How much gear do you have?  Will you be able to check it all in on the plane?  We used a box truck and had a couple of volunteers to drive the gear out.  This was all the troop common gear and personal gear.

Gear – Common & Personal You will have to decide what your trip participants are required to bring (eg: Sleeping bags, personal clothes, personal care products, etc...) and what the organization will provide (eg: cooking gear, tents, tarps, etc...).

When planning out your gear you should take into account of your food menu and what supplies will be needed for cooking, food prep & storage, serving items (like cups, plates, utencils, etc..) andwill you be using disposable items or reusable items. Don't forget supplies like rope, propane, matches, lantern globes & mantles, duct tape, tool box (for minor repairs), extra tent supplies, water filters, laundry detergent, etc...

Here is our sample personal gear list - Sample Personal Gear Lists

Here is our sample common gear list - Sample Common Gear Lists

Transporting the gear yourself what will you need?  We rented a Penske 26’ box truck and custom built the shelves to hold all the gear.  I highly recommend having a shelving system otherwise all of you stuff will be a big pile.  One word of advice – strap down your gear.  We thought we had it secure and after the first day of travel it was a big pile of mush, we then had to get creative.  So really examine to keep it all organized and so nothing breaks.  Transporting it yourself is the best solution as it will enable you to keep it under your control and so it doesn’t get lost or stolen.

Shipping the gear, is an option but there are risks.  Will the shipment arrive on time?  What are the costs? What about breakage?   Our troop took a similar trip in 2000 and shipped the troop gear out via cargo crates but when they arrived in Denver the gear was not there someone had to wait behind for a day and catch up with the group.
So now you have the gear out at the start of your trip, how will you transport it around?  Does it fit in your passenger vans?  Will you get a box truck?  Will you have shelves?