Some of our Scouts are camping next week at the International Friendship Camp that’s being held at Kibblestone. They are going with one of our local Troops, 36th St. Wulstans. They are hosting a group of Norwegian Scouts and it looks set to be a great week.
As some of our Scouts are going, we were asked if some tents could be borrowed. Not a problem! So on Tuesday, me, our assistant Scout Leader and St. Wulstan’s Group Scout Leader went to get the tents. They were got out and I suggested we check them, but it was decided that they would have been put away properly so there wouldn’t be any problem.
Last night I got a phone call from St Wulstan’s GSL who was Kibblestone saying that the main guy ropes were missing! As they are using traditional Patrol Tents you can put you can put them up without the main guys, but it’s always best to have them in case of bad weather (the only time I remember one of these coming down was when we caught the tail end of a hurricane in 1986!).
So out we went with the guys. It did make a pleasant evening out! However, it proves the point that you should always check the kit before going out and therefore you are Being Prepared!
I can’t say that I’ve never done anything similar before. Once, as a Scout, we went backpacking and when it came to put up the tent, we found there were no pegs! It was my job to check the tents and somehow I’d missed the fact that there were no pegs. Luckily we managed to put the tent by improvising with sticks and rocks. I must admit I wasn’t too popular for a while that day!