"kids won't go with shoddy ideas any more"

True, and a bit sad also. You need stuff which is fit for purpose
(which milk cartons may not be...different debate !!!), but I think
it's sad that the only worthy option is "buy it fom the shop". Making
your own solutions can be good fun, and just as effective (and testing
the effectivness is important... but that's the same for bought goods,
as highlighted by so many regarding the thin poly airbags).
I'm also involved in scouting, and always impressed at how skilled some
of these kids can get, and yet how little creativity many of them have.
There _was_ life before GPS, Gore-Tex and cell phones, and it was just
as (if not more) fun.
My opinion anyway !
MB