I have been going camping since I was about 12 years old. My first camping experience was in 1982 when I went to the Spring Camporee with my Boy Scout Troop 61 based in Eugene, Oregon.
Starting with a simple pup tent that was held up by two metal poles and rope, I’ve gone on to use…
- Large heavy canvas sheet held up by three bamboo poles and a bamboo platform
- Bivouac constructed of natural materials
- Medium dome tent with metal poles
- World Scout Jamboree dome tent with fiberglass poles that is large enough to fit two cots and to allow its tenants to stand up
Unlike the modern dome tents, the canvas tent required me to learn and use pioneering skills. It also taught me to waterproof the canvas by using wax from candles, and to safely use sharp tools, such as parang (a Malaysian machete) and saw. Leveraging reused rope, lashing skills and abundant bamboo, my patrol and I built sturdy double-decker platforms, with the top platform used for sleeping and the bottom one for equipment and supplies. We also built a larder, a fire wood table for cooking, a clothes drying line and a sharp tools rack entirely out of bamboo and lashings.
In the tropical rain forest of Southeast Asia, my Boy Scout troop camped near rivers, where we got water for cooking, drinking and washing. In the hot, humid and sometimes wet conditions, we dealt with mosquitoes, flies, leeches, and occasional scorpions and snakes. We used neither bug spray nor sun screen. We hiked in with our heavy metal patrol box, patrol first aid box that once was a military ammo box, equipment like kerosene lantern, and supplies.
