Quote:
Heck, I was sheltering fellow hikers who had obviously learned from boy scouts to carry a giant tent


Why? Did they say something to lead you to believe that? Maybe they "learned" it all on their very own!

Why do you make assumptions and generalizations that ALL Scouts don't know anything about light weight backpacking?

As has been said in other posts on this board, 90% of Scout camping is car camping, not backpacking. So, most parents spend their money on bomb proof equipment. And many troops provide the tents (3-4 man tents) so these aren't appropriate for backpacking.

I believe all of the "high adventure" bases (Philmont, Sea Base, BWCA - Norther Tier) have an age requirement of 14 so by then a youth has been in Scouts for 3 years. Hopefully by the beginning of their 3rd year they know whether they want to try out the high adventure programs and can start accumulating gear accordingly and they've learned how to take care of it.