Cub Scouts

[Dray]

My boy who just turned 7 recently is showing a lot of interest in joining the cub scouts.  I'm real happy about this cause when I was a boy I was in the scouts and have some great memories from it.  I always told myself that if my boy wanted to do scouting I would be involved either as a scout master or assistant.

One thing that I'm wondering about is whether or not I can bring the PU on scouting trips.  I heard once it's against the rules, of which the scouts have many.  Can anyone confirm or deny this?  Thanks

[Jaxx]

I think it depends more on your area. I don't remember that much about cub scouts but my dad used to bring his truck on Varsity scout trips and sleep in the bed.

Edit: I almost forgot, Props to you for being so into supporting your son  :#

[dkutz]

I think it depends more on your area. I don't remember that much about cub scouts but my dad used to bring his truck on Varsity scout trips and sleep in the bed.

Edit: I almost forgot, Props to you for being so into supporting your son  :#

From an Eagle Scout and a current leader, good for you!

As for PUP, most BSA camps will not allow it, but you can check with the ranger for that specific camp and see.  Obviously they won't have hookups.  If you go another campground you can always get a site for the pup, and then retire to your site after the fun is over.

Hope this helps!

[OC Campers]

My daughter was in girl scouts and I went on all the GS campouts.  Unfortunately, they wouldn't allow the popup to come along.  It was a tent and blow up air bed for me.
 
Jacqui

[wernstriumph]

In our area (NJ), the BSA camps won't allow PUP's, But here is an alternative.
Speak to the Packmaster about aranging a "non-Cubscout" trip to a private or state Campground. We've done this several times and the kids love it (the parents seem to have a good time too!). Set it up as a "Family camping trip for cubscout families" and then plan the trip accordingly (Who is bringing what, etc.). This way the Cub Pack is not responsible if something should happen.
  It's also a good way to get to know some of the other parents who would not go to a "roughing it" kind of camping trip.
Hope this helped.

[Dray]

My daughter was in girl scouts and I went on all the GS campouts.  Unfortunately, they wouldn't allow the popup to come along.  It was a tent and blow up air bed for me.
 
Jacqui

I think that if I have to go back to sleeping on the ground it will make me appreciate the PU.  : )

[CajunCamper]

We went to a huge scouting campout that involved several hundred scouts and their families at the second largest BSA campground in the country. We brought our pup and no one said a word about it. Their attitude was that they wanted every familiy involved regardless of what you slept in. I guess it depends on who's in charge.

CajunCamper

[OC Campers]

I think that if I have to go back to sleeping on the ground it will make me appreciate the PU. : )

You will definately appreciate your popup more.  I really missed some of the creature comforts.  Especially the lifting of my 6 ft long body off the hard, rock infested ground:D
 
Jacqui

[Lifeangel1]

I take my DGS on his trips. I have a bad back and have trouble sleeping on the ground even with an air mattress. Most of the time I call ahead to the campground and ask for a site as close to the scouting area as I can get. His mother works weekends but usually comes up after work and spends the night with him. A few times they told me I could set up in the grass right on the edge of the scout area. But if I had to I would sleep in our tent.

[Toby]

Most BSA camps are not set up for trailors and hook-ups, however many places do allow small trailors, I just droped off my boys at OSO Lake, in orange county for O. A. indian affairs weekend and there were two popups and a motor home a a couple of campers set up, most use tents, I often take my popup and sometimes family to a couple of trips a year with my scouts, I am an assistant scout master, when familys join us we always have the scouts on there own sites and keep the familys in another area.  FYI on April 5th, OSO Lake is looking for volunteers to plant trees, any one intrested just go to //www.ocbsa.org and look up the link to OSO lake and there will be more info.  Good luck and Happy camping Rob.

[tlhdoc]

I have been involved in BSA for over 10 years.  To my knowledge there is no rule about what you camp in.  I take my PU on BSA trips every year.  You don't have to camp at a Scout Camp to have a BSA trip.  The rules about camping are about who sleeps where.  An adult is not allowed to sleep in the same tent or room as a scout, unless they are the scouts parent.  Cub Scouts are geared toward family activities.  Boy Scouts are geared more toward the boy.  Check with who is in charge and where you are camping.  Good luck and have fun with the scouts.

[srds]

Been helping in dw's girlscouts for 6 years and have always camp in pup,dd has to sleep in tent with other scouts.Even at rallies we stay in pup and have others in tt's- pups-cabins whatever is open.It depends on who is in charge and how much HELP they need.

[maromeo]

Interesting post. We just got back from camping at one of the local county parks and there was a Boy Scout Rally going on. The parking lots were taken up with pop ups and travel trailers along with all the tents in the grassy areas. It was funny to see all the leaders with their Boy Scout shirts on hanging out around their PUP's. Times have sure changed. For the thousands of boys it was amazing how quiet they were at night.

Mary Romeo

[beacher]

My boy who just turned 7 recently is showing a lot of interest in joining the cub scouts.....

Congratulations!  My 8 yo DS son has been involved for three years now.  Just a week ago, at his Pack's Blue & Gold ceremony/dinner he became a Wolf Cub! :tent:  This week we get to build his regatta boat! :p

I'm an Eagle Scout and in my scouting days it was very common for the Cub Pack/Scout Troop LEADERs to have Truck Bed Campers, PopUps, and ClassA rigs.  However, back then, parents were not invited on camping trips.  Even the hard-core Woodbadge leadership would be seen stepping out of their rigs in the mornings.

Nowadays, for Cub Pack and Den participation by families, they expect you to sleep like everyone else.... in a tent!  While it's not a written rule anywhere, it's just expected that you participate as much as possible with the rest of the group in basic tent style camping.

If you must buy a tent, I highly recommend that you purchase a simple elastic connected two-pole dome tent that you can stand up inside of.  You can find some very nice 5-8 person tents in this category that can be set up in under 10 minutes!  Everyone makes these ultra-simple tents from a four season $1,200 NorthFace to a Walmart house brand $35 model.  When you are at a campout with fifty kids running around and other families squeezing together, you  don't want to mess with a huge TajMajal type of hotel-style family tent.

Also, there are no rules against cots, airbeds, or memory foam!  As long as you don't encounter any rain, you can sleep quite comfortably inside of your tent!

Another recommendation is a cart or dolly of some kind to handle all of your stuff.  While you are kinda car-camping, many Scout camps do not allow the vehicles to actually drive through the campground.  You will probably need to cart all of your equipment hundreds of yards from the parking lot, check your Cub Pack's camping locations ahead of time.

What's kinda funny about this for my 8 yo DS is that he has been going PopUp camping since he was 4 yo.  While he get's a kick out of sleeping in a tent, he really does still look forward to his mattress covered King Size bed, A/C/Furnace, hot and cold running water, and a refrigerator full of snacks PopUp!


.

[srds]

After talking to powers to be in dd's troop it was decided that we could and would use any form of camping to make the kids trip as smooth as possible. The parents who give of their time aren't expected to follow the Girl Scout Creed,And those that are troop leaders and in the troop have to follow the rules.In my days as a Eagle Scout all our parents that went with us also sleep in tents.Now that the scouts try and involve more family into the groups arrangements and rules change with the times.I Know that traditons must indur but my back doesn't.On our last trip only 2 adults showed up that were group leaders,if the others who are not in the scouts would not have shown up there would have been 2 adults to 78 girls, as it was 12 adults 76 girls.It works for us and our kids and IT is for our kids.