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Equipment and Walking
Equipment and Walking
Footwear
You are going to be walking all day whilst on expedition so footwear is critical, inappropriate or ill-fitting footwear will be painful and cause blisters. It is likely that footwear will get wet and so waterproof or water-resistant boots are recommended for Silver of Gold expeditions.
You don't need to spend a fortune, good quality walking boots can be bought at a reasonable cost. It is important to buy and wear walking boots well in advance of the expedition so that they are shaped to your feet and less likely to rub.
At Bronze level walking boots are not essential, however, if you are not going to have walking boots you should wear sturdy trainers that will be able to stand up to 2 days of walking and provide adequate ankle support - shoes like converse do not do this.
At Silver and Gold level you will be walking for longer each day and over more challenging terrain, as such it is highly recommended that you wear walking boots.
Packing a Rucksack
Whilst on expedition you will be carrying all of your personal equipment and some of the group equipment in a rucksack. You can borrow a 65L rucksack from the Academy or use your own if you would rather. When packing your rucksack key things to consider are:
Items you want to keep dry (sleeping bag/spare clothes) are in an additional bag within your rucksack
Items that you will need whilst walking (water/snacks/waterproof/sun cream/first aid kit) are accessible in the outer pockets
Squashy items (sleeping bag/clothes) are at the bottom
Items you will need first when getting into camp (tent) are on the top
Weight is evenly distributed so that one side isn't heavier than another
If you don't have enough space or it is too heavy then you should consider if you NEED everything that you have put into the rucksack.
These videos give you some further guidance.
Walking as a group
You will be walking as a group of 4-7 during the expedition. Within your group you will have different strengths and weaknesses, you will need to work together in order to overcome the various challenges that you will face.
For everyone's safety it is important that you stay together and helps each other. If you are on your qualifying expedition and the assessor feels that you are too far apart from each other then you will all fail the expedition section as you are not travelling safely as a group.
This video gives some tips about travelling as a group.
Campcraft
Campcraft
Using a Trangia stove with a gas converter.
On the expedition between your group you will have 2 or 3 Trangia stoves to cook your breakfast and dinner on. The conditions of expedition state that you must cook at least one hot meal per day whilst on expedition.
This video takes you through the key steps to using a Trangia stove with a gas converter.
The following 4 videos provide suggestions of different options for expedition meals.
Tents
Whilst on expedition you will be camping in tents, the vast majority of tents supplied by the Academy are of the Terrain Kudos design, each of these will sleep 2-3 people. You will be responsible for carrying your tent during the day so if you choose to sleep in a pair you will have more room at night, however, will each need to carry more weight during the day.
The first video takes you through the key steps to pitch a Terrain Kudos tent, the second video give some tips about sleeping in a tent.
Navigation
Navigation
How to read a map
During the expedition section you will work as a group to navigate your way from the start to end point of each day. In order to do this you will have a map, with the route drawn onto it, and a compass. It is essential that everyone in your group knows where they are and is able to read the map/use the compass - it is not acceptable for you to leave all of the navigation to one or two people with everyone else following on behind. If you are on your qualifying expedition and you get to a checkpoint the assessor may pick a person in the group at random to tell them where they are - if you can't do this then you could fail the expedition section.
The navigational needs are more complex at each award level:
Bronze:
Identify landmarks using map symbols
Estimate distance using a scale
Calculate 6 figure grid references
Identify height using contour lines
Use compass to identify cardinal points and orientate the map
Silver (in addition to the above points):
Estimating speed and time
Measuring direction of travel in degrees
Gold (in addition to the above points):
Use pacing to identify distance moved
Using a compass to take and walk on barings
First Aid
First Aid
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