So you are headed to camp.
You are looking forward to a week in the woods with your best
friends. You can taste the marshmallows,
hear the ghost stories. The time seems
to have passed so slowly since you jumped into the lake last summer for the
swim test. But now the time has
come. You pack your trunk with the
essentials; comic books, candy bars, soda, and all the other necessities for a
week away from home. Then your mom comes
in and empties it all and you have to start all over. She wants you to pack some uniforms,
tee-shirts, toothpaste, soap, bug spray, and other stuff you think is useless, including
UNDERWEAR. You think to yourself “Why
should I pack them, I’ll be wearing a pair when I leave?" Of course, now that you are taking all this
stuff mom will expect you to bring it all home.

This raises the biggest question:
How do I go to camp and come back with my own underwear?

There are many options.
Not taking any or telling your tent-mate to bring the same brand and
size probably is not realistic. You consider
getting some drawers that are very unique, but you remember that wool is really
itchy. You look again at the stuff on
your bed and realize that you do, in fact, want to bring back most of it. Mixed amongst the swim trunks and sweatshirts
is your Boy Scout Handbook, the pocket knife

that Grandpa gave you, a super bright flash light,
and other cool stuff you don’t want to be without. The simplest and easiest way to get your
stuff home is to write your name on everything you take. But do you really want to ruin your favorite
pair of Jimmy Neutron boxers by writing your name across the back? Reluctantly, you decide to mark all your
stuff with your name and troop number.
Mom shows you the best places to write without ruining your stuff. Everything is shoved in the trunk and off you
go.

Marking your stuff is only the start of making sure you come
home with what you leave with. It is
very important to make sure you put everything back when you are done with
it. A key item to bring is a mesh bag
for those dirty boxers and other clothes.

When you change into clean clothes, put the dirty ones in the bag right
away. Not only will this help get your
clothes home, but it will also keep you from tripping over yesterday’s
watermelon soaked tee-shirt in the middle of the night. In the off chance you wander to the showers,
have your soap,
toothbrush, toothpaste, and other bathroom type stuff in a shower bag or
carrying case. Something made of mesh or
with drain holes in the bottom will help keep the stuff that keeps you clean,
clean. For trekking around camp from merit badge
classes to open boating on the lake, carry a backpack with just the items you
will need for the period of time you will be away from the campsite. The key to
getting everything back that you left the house with is keeping your stuff
organized and together. Some camps
encourage you to bring foot lockers or small trunks, others require backpacks. Either way, if you only bring the essentials
and don’t over stuff your bags, you should come back with what you started
with, and maybe, if your tent-mate didn’t read this, a little more.

You would be surprised at the items that turn-up each summer
in the camp’s lost and found box. The
staff looks through it on a daily basis and lays their claims on the good stuff
the minute the last camper of the season heads home. Many years there have been enough uniform
parts left behind to outfit a patrol. Pocket knives, merit badge
books, flashlights, enough
towels to keep a family of 5 dry for years, and a variety of hats are just a
few of the items that don’t make it home every summer. And yes, even underwear gets left
behind. So do your part to keep your
stuff as your stuff to bring with you next summer.