all of the boys repacking after all of their belongings exploded all over the tent. It’s a long week.
Above all else, celebrate the accomplishment of going to camp and finishing camp!
Click here for more helpful tips:
How To Attach Boy Scout Badge To The Sash
Real Advice for Middle School Boys
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I am a frequent flyer and I do go travelling a lot. Yet recently, I usually take my daughter with me. We both love nature and being a part of nature. In deed, in this early Jan 2017, we plan to take a trip to enjoy the atmostphere when the spring comes. Always fall in love with sleeping pillows when they are in pink.
Any good recommendation on this?
Thank you for sharing these info and please keep it up
Good tip about avoiding cotton T-shirts. It has been my experience that cotton just doesn’t dry easily. It becomes stinky and wet as soon as the person wearing it does something physically demanding. Merino wool T-shirts are pricey, but they do much better on this front.
I think headlamps are a must. When I am setting up a tent, or doing anything for that matter in the dark, a headlamp allows me to work with both of my hands free.
As a former Boy Scout/Eagle Scout, I attended multiple Scout summer camps in my youth. Now that I’m an adult leader and the father of two boys (15 and 13) that also attend Scout camp, I can’t stress enough the point already made about providing lightweight moisture-wicking t-shirts and underpants for your son to wear at camp. Living in Texas, the summer heat is quite miserable and can result in your son dealing with problems caused by not wearing the right underwear. When I was a boy at camp in the 80s and 90s, there really wasn’t any kind of cotton/polyester blend underwear available for boys to wear. The closest thing that existed back then was a jockstrap, but most boys (including me) didn’t want to wear them as underpants. So like every other boy in my troop, I was sent to camp wearing the same underpants I’d always worn…plain white cotton briefs (aka “tighty whities”) purchased in multi-packs from Penney’s, Sears, K-Mart, etc. As such, most of us boys dealt with chafing/irritation and ended up walking bow-legged by the end of the day until we took a shower and changed into fresh briefs. Such problems were usually made worse by the fact that, at least at my summer camp back then, all boys, counselors, and adult leaders were required to wear underpants beneath their trunks when swimming (supposedly to prevent any kind of nudity). And as boys trying to get to the next activity/badge class after swimming, we didn’t want to race back to our campsite/tent to change underwear when it was assumed that we could simply air-dry; but cotton briefs don’t dry like that. So us boys would end up wearing our wet tighty whities the rest of the day and making the chafing even worse. Unfortunately I made the same mistake with my older son during his first year of camp by not thinking to buy him different underpants. He ended up wearing his normal Fruit of the Loom tighty whities every day and getting chaffed just as I had. Thankfully he complained enough about it when he got home that by the time my younger son started attending camp, I had learned my lesson and started buying plain white briefs made with cotton/polyester blend fabric for both of our boys to wear at subsequent Scout camps.
To this day, both me and my boys prefer wearing plain white cotton briefs on a daily basis…except when attending Scout camp, hiking/backpacking trips, etc. when all three of us wear both lightweight moisture-wicking t-shirts as well as cotton/polyester blend underpants. As an adult attending Scout camp, I usually forgo my plain white briefs for white ExOfficio Give & Go briefs. My older son, who has started wearing an adult men’s size small, also temporarily switches from his normal cotton FOTL tighty whities and wears ExOfficio briefs as well. For my younger son, who is somewhat small for his age, I buy McDavid classic cut boys briefs which can be found here: https://www.mcdavidusa.com/brief-2-pack. Both of these briefs are very simple to wash and keep clean. They provide great support similar to our regular white briefs, and I HIGHLY recommend them to any parent looking to send their son(s) to Scout camp and make sure they stay clean, comfortable, and happy.
As a Scoutmaster with a teen son I just want to say that moisture-wicking clothing doesn’t work for everyone. I get more hot and uncomfortable when I wear them because it feels like it isn’t breathing. My son wears them due to it being the “cool” (pun not intended) thing to do. However, I find him much more unpleasantly “pungent” since he has started wearing them. I prefer to wear cotton shirts, underwear, and socks in summer despite all of its flaws due to its comfort and breathability.
Thank you for suggesting a good quality rain jacket. This seems to be a place where parents tend to skimp. This past summer we got a strong thunderstorm on Monday afternoon and many budget class ponchos were torn up by dinner time. Duct tape can only do so much to repair it.