When I went to Philmont in 2005, we had a scraggly assortment of backpacks. We had internal and external frames. We had huge packs and practically microscopic packs. We had orange, brown, blue, red, and green packs. But, we all had full uniforms! :-)

Finding the luggage at the airport could have been a real pain, except that we had a trick up our collective sleeves. Rather than ship the backpacks and hope no straps fell off or zippers opened up, everyone bought identical duffel bags large enough to fit every backpack.

At the luggage carrousel, it was a snap to find our duffels as they came by! Plus, we had extra room for shipping back souvenirs, including the trail food I collected to show the troop what we ate for 12 days.

In case you haven't heard of them, a company called "Outdoor Products" has a range of camping gear that is inexpensive. It's a good brand for new scouts buying their first backpack or other gear - low price on gear they'll outgrow. They have a 10,600 cu. in. duffel for $23 listed on Campmor.com and other online retailers. I believe that's what we got in 2005 and the new guys'll be getting similar bags next year for the two crews we have going in June.

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