As Scouts make their tenting arrangements before a campout, the following guidelines apply.
GENERAL TENTING GUIDELINES
Troop 77 often combines Patrols on campouts to get functional numbers, so your Campout Patrol and your Regular Troop Patrol may be different, and for purposes of tenting, each Scout needs to focus on their Campout Patrol. This info will be in the spreadsheet published prior to each campout, listing all the T77 Scouts.
If a Scouts drops or gets added to a trip after Campout Registration has closed for that trip, it's the Scout's responsibility to communicate with your tentmates and Campout Patrol to make tenting changes, especially if the Scout is not going and was the one responsible for bringing the tent.
Scouts should camp with other members of their Campout Patrol.
If all Scouts in a Campout Patrol have a tentmate but one, then you should work together to find a slightly larger tent with extra space in it for the last Scout.
Scouts should try to maximize the number of Scouts in a tent with the smallest footprint to minimize the impact to nature and the camping area. If a larger tent is your only option, then the Campout Patrol should consider having more Scouts sleeping together in the larger tent or borrowing a smaller tent, etc.
The birthdays of the oldest and youngest Scouts sharing a tent must be less than 2 years apart.
Scouts cannot solo tent, except in cases of medical issues after notification and approval by the Scoutmaster. Solo tenting amoung Scouts is contrary to Leave No Trace principles as well as the Buddy System.
Hammock camping is allowed (sleep system must have appropriate straps and rainfy); however, you must be a First Class Scout and the Scoutmaster must approve your hammock location and setup
Male and female Scouts, including siblings, CANNOT share a tent together.
Adults and Scouts CANNOT share tents, even if parent and child.
COLD WEATHER TENTING
Sleeping bags should be rated at a minimum for the temperatures likely to be encountered on a colder weather campout.
All Scouts should sleep on a ground pad and an underquilt is recommended.
Sleeping bags are intentionally designed so that the top side has more insulation than the underside.
If your sleeping bag is not temperature rated for the weather you might encounter, you can add a fleece or silk sleeping bag liner, an extra blanket inside your sleeping bag, heavier sleeping clothes, or put onee sleeping bag inside another one (pro tip: if you flip the outside sleeping bag over so that the top is not the bottom, you will get extra insulation underneath you).
Having more Scouts sleep in a smaller tent adds additional heat; however, it also adds additional condensation, so roof vents need to be opened and rain flies should be taut and not touched from the inside or outside as much as possible or the condensation will drip inside your tent.
Wear an insulated hat that covers your ears or a balaclava.
No heaters, flames, catalytic hand warmers or any source of heat using any kind of fuel are permitted in a tent.
Enclosed chemical reaction hand warmers are allowed. Hot water bottles or Nalgene bottles (MUST BE NALGENE BRAND WHICH ARE SPECIALLY HEAT RATED) filled with hot water are allowed IF the hot water bottle or Nalgene bottle is enclosed in a case to prevent the hot plastic from coming into contact with bare skin. EXTREME CAUTION must be used to ensure the water bottle will not leak.