Wow, Boys and Girls!

2021 sure took us all by surprise! We’ve had an unprecedented volume of orders to fulfill this season that we’ve had some difficulty keeping up. The demand to send kids off to camp came back with such a vengeance after the campless summer of 2020 and, along with the sudden and unseen challenges to acquire parts we need to construct our trunks, this season has certainly presented us with new trials to manage.

We’re proud of our typical lead time of 2 business days (or up to 5 business days if your order contains camp-branded apparel), but we’ve unfortunately had to continuously push ahead our lead times for our Traditional Steel Trunks as well as our Designer Trunks as order volume and supply challenges began accumulating.

Our lead time was roughly 30 days out just a handful of weeks back, but they’ve been slowly creeping back in the last few weeks. To get a delivery date for a trunk first add a trunk to your cart. Then, on the Shopping Cart page, use the Shipping Calculator. We keep these dates current and accurate.

We’ve resorted to selling some of the trunks that customers return to us. We take them in, replace any damages, and haul it straight into our Call Center. This way, when customers call to cancel their order because they know they won’t get their trunk in time, our reps in the Call Center can offer one of these reclaimed trunks which can ship out immediately!

Despite these difficulties and unusual methods we’ve had to implement, this season has certainly been one for the books! You’ve made it a great season for us and we hope we were able to meet your needs for summer camp. We’re very sorry if we were unable to fulfill your order in the time that you need, but we truly do appreciate your patience and understanding in these unprecedented times!

We’ll always strive to make our customers happy and do as much as we possibly can to get your order to you in time for your summer camp stay. Thank you for your understanding this season and we hope your summer is an awesome time regardless of whether you got a trunk or not. As always, thanks for reading!

- John

Hey, Helmet Heads!

People have been wearing protective gear on top of their heads, one of the most vital parts of our body, for thousands of years—pretty much since the dawn of civilization. Whether they be ceremonial and symbolic or practical and effective, helmets have been around for a long time to protect our brains and heads.

Battle Helmets
Coming from ‘helm’, the Old English word for protective head covering, the job of a helmet is pretty clear. That’s why the first helmets in history were for military purposes—doing battle was the main reason from centuries ago that anyone would need to wear head protection. Knights of the Medieval Ages wore their swinging visor helmets and all other types of models for the same reason. 

It wasn’t until the 1800s that huge developments were made both in terms of helmet construction methods as well as manufacturing materials such as leather, felt, and pith. But even then, helmets remained items exclusive to the military or law enforcement along with hazardous occupations like coal mining.

High Helmet Demand
The supplies and production (and even the demand) just wasn’t there back then, though people did things all the time without a helmet for which you ought to be wearing one. From riding bicycles to climbing rocks, playing full-contact sports and riding horseback—people did it all without a helmet. Unfortunate spills and blows, however, would sometimes result in much worse consequences that could have been prevented with a helmet.

But the 1900s and mass production put an end to that. The development of highly specialized helmets for a multitude of athletic and professional applications began emerging. With new crazes beginning, like roller skating, riding motorcycles, and skateboarding—different styles of helmet were designed to give the best protection in each particular activity.

Riding Rules
1956 introduced the ‘Caliente’ helmet in the USA. Proper safety helmets crossed from racing into other equestrian fields and, in 1986, the United States Pony Club asked the ASTM (American Society for Testing and Materials) to design a riding helmet made for equestrians. The first ASTM/SEI certified helmet was developed in 1990 just as helmet laws spread throughout the States and made helmets mandatory for riders on the road or under the age of 14.

Remember to always ride with your helmet on! Check out the helmets we have available for your horseback adventures here at Everything Summer Camp. You can click here for all our horseriding gear and, as always, thanks for reading, Camp Fans!

- John

Hey, Cool Campers!

Easy to obtain, you can pick up a pair of sunglasses for yourself at any ol’ convenience store. Or, if your vision requires corrective lenses, splurge on a nice pair of prescription sunglasses. But things weren’t always so. Sunglasses have been around for a long time, but not forever. So when were these crafty specs invented and who were the first folks to wear these cool shades?

The Alaskan Inuits, also known as Eskimos, get the credit for the invention of sunglasses, though the very first ‘sunglasses’ didn’t look anything like a cool pair of shades that we know and love today. They made them for staring out upon the vast plains of blindingly white snow sparkling in the sunlight.

The ancient ‘snow goggle’, however, essentially worked the same way as our modern polarized sunglasses. They were typically carved out of bone or ivory, featuring a long, single slit or multiple slits for each eye to see through. Some modern sunglasses are even modeled after this style with bars running across each eye covering.

