Equipment Suggestions Philmont Cavalcade

Let’s start with rain shall we? Guess what? It rains at Philmont a lot. Philmont issues a 12″x 22″ stuff sack that is suppose canada goose outlet online to hold most of your gear. This stuff sack is “water resistant.” These bags are used all summer and look a little “rode hard” and rough. These bags then get loaded onto a packhorse and a “waterproof ” canvas tarp gets thrown over the top. Naturally, because that is how my whole year had been, it started to rain on the day we did 18 miles. It rained the entire time we were on the trail. When we got into camp, we discovered that our stuff sacks weren’t so “water resistant.” I had soaking wet kids (I’ll get to the Philmont slickers in a minute), wet sleeping bags, wet gear and the evening was fast approaching. I went up to the acting director at Clark’s Fork and told him that our gear was wet. That is when he said, “You should have planned https://www.mild-und-leise.de better.” Mind you, it wasn’t my equipment that had failed. It was the Philmont issued equipment that we have to use. To give the young man a break, he thought we were a regular backpacking trek and didn’t realize it was Philmont equipment that had failed. I still feel bad about imploding. and I don’t mean that in a cheeky way. The staff ended up taking our equipment and sleeping bags into their canada goose factory outlet nice, warm headquarters and canada goose jacket outlet drying everything out (but don’t count on your ability to be as charming as I am.).

So why the long story? My main point is that if we had Canada Goose Coats On Sale arrived at Bonita Cow (which is not only unstaffed but at 10,000 foot elevation), in that kind of wet condition, we would have been in trouble. So, take the Acting Director at Clark’s Fork’s advice. Plan and prepare above and beyond what Philmont expects. Your job is to prevent hypothermia. Philmont’s job is to treat it after it has set in (my opinion). Don’t be as naive as I was and don’t trust the Philmont stuff sack to keep your equipment dry. Although the majority of our participants had wet sleeping bags, my son, daughter and I did not have a problem. I didn’t know it at the time, but REI compression sacks are water resistant and they worked for us. The second time around, I required everyone to spend the $20 $25 dollars and buy a water resistant compression stuff sack for their sleeping bags. I also issued nylon, water resistant bags for clothing etc. Wal Mart sells a three pack for around $9 (In the Sports and Outdoor section. They are called “Set of 3 Ultimate Dry Sacks”). I wasn’t going to put the safety of the Crew into Ziploc bags. The nylon canada goose store bags also made organizing the personal stuff sacks much easier. I had three organized nylon bags (In three different colors), a sleeping bag, a Big Agnes sleeping pad and my sneakers. You can imagine how much easier it was to reach in and pull out what canada goose I needed. Have the kids put their names on the outside of the nylon bags especially if everyone has the same set of canada goose outlet canada bags. I planned better the second time but that was because I also knew what to expect.

One more word of advice with regards to the Philmont issued stuff sack. There have been several Crews canada goose uk shop that have brought dry bags to Philmont to use in lieu of the stuff sack. That isn’t a bad plan. However, the problem is sometimes these dry bags are a wee bit bigger then the issued stuff sack. You wouldn’t think that a few inches would make much of difference, but it does. It is hard enough to cram the issued stuff sacks into the pack bags that the pack horses carry. A few inches more could make it impossible. Also, an entire crew bringing slightly bigger bags sums up to more weight that the pack horses have to carry. Your Horseman could reject your dry bags and definitely will if canada goose uk black friday they are too big.

If your Crew does go to the trouble of buying dry bags, don’t assume that you will be able to pack them to capacity. They must compress down to the size of the issued stuff sack. If you can do that, you have a good chance that the Horseman will allow the bags. However, it is still up to the discretion of the Horseman.

Rain gear

This brings me to the Philmont issued slicker. I don’t know why Philmont issues slickers to the Cavalcades. Is it because they do not want to take the chance on kids showing up in ponchos? Flapping plastic and horses don’t always get along. Another theory is that the slickers are longer and will protect your pants (they don’t). Whatever the reason, Philmont issues a thick, durable PVC slicker that will hopefully last the entire summer.

Now, I don’t mean to be ungrateful, but the bottom line is that these slickers don’t have hoods. A hood with the material this type of slicker is made of would be way too thick to fit under a riding helmet. So when it rains, the water runs right down the back of your neck under your Philmont issued slicker. By the time we got into Clark’s Fork, our clothes were soaking wet. For the girls, their long hair absorbed plenty of rain and some of them literally had 2 to 3 feet of long, thick wet hair. Remember, it is your job to keep these kids dry.

My second time around, I required everyone to bring lightweight raincoat with hoods. No ponchos for the reason I stated above. I can’t emphasize this enough. Make it very clear to both the kids and their parents that they will not be allowed to use a poncho or a thicker, plastic raincoat. It must be a lightweight, backpacking style (silicon coated nylon, Frogg Toggs or similiar). These lightweight raincoats have hoods that will fit just fine under a helmet. You can always double check with a bike helmet before you leave for Philmont.

