A Mess Kit is a scout’s personal eating containers and utensils. While the Troop does have some spare items to lend, we expect all scouts to bring their own gear for eating on every camping trip. Scouts will also responsible for the cleaning and storing for their the gear during an outing.
At a minimum, a Mess Kit should include:
Plate
Bowl
Cup
Fork and Spoon (or a Spork).
Mesh Drawstring Bag
Having a knife in your mess kit may come in handy, but for most meals, it isn’t necessary. To store and hang your mess kit, all of your gear should fit into a mesh drawstring bag. These bags are hung in camp to allow the gear to dry in between meals and to keep them safe and out of the way as well. If your kit does not come with one, they can be purchased separately, just be sure that the bag will fit the size plate you purchased.
Important Note: Be sure to write your name on each piece of the kit so we can tell yours apart from the others at camp. Also, although scouts wash their personal gear after each meal while camping, mess kits should be thoroughly washed and sanitized once they are home. The troop has seen some interesting science experiments when the kits are left to ferment between campouts.
Some commonly used kits and accessories are shown below. All affiliate links below are just for informational purposes only and these items are not required in any way.
The options for mess kits are endless. The items above and many other types of kits can be found online or at camping retailers. Search for “Camp Eating Kit” or “One Person Mess Kit” online to explore additional options.
For the Troop, the dining fly is a basic piece of equipment, but an extremely important piece of equipment. During the warmer camping seasons, it provides a comfortable shaded area for the scouts to congregate under, and they usually place it right over their camp kitchen. It also provides us a place to take cover if it rains and protects the patrol’s kitchen equipment.
Commercial versus Home-Made
The Troop has used some commercially manufactured flies and “pop-up” canopies but have not been impressed with the strength of the tarp or poles they provide. It has been the troop’s experience that the commercial canopies, although costing $120 or more, will fail at the first heavy rain or gust of wind.
With a little effort and much less money, the troop can make its own dining fly that will be custom sized to its needs. A simple home-made dining fly with tarps, poles, ropes, and stakes that easily stores and transports only cost less than $60, and can last for years. Furthermore, a home-made setup is far stronger and sturdier than the pop-up shade tents that can be purchased for double the price.
Once you have properly prepared your equipment and practiced the set up a few times, you will be able to set up your own dining fly in less than 10 minutes. It should take you no more time than it does to set up your tent.
Camping tarps can be purchased cheaply at most hardware stores, including Home Depot, Lowe’s or Harbor Freight. Wal-Mart and Target also have them. The tarp size for this set up can be as large as 10’ by 20’, though a slightly smaller tarp may be more manageable (ex: 10′ x 15′). The tarp will need to have grommets at each corner and midway on the 2 long edges.
Most tarps are manufactured with the grommets already in place, however, you can also install your own with a simple grommet installation tool. If you are able to find a tarp with a cord sewn into the edge of the tarp, this is a better choice than one without as the cord adds strength where you need it most. Also tarps with re-enforced corner grommets are recommended.
Setting Up The Poles
The poles are typically made of pressure treated 2X2s with a 3” deck-screw, sunk 2″ into the top of each pole. The exposed screwhead is what passes through the grommet on the tarp and is where you tie the guy-lines.
The four 6′ poles are for the corners and allows most scouts to walk under any side of the fly with ease. The two longer 8′ poles are for the ridge-line and gives the fly a nice pitch for any rain to run off.
Staking It Down
Selecting stakes for your dining fly is one of the most important tasks you will have when designing your setup. Matching the stakes to the soil is very important. For example, metal 12″ galvanized nails work well in hard, rocky ground, while wide plastic stakes work best in soft, sandy soils
12” long galvanized nails can be purchased, typically for less then $1 each at a local hardware store.
Guy Lines Complete The Picture And Hold It Tight
The final element you need is the guy-line. A total of 100’ of rope is required, which can be purchased at most stores that sell hardware, or camping supplies. Each pole takes a single rope and each guy-line needs to be long enough to run from the top of the pole to the ground at about a 45-60° angle and be tied at both ends.
Lark’s head Knot
Bowline Knot
For the 8’ ridge-line poles, the 12’ rope is needed. Tying a permanent bowline loop on one end to secure to the pole’s stud and then extending the line perpendicular from the tarp’s edge to your ground stake.
For the 6’ corner poles, a 19’ rope will work, folded in half, connected to the pole’s stud with a Lark’s Head knot. You can then extend each of the 9′ working ends of your rope in two directions, paradelle with the tarp’s edges to your ground stakes.
Taut-Line Hitch
All guy-lines will be connected to a ground stake using a Taut-line Hitch, pulled tight to keep your canopy taught, allowing it to shed rain.
You can use ¼” manila rope, however the troop prefers to use 550 paracord. While the natural fiber ropes will stretch less under strain, the synthetic paracord is stronger, more durable and resists mildew. Regardless of the type of rope used, the ends of the ropes need to be “whipped” or “fused” to prevent the rope from unraveling.