Sunlight comes down in vertical light waves, reflects off surfaces, and changes into horizontal light waves. Polarized sunglasses are designed to block horizontal light waves, cutting back on glare. The small viewing slit did the same thing. Along the same lines of squinting as well as narrowing a camera’s aperture, the science is the same as it was 2000 years ago! Learn more on the topic with this old Blog post. 

Chinese judges in the Middle Ages wore glasses with a smoke-colored quartz lens not for the purpose of protective eyewear, but to hide any expression that could be revealed through their eyes. For a time after that around the 16 to 1700s, darkened glasses were thought to help correct visual impairments. While the science of this was shown to be untrue, they were eventually sold as sunglasses.

It was a man named Ray Ban who made the first polarized pair of sunglasses that reduce glare from sunlight. And a commercial for Foster Grant sunglasses in 1960 skyrocketed the popularity for this product making them the cool, long-lasting fashion that they still are today. Check out the shades we’ve got available here at Everything Summer Camp and, as always, thanks for reading, Camp Fans!

- John

Hey, Canoe Kids!

Tomorrow is National Canoe Day! Canoeing is a wonderful combination of great cardiovascular exercise that builds upper body strength along with awesome means of relaxation and calming effects. It only makes sense an awesome activity like Canoeing has a day designated just for celebrating the joys of going somewhere in a canoe!

It’s an activity that’s easy to learn and, with some basic safety gear and an experienced friend, you can hit the water tomorrow (or whenever else you please) to enjoy this awesome hobby.

Here are some points about canoes that make them so great!

Carry it in the Canoe
For one of the smallest options of boat sizes, canoes are nice that they have wide bodies with an open top—that’s available packing space for all the gear you need to bring along. For this fact, canoes are a perfect option on portage trips that require regular water and land crossing.

Canoe Comfort
Canoes provide decent stability with a variety of sitting positions as well as kneeling (which can add more power behind paddling strokes) or even standing up. Not being stuck in the same position allows for more comfort for longer distances on exciting expeditions.

Company and Beautiful Cruising
Young kids and family dogs can join you out on the water in a canoe. Make it a party out on the water! The open, tall sides of canoes keep water from splashing inside unless the waters are really wild. And the slow pace and openness of canoes offer a great view of the beautiful surrounding sights.

Whether you enjoy a calm lake or rushing river, spend National Canoe Day in style tomorrow. You can always rent a canoe if you don’t own one or know somebody who owns one that you could join out on the water. Remember, there are places you can’t get to with roads or on foot, only the river will take you there! Happy Canoe Day! And, as always, thanks for reading!

- John

Hey, Camp Fans!

The recommended camp outfitter for nearly three hundred summer camps, we here at Everything Summer Camp are proud to work with every single one of them! And we love singing the praises of the many camps with whom we’ve developed a working relationship too. That’s why today I’m shining our camp spotlight on the pristine land in the northeast corner of Chicago, Illinois.

Put yourself on 600 acres of a shaded land under a canopy of white pines, oak trees, maples, and ash trees to envision yourself at JCC (Jewish Community Center) Camp Chi. Wooded trails and a ravine perfect for hiking surround open fields for games and fun. Blass Lake provides a cool breeze during the day and picturesque sunsets each night.

Try your hand at awesome activities such as Archery, Baseball, Basketball, Fitness Training, Flag Football, Frisbee Golf, Gaga, Krav Maga, Soccer, Softball, Tennis, Volleyball, Ultimate Frisbee, Rock Climbing, Ropes Course, Mountain Biking, Horseback Riding, and plenty more. Head to the lake for Boating, Canoeing, Fishing, Knee Boarding, Paddle Boarding, Sailing, Swimming, Water Basketball, Wake Boarding, Water Skiing, and more!

And, there’s also great indoor activities like everyone’s favorite: Arts & Crafts, Ceramics & Pottery, Photography, Glass Fusing, Jewelry-Making, Nature Crafts, Painting & Drawing, Textiles, Woodworking, DJ, Film, Music, Radio, Stop Motion Animation, Plays, Dance, Drama, and plenty more!

Cabin groups at Camp Chi are made up of approximately 12 campers and four staff members. All Chi cabins have cute porches on the front with bunk beds inside as well as cubby space for belongings. Bathrooms are nearby.

For close to one hundred years, Camp Chi has accelerated children’s athletic, social, and intellectual development . Camp Chi has seen great success in kick-starting kids on an awesome path through life. Check out their website for a closer look by clicking right here and, as always, thanks for reading!

- John