Camping Packing List

Use this list before any Pack 214 campout, like Cub O’Ree or a Webelos or Arrow of Light campout (our 4th and 5th grade dens). Print it and check items off as you pack. Start with the Six Essentials, then the rest of the list. Going on an indoor overnight, like the Super Trip? See the shorter indoor list.

Cub Scout camping is family camping. Each Scout camps with their own parent or guardian, so pack for both of you. You don’t need to be an experienced camper. Dates for each campout are on the Pack calendar.

Jump to: Your first campout · Six Essentials · What to wear · Packing list · Indoor overnights · Medical forms · Camp rules · Restrooms · Campfire safety · Who sleeps where

To print this checklist, use your browser’s Print (on a phone: Share, then Print).

What to wear

• During the day, Scouts wear a Pack t-shirt (the Class B uniform). You don’t need a uniform when you arrive. New families: your first year’s dues include a Pack t-shirt, so pick it up at the Pack table at a den or pack meeting before your first campout.
• Bring your Scout’s Class A uniform (the official uniform shirt) for evening campfire programs. The Pack’s email before each trip says if an event is different.
• Closed-toe shoes at all times. No sandals, flip-flops, or Crocs.

Packing list

Gear tips

• Tent size: a tent’s rating counts people packed in tight. For comfort, divide it by two: a 4-person tent sleeps 2.
• Sleeping bag: the temperature rating is what you can survive, not what’s comfortable. Pick a bag rated 10 to 15 degrees colder than the coldest night you expect.
• New to camping? Don’t buy a lot of gear for your first trip. The Pack has tents you can borrow. Email [email protected] and we’ll help you figure out what you need.

Leave at home

• Electronics and handheld games
• Valuables
• Lighter fluid and other fuels

Indoor overnights, like the Super Trip

Some Pack overnights are indoors, where everyone sleeps on the floor of a place like a museum or aquarium. You won’t need a tent or dishes. Bring:

• Sleeping bag, pillow, and a pad or thin air mattress
• Pajamas, a change of clothes, and extra socks
• Toothbrush, toothpaste, and other toiletries
• Any medicines your family needs, in their original containers
• Refillable water bottle
• Small flashlight

Each trip may add its own items, so watch Cubby Notes for that trip’s details.

Medical forms

Camp rules for everyone

• No alcohol.
• No fireworks, firearms, bows, or other weapons from home. Activities like archery and BB guns at camp are run by trained range staff, who provide the equipment.
• No toy weapons.
• Pocketknives: a Scout may use a pocketknife at a Cub Scout activity only after earning the knife safety adventure for their current rank: Whittling for Bears (3rd grade), Chef’s Knife for Webelos (4th grade), or Knife Safety for Arrow of Light (5th grade). Scouting America requires it to be earned again at each rank, and Scouts use a knife only with an adult’s permission. Lions, Tigers, and Wolves don’t have a knife adventure, so please leave pocketknives at home for them.
• No pets.
• Buddy system: Scouts never leave the campsite without a buddy, and their parent always knows where they are.
• Stay in our own campsite. No going into other groups’ campsites.
• Walk, don’t run, around camp.
• Flush only toilet paper. No wipes of any kind or other products. At some camps, like Belk Scout Camp, a clog can shut down the camp’s pumps and close the camp.
• Cub Scouts don’t use axes, hatchets, or saws.
• No flames, food, or snacks in tents. Put trash in the Pack’s trash bags, and don’t leave food or open coolers out overnight, because animals come looking for them.
• No smoking, vaping, or e-cigarettes near the campsite, program areas, or restrooms, or anywhere Scouts can see.
• Quiet hours are 10:00 PM to 6:00 AM. Everyone is in their tent by lights out.
• Adults are never alone one-on-one with a Scout who isn’t their own child.
• Leave what you find: rocks, plants, sticks, and flowers stay where they are.
• Photos: please don’t post pictures of other families’ children online without their parent’s OK.

Restrooms and showers

• Where the camp has separate youth and adult restrooms or showers, use your own. Follow the camp’s signs.
• Where restrooms are shared, adults and youth don’t use them at the same time. Check that no youth are inside before you go in. If the camp posts separate times, follow them.
• Anyone may use a single-person restroom that locks, one person at a time.
• A parent or guardian may help their own child in a shared restroom only when no other youth are inside.
• No phones or cameras in restrooms, showers, or anywhere people are changing.

These follow Scouting America’s rules on restrooms and privacy in the Guide to Safe Scouting.

Campfire safety

• Younger Scouts stay at least 3 feet from a lit fire, and come closer only to roast a marshmallow with their adult.
• Only Webelos and Arrow of Light Scouts (4th and 5th grade) who have completed their rank’s fire safety requirements build or tend a fire.
• Once it’s in, it stays in: no poking the fire, pulling out burning sticks, or throwing trash, pinecones, or leaves into the flames.

Who sleeps where

• A Scout sleeps only in a tent with their own parent or legal guardian. Brothers and sisters can share that tent.
• Tents are family space. Scouts don’t go into other families’ tents, and play happens out in the campsite.
• A grandparent or another adult who isn’t a parent or guardian needs their own tent, and Scouting America has extra requirements for them. Email [email protected] well before the trip so we can help.

All parents can read Scouting America’s Guide to Safe Scouting, which covers the safety rules for every Scouting activity.

Questions about camping? Email us at [email protected].