Attention Grubmasters: Managing the food-buying task for your patrol is a very important job!
Your patrol members are going to be hungry and unhappy if you don’t buy enough food and leftover food is often wasted if you buy too much. A Scout is Thrifty is an important Scout Law to remember. You must keep track of which patrol members are going and if they have paid their money. Knowing your budget, planning your meals, and managing your funds are a big part of being successful in this leadership task.
Plan the menu with your patrol
Get a firm count of how many patrol members are going at the outing prep meeting. If you have 10 patrol members and 7 have said they are going, your budget is $140, not $200. Once you know the number going camping, use the Menu Plannerand plan to buy only as much food as your patrol will need. Buying too much food will cost your patrol extra money and is often wasteful. Stay within your budget.
Save all your receipts
Place them in an envelope labeled with your name and Patrol, and the total cost of the food, ice and supplies. Buying food for the patrol is supposed to be a break-even proposition. As Grubmaster, it is your responsibility to stay within your food budget. Spending beyond your budget must be approved by your patrol members.
Packing the food
Do you like squished bread for sandwiches? Pack the food in ways to protect it in the coolers and totes so it can be safely transported to the campsite. If needed, the troop will provide a cooler and food tote for the Grubmaster
Remove excess wrappings to reduce weight and trash at the campsite. Zip-lock type plastic bags are an excellent choice. Instead of purchasing bagged ice, fill one or more clean one-gallon jugs ¾ full of water and freeze several days before departing. Remember to keep the jug’s cap off during the freezing process. By having frozen water jug(s), you can avoid melting ice making your patrol’s food in the cooler all soggy and, if need, you’ll have another source of cold drinking water
At-home preparation will also make cooking at camp easier and quicker.
Scrambled eggs? Scramble the raw eggs at home and placed in a tightly sealed container.
Diced meats and veggies (chicken, carrots, celery)? Wash and dice at home and put in separate zip bags.
Bacon, ground burger or sausage? Pre-cook at home. Works great and eliminates grease to make clean-up easier.
It is easier to prepare meals inside in a nice warm kitchen with running water than outside in a barren cold campsite with pouring rain!
During the campout
Patrol leaders – if your Grubmaster will be preparing any food at home, prior to the campout, be sure to remember this effort when planning the duty roster for the weekend.
After the campout
The Scout who bought the food is responsible for removing all food from the food totes and coolers and disposing of it. Spoiled or ruined food is thrown out. Food that is okay should be offered to be split among the patrol members.
The Parent’s role
Parental advice, input, and transportation are important to the Grubmaster’s success. The Grubmaster is the Scout. He is expected to plan and purchase for the outing. This means that the Grubmaster goes to the store, not just the parent(s). Parental advice about nutrition and price comparison at the store is important.
Note: There are several tips for parents on the back of the Menu Planner to help you during your shopping trip. Tips for parents include:
Let your scout do the shopping. While it’s okay to give your scout a ride to the store (and a little free advice), the scout needs to choose the food and make the decisions.
Follow the patrol’s plan. At least five days before the campout, the patrol is supposed to develop a menu and shopping list for your scout to use. Our menu planner worksheet helps facilitate the planning process.
Make sure you know how many people to shop for. Again, our menu planner worksheet should list a firm head-count for the patrol members attending the outing.
Shop early. Part of the logic behind the five-day-out policy is that it gives you several weeknights on which to shop. You shouldn’t have to shop the day of the campout.
On the day of departure, you may pack your cold items in a personal cooler for the weekend or your scout may borrow one of the troops coolers. Dry goods are best packed in a tote or box to avoid items getting damaged during transport to the camp site.
For ice, it is recommended to fill a gallon water jug ¾ full of fresh, clean water and freeze it. For best results start the freezing process several days prior to the campout. During really hot months, multiple frozen jugs may be necessary. Avoid bagged & loose ice. They end-up making the cooler a soggy mess by the end of the weekend.
Plan to spend between $15 to $20 per scout for a weekend campout. That includes a Friday cracker barrel, three meals on Saturday, and breakfast on Sunday. For longer or shorter trips, adjust accordingly.
Don’t overbuy items like milk, fruit, and vegetables. While we all want our scouts to eat right – and we strongly encourage them to plan balanced menus – the fact is that we end up throwing away a lot of healthy stuff on Sunday.
Don’t buy things we already have. Your scout’s patrol should have checked supplies in the scout trailer before going shopping; we usually have items left over from previous campouts that can be reused.
Control costs. You can do this by purchasing store brands, avoiding individually-packaged items, and picking raw ingredients over prepared foods.
Turn in your receipts when you drop off the food. The sooner we get your receipts, the sooner we can reimburse you and close out the event budget.
Don’t worry. Since the BSA was founded in 1910, there have been absolutely no recorded cases of scouts starving to death on a weekend campout.
