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Camping and Outdoor Activities
Outdoor activities and camping are key components of scouting. The early ranks require hiking; map, compass, and orienteering work; and identifying wild animals and plants. The early ranks also require pitching tents, overnight campouts, campout activities, and camp cooking. The Eagle rank requires the Camping merit badge which needs 20 nights of troop or patrol campouts (and only one week of summer or long-term camp may be used). Pioneering, Backpacking, Wilderness Survival, and many other merit badges provide outdoor possibilities.
Besides overnight campouts, scouts can experience the outdoors at resident summer camp, Camporees, and Jamborees. There are also High Adventure programs at the troop, council, and national level that allow scouts to experience more rugged camping in the wilderness. (These are covered in the following chapter.)
Many troops go camping every month, while troops that go camping only a few times a year could make it very difficult to finish early ranks or the Camping merit badge. Some troops have a requirement to schedule a minimum of ten nights per year (which may be a single week-long camp plus five other overnighters).
Boy Scouts of America recommends that each troop conduct at least four overnight campouts per year (and attend a BSA-approved long-term camp). Active troops that are located in areas with lots of camping opportunities might conduct eight to ten campouts per year. Commonly these are overnight on Fridays, Saturdays (ending on Sunday), or both. They may also be scheduled for other long weekends or days off from school. (LDS troops do not camp over Saturday nights nor on Sundays, except in rare cases.)
Some troops go ``car camping'' where they drive up with a huge amount of supplies — and other troops camp light-weight and hike into their overnight destinations. Troops may be fair weather campers and only go when it is not too hot and not too cold, while others are well prepared to camp in snow, rain, or extreme heat.
Troops may have a new-scout campout with a focus on preparation and basic camping skills for new scouts — and maybe even their parents.
Scout campouts often include an evening or campfire program. Sitting around a campfire, the troop may do yells, skits, songs, and listen to a Scoutmaster minute, motivational, and adventure stories. The event, usually an hour or less, may be somber or fun — or both. This is usually led by the Senior Patrol Leader who may arrange the participants ahead of time.
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