The Philmont Forum

I've watched the discussion about Philmont cooking and would be amazed if you did it any other way than the attached "Crew 506" method. Dave Parmly had this on the Philmont discussion forum in Dec. of '04. We did it, with some minor changes, in June '05 and have some additional changes done by subsequent units from the Greater St. Louis Area Council (GSLAC). Our ranger said "I won't waste your time or mine showing you the Philmont one pot method" since he could see we had perfected the system and it was easy for us. The only dishes we ever washed were our personal ones - brain dead easy. We ate everything and never put anything into the swap boxes, kids loved green beans with added onion flakes and garlic powder. We never really had to "gut sump", we ate everything received as food - remember this cooking system is how the food companies designed their products to be used.

 

Al Thompson has prepared a spreadsheet that contains information on, and compares all of the itineraries Philmont offered in 2008.  These files are hosted on the Patriot's Path website http://www.watchu.org.

Get the .pdf version of the spreadsheet by clicking here.

Get the spreadsheet as an MS Excel spreadsheet by clicking here.

As I’ve stated previously, there is usually about three hours of non-hiking “work” to be done daily at Philmont.  This work includes setting up camp, tearing down camp, cooking dinner, and KP.  As I’ve also stated previously, it is up to the crew to decide if they want to do this “work” in three hours or in four, five, six, or more hours.

I covered camp setup and tear down, and the associated tasks involved in each of these processes in Part 4 of this series, and will not duplicate those processes or tasks here.

We train our crews on the same material I have included in these articles.  This is not “advisor only” material.  We expect our Crew Leaders to know this information with their eyes closes.  We should only have to ask “What needs to be done now?” and the Crew Leader should be able to go from there – if he or she hasn’t already.

To me, the best crews at Philmont are the crews that get their “work” done quickly and efficiently.  These are the crews that are really good teams.  They see the tasks that need to be done, they work together to complete the tasks, and then they have all the time in the world for the real fun of Philmont.  (Okay, to me and to some others, some of the fun is in these tasks, but we are very few and far between.)  You will see very little bickering or in-fighting in these crews.

On the other hand, a lazy (yes, I used the word) or ill-prepared crew will put off getting their “work” done until the fighting begins.  I’ve seen it on many occasions, and it is not pretty.  These groups may enjoy Philmont, but they are missing out on the best Philmont has to offer because they are spending all of their waking time in camp trying to get things done.

I’m going to detail the camp setup and tear down processes we train to in order to get our tasks done quickly and efficiently.  Your processes may differ.  There is no right or wrong way to get things done, although your Ranger may not like your processes and ask you to change once you are at the ranch.  So far, our Rangers have only differed in the order of tasks they would have us do first, second, etc.  The list of tasks is the same.

Although the list of crew gear needed in order to complete an 11 day backpacking tip is long, the list of crew gear that units are required to bring with them to Philmont is a very short list.  Philmont can and will provide almost all of the crew gear your crew will need to complete a Philmont trek.  The items that Philmont doesn’t provide can be purchased in the Tooth of Time Traders (TOTT).  To me, this is both a blessing and a curse.

By having such an extensive line of gear in the TOTT, a well prepared crew that gets to Philmont and finds a piece of their gear broken is not in serious trouble.  They can purchase a replacement and get on with their fun.

Ill-prepared crews are a different story.  They usually only have one or at most two shakedown activities before the trip.  These crews are depending on Philmont’s loaner equipment to get them through the trip.  They haven’t practiced using the gear they will be depending on for the next 11 days.  They purchase gear they don’t need and won’t use in the TOTT.

Now, I am not saying that every crew that uses Philmont’s gear is an ill-prepared crew.  Please do not read this that way.  I fully understand that crews come from thousands of miles away, and carting all of that extra gear via planes, trains, or automobiles can be impossible and unnecessary when free loaners are available at Philmont.  These crews should still put together crew gear kits that will be very similar to the gear the borrow from Philmont in order to prepare properly.

I would suggest that if at all possible, bring every piece of crew gear that you can with you to Philmont.  Just a few of the advantages of using your own gear include:

• You have used this gear and you know what you can do with it and what its limits are.
• You don’t have to take the time on Day 1 to check out the equipment (depending on the time of day, the line at the equipment check-out can be LONG).
• You don’t have to take the time on Day 12 to clean, repair, turn in, or replace the equipment (again, expect LONG lines, and Philmont will only accept loaned gear returns in PRISTINE condition).