Gear

Here’s my recommendations for gear gifts for Scouts or Scouters that I have owned and used, some for many years. Check out my gear guide for more in-depth advice. If you follow my links and make a purchase I get a referral fee. My Tee Shirts & Books Check out my custom tee shirts for Scouts and Scouters at Amazon , and here are my books at Amazon too. Rayovac Sportsman’s Lantern I’ve tried out several different LED lanterns, and the Rayovac Sportsman is built more solidly, is smaller, tougher, and has higher brightness and longer battery life than any of the others....

This Scouting Equipment Catalog from 1925 is a fantastic piece of Scouting history. I’ve scanned all 50 pages and created a PDF document that you can download at the end of this post. On the cover there’s a full color illustration by Benjamin Goodwin Seielstad of Scouts in their campsite with a cowboy in the background. No new-fangled sleeping bags (since there was really no such thing in 1925!) for these fellows, no sir, they have good honest wool blankets ($4....

Sturdy, reliable tools are important components of any camping kit and make great gifts for Scouts or Scouters. There are cheaper alternatives to some of my choices, but I have chosen tools that I think are a are great value for cost. Pocket Knives There is not one absolute best pocketknife for every Scout in every situation, but any one of the three Victorinox Swiss Army Knives below are an excellent choice....

Here’s a handy one-page reference that highlights care and sharpening of axes and hatchets. A good quality new hatchet will cost more than lower quality tools, but they are worth the investment. Many highly touted hatchets and axes on the market are upwards of seventy to a hundred dollars, and I suppose they are probably worth the cost but they seem over-priced to me; there are some excellent tools that will do the same work for less than $40....