Every hike or outing requires the Scout to bring the Ten Essentials. The Handbook has the detailed description. For the first base camp and first day hike, parents will need to help assemble and pack them.
- Pocketknife. Approved folding type only. Any Scout may carry one, but a Totin' Chip is required to use it.
- First aid kit. Need not be official. Check the Handbook's list and put the items in a Ziploc bag.
- Extra clothing. Don't overdo it. For a day hike, a warm jacket or sweatshirt for evening and early morning.
- Rain gear. Poncho or water-resistant jacket and pants, and a water-resistant hat. Troop 4 does not go home because it starts to rain.
- Water bottle. One or two quarts in plastic bottles with tight screw lids, filled before leaving and checked for leaks. No metal canteens or narrow shoulder straps.
- Flashlight. Small and light, with a spare bulb and batteries, or simply a second small light, since you cannot find spare parts in the dark.
- Trail food. Granola bars, dried fruit, nuts, jerky, sealed in a Ziploc. Candy is not trail food, and a one-mile hike needs very little.
- Matches. Strike-anywhere matches in a small snap-lid bottle; about ten for a weekend. A scrap of sandpaper in a shirt pocket makes striking easy in the field.
- Sun protection. Sunblock in a Ziploc, a wide-brimmed hat, and sunglasses on a string around the neck.
- Map and compass. A basic compass from the Scout Shop, REI, or online, ideally with a lanyard tied to a belt loop or inside the pack, and preferably with declination adjustment. Maps are issued by the troop for each outing.
Carry everything in a daypack or rucksack that closes completely, resists water, and weighs only a few pounds loaded. The poncho should fit over both the Scout and the pack.