Very well said Don in both your posts. I would also add that the experience has a lot to do with learning to work together as a unit. Something that 14-16 year olds have a hard time doing sometimes. Approximately 360 Scouts/Adults arrive each day during the season (mid-June thru mid-August I believe) so this is about 21,600 Scouts/Adults per year, so they must be doing something right!

We had 5 Scouts and 2 adults in our crew (I would have made the 3rd adult, but had to pull out at the last minute due to medical reasons). We had two other crews of 8-9 people each.

Our crew members slept two to a tent and we took our own. Brand names included Eureka, Big Agnes, REI, and one other I can recall. We did this to save weight.

We took two Coleman Exponent stoves because I don't like messing with white gas. I own one and we borrowed another. Are these heavier than I would take if I were leading a trip on my own? Maybe. It depends on how many are going and where. We used a 4qt and a 6qt pot to cook in (used turkey bags to keep clean up to a minimum) and made our own lids for them. Lexan bowl and spoon to eat with. We probably could have gotten by with just one stove, but if there were a problem we'd have been S.O.L. and a long way back to base camp. Perhaps here would be where 3-4 alky stoves would have been a viable alternative. Having two Exponents though allowed dinner and clean up to be done much quicker. The other two crews used white gas to cook with.

Home made 8x12 black silnylon tarp to cook under and to store packs under (much lighter than the tarps provided). Mason braided nylon twine for guy-outs. Blue amsteel cord for hanging bear bags (much lighter than the rope provided). Made pot cozies for the cook pots to hold in the heat an not have to use as much gas to keep water warm.

I believe was I somewhat successful in teaching our crew the benefits of going light weight where we could and still follow the rules of Philmont. Will I continue to expand the knowledge of light weight backpacking to our new troop? Absolutely. We'll be working up to some longer hikes on the Ouachita Trail in Arkansas and we'll be using light weight gear.