Philmont Tip # - Don't be a Cheap Stake

Although Philmont provides tents to expedition crews, they do not provide stakes. Therefore, you need to pick up a good set before you go. Even if you bring your own tent, upgrading the stakes from what the manufacturer provides is usually a great idea. The ground at Philmont is often hard and rocky. If your stakes are bent out of shape by day two, you have ten frustrating nights to look forward to when setting up camp.

This summer, I will be taking my Eureka Apex 2XT tent to Philmont. It's a nice three season tent suitable for backpacking, but the stakes are  pretty bad (picture 1). The tent comes with a set of 7" steel stakes that bend  pretty easily.

Picture 1 - Steel Tent Stakes (before and after)

 On past weekend camp outs, I have replaced them with similar length aluminum stakes, which cost about $1.00 each (picture 2) . These work well in normal soil and are definitely more durable than the thin steel ones. After a few uses in rocky ground, they will also bend.

Picture 2 - Aluminum Tent Stake

For Philmont, I picked up a set of y-shaped aluminum stakes (picture 3). They cost a little more than $2.00 apiece on average,but they are your best bet on an extended camp out.

Picture 3 - Aluminum Y-Shape Tent Stake

The Philmont gear list suggests bringing ten stakes per person, which works out to twenty stakes per tent. I don't think that many are necessary. Philmont is all about taking what you need and no more. My suggestion is that you carry one and a half times as many stakes as are required to set up your tent. My tent requires six stakes, so I will take nine. Actually, I will probably take ten, with both me and my tent mate carrying five each. Tent stakes seem like a little thing when you are packing, but it is worth the extra money to buy good ones.

Philmont Tip #2 - Get Fit, Earn a Patch

It is vitally important to be in good physical condition before attempting a Philmont Trek. As long as you have to exercise anyway, you may as well earn a patch for it. The BSA has just the thing with the Scout Strong Presidential Active Lifestyle Award. To earn this award, go to

 www.scouting.org/SCOUTStrongPALA.aspx

Go to the tab that allows you to select your state or location and choose it. Select the BSA Council you belong to and then start the PALA challenge. You can then create or login to your account which allows you to keep up with your progress. In order to qualify for the award, an adult must take part in 30 minutes of physical activity at least five days a week for 6 out of 8 weeks. This activity can be almost anything, from yard work to running a triathlon. Youth participants must log 60 minutes of activity five days a week for 6 out of 8 weeks. There are also recommendations for helping to stay on a healthy diet during the program. After successfully completing the program you receive a congratulatory email from the PALA program which you should print and present to your Troop's advancement chairperson to receive the patch.

This award should be easy for anyone going to Philmont. This should be the minimum amount of conditioning you are doing to get ready.

Gray Owl Spring Camporee

This past weekend my Troop, Troop 57 out of Garland Texas attended the spring Camporee. The theme this time was cooking and the main competition was the Iron Chef contest. We had a great time hanging out with other local troops. The scouts built a rather elaborate tree structure to practice their knot tying skills. As a troop, we had good fortune in the cooking contests, taking third place in the cobbler contest with an apple-rhubarb cobbler. We also won the Iron Chef Award. the secret ingredient was Spam and we entered four dishes: Spam Tamales, Spam on Bowtie Pasta, Asian Spam Lettuce Wraps and Philly Spamsteak Sandwiches. The goal was to create a sort of world tour with Spam. I've posted the recipes under the Camping Recipes tab at the top of the site.