Get ready to join Cub Scout Pack 2143 for an unforgettable camping adventure! Enjoy the great outdoors, bond with fellow scouts, and savor delicious s’mores by the campfire. Don’t miss out on the fun and excitement—come camping with us and create lasting memories!
Camping Policy, Tour Plan
Click on “Camping Policy” to view the guidelines for camping with Pack 2143.
Here’s a suggested packing list for individuals campinglist-1
2024 Fall Campout Information
Location: Bert Adams, Scout Reservation, Covington, GA
Dates: October 25-27, 2024
We will be camping as a pack at one of the Cub Scout sites that is TBA.
The trip includes 4 meals: Saturday breakfast, lunch and dinner and a cold breakfast on Sunday morning.
Camping Activity Fees are $45/adult, or $30 for scouts/siblings age 5 or older for everyone. $15/adult or $30/scout/sibling age 5 or older if you want to be responsible for your own food.
Camping Gear Recommendations
We typically camp in warmer weather conditions at facilities with a good amount of space and good facilities/infrastructure (access to bathrooms). If we are doing a tent only campout, families should plan on bringing:
A tent big enough for everyone. Please note, a 4 person tent can fit 4 people, but it’s not comfortable, and it’s only big enough for all 4 people to sleep shoulder to shoulder with minimal “stuff”. You can’t fit a suitcase. And 4 people. If you’re coming with 2 people, you can get a 4 person tent and be comfortable. If you’re coming with 4 people, we suggest a 6-8 person tent. There are wooden platforms that are 9ft x 7ft and most 4 person dome tents fit on those platforms. Larger tents are ok, but there might not be enough ground space if everyone brings a 10-12 person tent. If you get a tent from Walmart or Target, we strongly suggest you set it up at home first to make sure it has all the zippers in the right place and all the poles are intact/properly functional. It’s not uncommon for walmart tents to have a backwards/broken zipper, and the tent holes intended for the outside were sewn on the inside (making the tent unusable). Please do your best to not show up at camp with unusable equipment. We will not have backups for your use.
Example Tent Options
(stuff does not mean a queen air mattress for everyone it means a single sleeping pad per person)
Ozark Trail 4 person tent (good for 2 people and stuff) –
Ozark Trail 6 person instant tent (good for 4 people and stuff) –
Coleman 6 person dome tent (good for 4 people and stuff) –
Sam’s club members – Members Mark instant 6 person tent
These tents are better quality (you don’t need to worry about zippers and poles),
Venture Forward 5 person dome tent (good for 2-3 people and stuff)
Alps Mountaineering 4 person dome tent – Alps Mountaineering 4 person dome tent (very good qualiy tent!). Account required to see link, create account say you’re with Pack 2143 during account creation process.
Sleeping Pad Options
Big air mattresses do not fit well in tents. Plus sometimes having access to electricity is a problem. Air mattresses need to be filled up inside a tent or they won’t fit through the door. So if you do use an air mattress, the smaller the better. Also, please note that air mattresses tend to get holes over time. If you’re comfortable with a camping sleeping pad, they’re a great option. If it’s colder/cool at night, you will be cold on an air mattress even in a -30F sleeping bag, you’ll need to add insulation (blankets) on top to stay warm. Many camping air mattresses have insulation built in.
Coleman slim twin air mattress Walmart Slim Twin air mattress (needs separate air pump)-
Bestway budget air mattress with pump
Good quality, less expensive, lightweight, easy to inflate camping sleeping pad – Klymit camping Mattress
The Coleman self inflating sleeping Pad with Pillow is a decent option as well.
Sleeping Bag Options
A big note about sleeping bags. They should all have a temperature rating (i.e. 0F, 40F, 30F, etc). The temperature rating of a sleeping bag doesn’t necessarily mean it’s comfortable. It means it will keep you alive at that temperature. If it’s 40 degrees F outside, you have a 40F bag, you will live. You will be cold, uncomfortable, and likely won’t sleep much, but you will live. Most bags now include a comfort rating on the bag (but not online) that will indicate what the temperature will be to be comfortable in that bag. (so a 0F bag may indicate a comfort rating of 25F, meaning you’ll be comfortable if it’s 25 degrees F overnight, but you’ll still live if it drops to 0F)
We rarely sleep in temperatures under 55 degrees. Most of the time a sleeping bag rates for 60F will suffice, including kids Disney sleeping bags you got them when the were kids. If the overnight temp is under 60-65F, you should consider getting a sleeping bag with a rating of 30F. A bag rated to 0F to 10F is suggested if it’s 40F outside. If it’s 55F, a 30F-40F rated bag will be comfortable.
Ozark Trail 30F Mummy bag (my kids love these, and they have hoods to keep kids in bags)
Camping Chair Options
Get comfortable and sturdy camping chairs. It’s also nice to have arm rests and cupholders. You won’t enjoy sitting in a $7 camping chair from Kroger or Walmart.
Walmart Oversized quad chair is ok.
Walmart combo packs
Walmart often offers combo packs which can be good deals, you can pay one slightly discounted price for multiple items. You might have to settle for less comfortable chairs, and the temperature rating of the sleeping bags are not obvious, but here are some examples (they may be out of stock)
4 person instant tent, 2 chairs, and a camp table
6 person tent, 2 sleeping bags, 2 chairs, 1 lantern, 1 fan, and a bunch of other stuff. Sleeping bags are 55F I think
4 person tent, 2 sleeping bags, 2 chairs, and a table. Sleeping bags are rated 40F
You could also rent gear from REI, but nowadays, you might pay more than purchasing budget gear which should work just fine for cub scout camping (and is also reusable).