A good, lightweight nylon raincoat also canada goose outlet does not have to be expensive. Use the Philmont issued slicker over your raincoat. It makes a nice windbreak, offers some protection from the elements and it will protect your coat/rain coat canada goose outlet parka from getting torn up by branches/brush. Roll the raincoat and warm jacket into your Philmont issued slicker. Bring some kind of rainproof bag to put your warm jacket in. If you are wearing the raincoats, you may not want to wear your warm jacket but you will want to keep it dry. I kept an extra Wal Mart nylon bag in the pocket of my warm jacket. When the weather is nice, your lightweight raincoat and warm jacket will be rolled up into your Philmont slicker.

The other option would be to cut out the shoulders and hood of a cheap rain poncho. You can wear the Philmont slicker and use the hood and shoulders of the poncho over the slicker. Hopefully, the shoulders of the poncho would keep the rain from going down your slicker (depending upon the wind). Don’t make it too long, as you don’t want to upset your horse.

Bring rain pants. Wet jeans are uncomfortable and goose outlet canada take forever to dry. They also cause problems with chafing. Make sure the rain pants are in your saddlebag where you can access them. When the rain starts, don’t wait too long to put your rain gear on.

Ditty Bag

There are several items that need to go into the bear bag at night. Philmont calls these your cheap canada goose “smellables” and they are items such as chapstick, toothpaste and sunscreen. On the packing list, they are listed with a “BB” which stands for bear bag. If your entire crew has Canada Goose Parka to throw in everyone’s loose chapstick etc, it is going to be a pain trying to sort out whose chapstick is whose when you unload the bear bag in the morning. Everyone needs a ditty bag that will canada goose outlet online uk hold personal bear bag items. For us, we used the smallest of our three “ultimate dry sacks.” Nevertheless, it doesn’t matter what your ditty bag is, as long as you have one. None of the kids wear cowboy boots anymore. How do you get families to buy a pair of cowboy boots that the kids may never wear again? In addition, a cheap pair of real cowboy boots (no lace ups or lug soles) is at least $100 brand new. I have done four cavalcades. Two cavalcades were at Philmont and two were at Buffalo Trails Scout Ranch in Texas. To my surprise, on all my cavalcades, it was never an issue. Families seemed to get into the idea Canada Goose Online of going all “cowboy.” One father got a pair of high end cowboy boots for both himself and his two sons off of Craig’s list. I directed several families to a used tack shop in our area. The shop sold used tack equipment, but also had a large selection of used boots in the back. However, by far, the best way to canada goose outlet shop get a pair of boots for the grand total of $0 was by putting a call out to the families of our Troop/Crew. It is amazing how many parents have a pair of cowboy boots stuffed in the back of the closet that they haven’t worn in 20 years. They are delighted to donate the boots and the kids are not picky. Make sure that the donating parent/adult knows that it is a donation and not a loan. Mud and rain can be hard on a pair of boots and the boots may not come back in the same condition as when they left.

I had also worried over the idea of rubbing and sore spots on the kids from wearing a pair of boots. No matter how much I would tell them to “break in” the boots before the trip, I am pretty sure that the majority of them never bothered. For some reason, it hasn’t been an issue. I suppose I have been lucky. You can worry about it but all you can do is bring plenty of mole skin. I guess the fact that we all have a pair canada goose outlet jackets of sneakers/camp shoes stuffed into our bags to change into has also canada goose black friday sale helped a lot.

Sleep Pads

Big Agnes I love Big Agnes. These or backpacking Therm a rest (think ‘small diameter’ when rolled up) are great. You won’t be able to bring the cheap foam pads or the larger camping Therm a rest type pads. There is obviously no room. These small pads should easily slip into the Philmont issued stuff sack. Fortunately, there are more and more cheaper options for blow up type pads (just make sure that they are the insulated air sleeping pads). Emphasize to the parents that this isn’t a comfort issue. It is about keeping the kids insulated from the cold ground.

For the adults, invest in something like Big Agnes. Your back will thank you for it and it is worth the money. Don’t show up with a three inch thick camping Therm a rest. It is going to stay in the car and you are going to be miserable. Chances are pretty high that you are going to canada goose outlet reviews eat with your jacket on. If canada goose clearance sale there is any possibility that there is a “smellable” on your jacket, it can’t come into your tent. With the exception of your sleeping bag, pad, and sleep clothes, everything else stays in either your stuff sack under the dining fly or goes up in the bear bag.

If you need a pillow, invest in a small, inflatable pillow. I personally don’t find them to be particularly comfortable but they do work. They are some times called camp shirts or sun shirts. The first year, we had long sleeve, embroidered cotton, denim cowboy shirts. Yeah, that was a dumb idea. Cotton takes too long to dry. The second time around, the kids voted on the color and I ordered nylon camp shirts off of Amazon for $20 to $30. I didn’t bother to get them embroidered. We didn’t want to pay for it. However, a lot of cavalcades do get them embroidered and it looks pretty cool. Our sister crew showed up in, yep, cotton cowboy shirts. They too, were not happy with their cotton shirts. They were also told that they could only have snaps on their shirts and not buttons. Huh? Buttons are fine.

Second Pair of Jeans

On Philmont’s video, they recommend two pairs of jeans. Personally, jeans are bulky and hard to stuff into your bag. If they get wet, they dry out a lot faster if you are wearing them. None of us brought a second pair. Of course, being kids, it takes them about an hour to heal and then they are good to go.