Troop Tent Instructions

Both Troops have purchased and maintain an inventory of Troop Tents for use by all youth and any adults who wish to camp with us. This provides us the ability to ensure all youth can participate in our camping activities without additional expense. We budget to purchase 4 new tents each year with the goal of caring for them and maintaining them for a life of up to 10 years. Even seeking deals and using non-profit discounts, these tents still cost $150 each to purchase.

The Troop Tents we own are Alps Mountaineering Taurus 4-Person Tents. We typically have youth share a tent with 1 buddy, but will put 3 in the tent if we have an odd number of younger scouts. Older Scouts can choose to use a tent alone if they ask permission. We have the scouts put a plastic tarp inside the tent when set up for camping to help protect the floor and to serve as an added moisture barrier in case of rain. The tarp also helps clean out the tent easier as any dirt inside the tent should be easily removed if the tarp is taken out carefully when the tent is taken down.

When we return from a camp outing, the scouts who shared the tent will agree among themselves who will be taking the tent home to clean and who will be taking the tarp home. Often, even if it did not rain, when we break down camp in the mornings, the tents can have some moisture on them when they are packed up. Obviously, the tents will be more wet if we experienced rain in the day or night before we packed up camp.

It is critical that the tent and tarps be opened up and dried immediately upon the scout coming home with them the day we return. If it is actively raining that afternoon, please find a spot in your garage or basement that the materials can be opened to dry out. Keeping the tent or tarp stored in a wet state will cause mold or mildew, which can shorten the life of the tent or even ruin it, completely. We've had to throw out 1 year old tents that were not dried properly and we want to avoid that as much as possible. Scouts and parents should review and follow these instructions for cleaning and drying out their assigned tent or tarp and return them to the Troop at the next meeting.

Tent Care Instructions:

• 1. Set up your tent on a dry flat surface - the driveway works well. A garage or basement works in it is raining or will be raining that afternoon.

  2. Open all of the tent flaps

  3. Remove any litter that you find: Leaves, Paper, Socks, etc.

  4. Carefully sweep floor of the tent - Use a dust pan to remove dirt

  5. Carefully inspect tent for

     1. Tears

     2. Rips

     3. Holes

     4. Broken zippers

     5. Bent poles

     6. Missing pieces - each tent should have the following item to be a complete set:

        1. Tent

        2. 2 poles

        3. At least 8 stakes

        4. Rain fly

        5. Footprint (floor saver or under cloth)

        6. Stake bag

        7. Pole bag

        8. Tent bag

  6. Let the tent sit and dry in the sun take down by night fall

  7. Put the poles and stakes back into their bags

• • 1. Fold your tent into a long rectangle the same width of the poles bag

    2. Place the pole and stake bags onto the folded tent at one end

    3. Roll the tent up with the bags

    4. Put your tent burrito in to the tent bag

1. Fill out the linked Tent Check-in Form

   1. Return the tent and form to the Troop quartermaster at the next troop meeting

Tarp Care Instructions:

• 1. Lay out your tarp on a dry flat surface - the driveway works well. A garage or basement works in it is raining or will be raining that afternoon.

  2. Let the tarp sit and dry in the sun

  3. Carefully sweep tarp to remove dirt once dry before nightfall

  4. Fold up the tarp like you would a Flag without the triangle folds

  5. Fill out the Tent Check-in Form to indicate the state of the tent and it's included parts following the campout

  6. Return the tarp to the Troop quartermaster at the next troop meeting