Camping food plan
Benefits
Preparing and eating food together accomplishes multiple goals. Our camping program has done more to build our scouting community than anything else. We have nearly 100% participation in camping because we remove the pressure of meals. We also have increased volunteerism, our adults have gotten to know one another, and we use this time to get adults committed to other volunteer roles.
Volunteer Jobs
It takes several committed families to run a food program on this scale. Every adult gets a job of some sort that they are told about before they arrive. As our program increases in size, jobs are becoming more specific.
Pre-camping
– Registration must include number of family members per meal, ability to transport bins/equipment
– Determine budget – we spend $10-15/person on 4 meals
– Assign jobs by den or to key families.
– Plan Menu (consider religious needs & allergies). We have a lot of families that don’t eat pork so we usually buy turkey/beef sausages and hotdogs. We tell families the menu ahead of time and while we try to accommodate needs, they are on their own if it’s something really unusual. Vegans and Jains may need to make their own meals.
– Plan groceries – we go to Costco and Wal-Mart
– Pack by meal and category and label all bins and coolers (this is key)
– Make sure several families are bringing coolers with ice for the drink coolers and replenishing the food coolers.
Pack Equipment
– The Pack has Canopies if our campsite doesn’t have shelters as the Kitchen must be covered. We have two over serving tables and two over kitchen.
– Stoves – we can quickly do breakfast for 65 people with 3 Pack stoves. If anyone has their own camping stoves, please let us know, we might be able to put it to use.
– Coffee pots – We have some Pack Coffee pots, and welcome any parent that wants to wake up and start the coffee.
– Skillets and griddles for breakfast
– Large pots depending on other menu items
– Ladles, spatulas, spoons, can opener, dish towels, pot holders, measuring cup
– Bins for dirty dishes, soap, sponges
– Aluminum trays for serving
– Plastic serving/mixing bowls
– Lighting
– Rope to rope off the kitchen – must prevent kids from entering kitchen
– Hand sanitizer and wipes
– Tables – best to use picnic tables or heat proof tables for the stoves and plastic tables for prep and serving
Serving
– set serving tables up so that two lines come to the center, all paper products and hand sanitizer are there and people peel off to the right and left with identical choices of food. We have these table as one side of the kitchen to make serving easier and to block kitchen access. Put drink table to one side so you don’t create a traffic jam.
– Everyone bring their own water/drink bottles.
– everyone cleaning up the meal should eat first
– must have adults at serving – kids will over serve themselves with sausage, nuggets, etc and you will run out. We set limits at every meal that we announce at the beginning and then encourage people to come back for seconds as soon as everyone has eaten.
– No one gets seconds before everyone else has already eaten.
Cold Drinks
We have 3 drink coolers. One always has water. The other two typically have Tang and Lemonade. If something is running out, we appreciate parent volunteers refilling the cooler.
People must bring re-fillable water bottles. Kids can go through a crazy amount of cups if you don’t control it.
Children are not permitted to drink directly from the coolers
Friday
– ID kitchen area on arrival.
– Assigned people start setting the kitchen up immediately. Must set the kitchen up before dark. Volunteers are needed.
– Other families set-up drinks tables and serving tables.
Here’s a menu we’ve used in the past
Saturday Breakfast
– Pancakes, sausage, fruit, yogurt, coffee, Tang
– Buy pre-cooked frozen turkey/beef sausage links/patties. They can be heated in about 10 minutes.
– Buy “Complete” pancake mix in boxes. Very cheap and easy to just mix water. We have a pancake dispenser.
– Buy yogurt tubes and freeze them.
– We typically assign about 6 cooks, 2 drink people, 4-6 servers, 6 cleaners, and meals are typically assigned to a den (including parents of the scouts) based on #s at registration
Saturday Lunch
– count slices of bread when shopping to decide how much bread you need, estimate 2 ounces of meat for sandwiches but not everyone will eat a meat sandwich
– Sandwich bar – chips, apples, cookies, bread, condiments, PBJ, ham, turkey, salami, cheese, pickles, lettuce
– Sometimes we have the Webelos making the sandwiches for people. Gloves are necessary for food service
Saturday Dinner
– If any family has a charcoal meat smoker that has a large capacity. This is delicious and inexpensive but you must have a family that does this as a hobby who is also willing to make the effort.
– We might do chili which can be pre-made and frozen then re-heated for service.
– We have made chicken fajitas (precook the chicken)
– We have made walking tacos – precook taco meat, put meet and other taco toppings in a chip bag, eat with spoon
– One key is to prep as much as possible at home. When you are cooking in the woods with no electricity and limited lighting, you need something easy.
– Sometimes we use cast iron Dutch ovens. When we are cooking on a smaller scale, this is the main tool we use in the woods. If you do this, you need a lot of Dutch ovens which are big and heavy and you need to practice a lot.
Sunday Breakfast
– Pastries, yogurt, fruit, leftover lunch meat and cheese
– Coffee, Tang, Hot chocolate
– Grab and go while you’re packing up camp.
Kitchen is being packed while cold breakfast is being served.
Getting all the equipment home is easier because you’ve used most paper products and food. The hard part at the end is cleaning all of it and inventorying what you have.
Tips
Find out if you have any RV families or people who camp a lot – they will be the best source of equipment and experience.
We do this for two camping trips per year. Nearly all families camp both nights and we try to have “opening ceremonies” after breakfast on Saturday if the camp itself is not doing their own opening ceremonies.
potential camping sites outside of Atlanta Area Council
Soutland (NEGA) on Lake Lanier https://www.nega-bsa.org/Scoutland
Frank G Lumpkin (especially campsite #7 on the lake) https://campfgl.com/ Chattahoochee Council