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Duke of Edinburgh Expeditions

Posted: Fri May 25, 2012 10:42 am
by Looking for help
My youngest is doing the Bronze award soon, and is going for a practice expedition in a couple of weeks.

I have a list of things he needs to take. Lots on it. Some of it is just gobbledygook

For instance what is a Bivi bag ? -ok just googled this, but do we really need one ?

Does he really need to bring matches (visions of forest fires in this heat)

Any good advice from people out there ?

Unfortunately I sent my husband to the meeting about it, and he didn't listen :o

Re: Duke of Edinburgh Expeditions

Posted: Fri May 25, 2012 11:01 am
by Sally-Anne
It is highly unlikely that he will need a bivi bag in the British summer (even when it does its worst), but the problem is that the kids are sometimes "marked" for having the right kit.

Matches - yes, because they will presumably be taking a camping stove to cook food and make hot drinks.

Any other mystery items?

Re: Duke of Edinburgh Expeditions

Posted: Fri May 25, 2012 11:09 am
by Looking for help
Well....I did get to the bottom of the trangia (I'd never heard of that either :oops: ) and I guess it will need matches and I suppose they might need a whistle in case they get lost, and a personal first aid kit in case they (oh I can't imagine what) and a scouring pad and washing up liquid, because they'll be doing the washing up, and the spare batteries and bulbs for their torches (becuase they are away for 24 hours, and you never know) ..... :lol:

None of my older ones have done this, so I am inexperienced. They went on a days hike a couple of weeks ago, and he was the only one not wearing walking boots ( I sent him in trainers, bad mother - we don't do outdoorsy things much) so I am determined to get it right so he is not the butt of the jokes again :lol: But good grief by the time Ive bought him the boots, the waterproofs, the tent, and all the rest of it we could have gone to Majorca all inclusive for a week

Re: Duke of Edinburgh Expeditions

Posted: Fri May 25, 2012 11:24 am
by goinggetstough
Often you find that some of the items on the kit list are group items eg they don't have to have the item themselves eg trangia stove, tent etc. doesn't the school provide any of these type of items?
Not sure if you have been shopping yet, we found Go outdoors and decathlon had very reasonably priced items. Waterproofs can be reused in daily life as can a backpack. Mine find them very useful for travelling by train. So some of the things wont be wasted items...
Do check the D of E website as that gives lots of information too.
I hope he has a good time?

Re: Duke of Edinburgh Expeditions

Posted: Fri May 25, 2012 11:54 am
by Sally-Anne
Yes, a lot of the items are for the whole team, and they have to divide the weight up between
them. Perhaps you can borrow some stuff from an outdoors-type friend? Someone in the team might also be a Scout or Guide and could borrow equipment from their group?

A trangia is a completely pointless item if they have a compact camping stove - example here: http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/******* ... d_394.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Personal first aid kit is really just a couple of plasters, some antiseptic wipes and maybe some sting relief cream. The whistle is essential.

Re: Duke of Edinburgh Expeditions

Posted: Fri May 25, 2012 12:23 pm
by bondgirl
Sports Direct are worth a look for reasonably priced outdoor gear including walking boots. You can order online too.

Re: Duke of Edinburgh Expeditions

Posted: Fri May 25, 2012 12:35 pm
by Sportsmum
The DofE website kit list covers all the equipment for all 3 levels so can seem somewhat daunting when they are simply doing their Bronze. We found that some of the large Tesco Extra stores had a good and reasonably priced camping section including "sporks"!

With regards to cooking their evening meal - a disposable bbq worked a treat - and meant that the rucksacks were that much lighter when they came to packing up and walking back - what with that and the mountains of food that had been consumed sometime between Friday after school and Saturday morning! Even the emergency M&Ms and Haribos had been consumed early on! The boys decided between them in their groups who was bringing what food - so they had a veritable feast on the Friday night - one boy even took marinated steak - but then he is a bit of a gastronome!

Be prepared for them to need a bath when they walk through the door, followed by a huge plate of food and then to dive into bed for the remainder of the morning and early afternoon! Ours had the most horrendous weather (first week back this term) and so resembled drowned rats. I remember our lad scoffed at the idea of taking disposable hand warmers - but then had so many best mates needing to warm their hands and feet on the Saturday morning!

Re: Duke of Edinburgh Expeditions

Posted: Fri May 25, 2012 12:43 pm
by daveg
Sally-Anne wrote: A trangia is a completely pointless item if they have a compact camping stove
They're a lot safer in inexperienced hands than either gas or pressurised liquid stoves.

Re: Duke of Edinburgh Expeditions

Posted: Fri May 25, 2012 12:48 pm
by Amber
daveg wrote:
Sally-Anne wrote: A trangia is a completely pointless item if they have a compact camping stove
They're a lot safer in inexperienced hands than either gas or pressurised liquid stoves.
They are brilliant. A favourite bit of kit in our house and definitely safer, as you say.
Bivi bag really not needed and DD was not marked down for not having one. You only need those if you are planning to sleep under the stars with no tent! If it's cold you are better off with a fleece liner for the sleeping bag.

Re: Duke of Edinburgh Expeditions

Posted: Fri May 25, 2012 1:06 pm
by Looking for help
What is this 'marked down ' ? Do they get marked for their kit ? and their ability to survive ?

I thought they just did a bit of a walk, pitch a tent sleep then come back again :shock:

Oh help....I should have gone to the meeting. :(