D of E clothes question

I suppose it'll only be two days of hiking as the first and last days will be travelling on the coach. Maybe they think it'll give more practice.

DS has done bronze & silver and DD has done bronze with a variety of weather conditions. Neither of them changed their clothes, they stayed in the same stuff the whole time! DD had to throw her pants away - but she wouldn't thank me for telling that story!

Both of them had layers if they needed them, mostly fleece and sports stuff, so as not to be heavy or water absorbing. They can get really hot while they are walking with the back pack on.

Make sure boots are worn as much as possible before hand - DD particularly said that lots of her friends hadn't worn their boots at all before the practice expedition and really suffered.

My two had the bags of food you add hot water to for their evening meals, which they really liked. They took loads of high cal snacks, like M&Ms and sweets. They said that sometimes you just need a sugar hit.

Don't forget sun tan lotion if it looks like it will be dry. DD did her bronze practice in one of the heat waves and it was very tough. Fortunately, the teachers drove around with extra water and they all wet their hats to try and keep cool.

Neither of mine are very outdoorsy and they both loved doing it so much. Hope your DD enjoys it Berriesandleaves.

Sorry name changed. I mean it's not training as they've done that already.

No it's not practice as they've been doing that after school each week since Xmas. I'd prefer it if it was just one night really like the assessed one. Never mind

wow that is a long time for the practice. Maybe they are doing training stuff on the first couple of days?
Ours had a training day at school, then practice was one night, 2 days and so was expedition.

Silver is 2 nigths and 3 days.
On the bronze he said the rolls etc on the second day were horrible as all sweaty and stale. Also, you can't put cheese/ham in them, so they were chocolate spread, which was too sweet at lunchtime.

Pepperami is a good idea, he loves those.

The organisation who does theirs is quite strict over stuff, so they are not allowed to heat anything except hot water, so you have to have the boil in a bag instant meals. Not allowed to use the washing up facilities on the campsite, only the water tap for drink bottles, so it is all about not haveing to wash pans. Also, they don't heat anything up at lunchtime, it has to be pre-prepared. (and judging by last time, they were reluctant to stop at all for anything, ds team just ploughed right on - 2 minute lunch break etc!! (their choice)

' an umbrella'

I think DDs gold group did take one very lightweight folding umbrella - for holding over the stove during food prep in the rain.

One of DD's staple lunch foods on her expeditions (she's done the full set) was flavoured couscous - just add boiling water to it in a Tupperware in the morning when the Trangia is on. I think they had pasta most evenings (filled the first night, plain thereafter). DIY trail mix of all the types of dried fruit and nuts (inc choc peanuts and raisins) for energy through the day, and individually wrapped cake bars as something to look forward too. It's sort of the inverse of normal healthy eating!

4 days for a bronze practice?! That's way longer than it needs to be!

The requirements are here: www.dofe.org/doing-your-dofe/activities-sections/expedition/expedition-requirements/

We tell our lot that wraps are good for later in the expedition as they are already squashed! The more cooked meals you plan the more fuel you have to carry, so if you're going for a cooked breakfast something that you can just use hot water for is probably better than something that needs a pan (which will then need cleaning too!)

We had a group who tried to do their gold expedition with tins of beans as well as a bacon butty stop at 11 every day, (they had also brought camp chairs and an umbrella) they didn't manage their expedition -even after we thinned out their kit for them it was still too heavy for them. They called mountain rescue because they had blisters on their shoulders from their heavy bags.

Humamothboy, yes, I agree, but that is with everything nowadays. But when I tell dc about how I did things, I do think I sound like my mum.
Story she used to tell about not being able to use a tent or proper sleeping bag so her dad used some branches of a tree to cover my mum and stop her from getting wet.(This is from 1940s in a different, sparsely populated, northern country)

Oh, and I got ds a packet of mini pepperamis. I bought it really as I saw someone eating one and fancied one myself but then ds wanted them as they don't need a fridge (for what is's worth to use for when he sweats a lot in this warm weather, to replenish his salts....)

I think silver was 2 nights. But then I don't think the bronze training one was that long as yours either, dd going later this month and that one is only 1 night. Ds gold is 4 nights.

Hi Steppemum,

Ths time he has bought the instant meal for breakfast, lunch and evening....expensive but he asked for it as he had 5 days to cover. Last year he didn't use any of those but had eg pasta for lunch and rice for dinner. Lots of cereal bars, nuts, chocolate. Not sure what else he used last year as he sorted it out himself mostly.

@foundoutyet

can I hijack the thread and ask, what does he take for food?

ds is doing his silver. For his bronze he took porridge pots and cereal bars for breakfast, and those instant meals for walkers for dinner, but for lunch he took rolls, and he took naan bread to add to dinner. On silver I don't think the rolls or naan bread will keep to the third day, especially as it is going to be warm.

Any suggestions?
And snacks that won't melt?

Bah- children are spoiled these days! I did my bronze with a canvas framed rucksack!
Leather walking boots, canvas Vango tent (tbf, shared between 3), trangia (steel, not aluminium!), no fleece, all clothing was cotton, and goodness knows how heavy my waterproof was! Torches were the C-size battery type too, no dinky little LED petzls or the like

ds finally packed last night for his gold. Left this morning.
5 days; packed couple of spare socks and pants, 2 extra tshirts, shorts.

most hoodies are made of cotton. Cotton sweatshirt type hoodies and tracksuits are no good, they are heavy and cold when wet.

Also the hood can get in the way of the rucksack.

fleece is much better

They have to carry
sleeping bag
sleeping mat
food for 2/3 days
camping stove, 1 litre water bottle
tent (well part of their tent)
first aid kit
waterproofs,
fleece (if it is warm and they have taken it off)

It is HEAVY. So one good set of clothes to wear:

T shirt - long or short sleeved
trousers - not jeans those addidas tracksuits (polyester ones which were not cool when I was a kid, but are now!)
fleece
waterproof jacket
waterproof trousers
2 pairs socks (thin and thick) or thick walking socks. (worth getting modern walking socks as sweaty feet are not comfortable when wet, modern socks wick the wet away)

in the rucksack
clean underpants if they insist (I think girls will, and boys don't bother!)
spare socks
If you MUST a spare T shirt.

after the practice, ds went through with a fine toothed comb and got rid of every single ounce of extra weight

We had a trip to Decathlon before the hike. Very reasonable for waterproofs etc.

The kit list recommended by DofE tends to have FAR too much stuff on it.
Realistically, when are they going to change into all these clothes?
With good waterproofs, the clothes shouldn't get wet, and, it really doesn't matter if they wear something that is dirty whilst walking on the last day, etc.
Remember, everything they take, they have to carry.
If she is going at the May Bank Holiday, it's not going to be that cold, even if it is a miserable one. Layers of thin clothes are better than one chunky jumper / fleece / hoody.

I would look at getting a sleeping bag liner if possible to get extra warmth at night.
Then either 2 short sleeved tshirts, 1 long sleeve, a fleece & waterproofs.

Make sure she has plenty of suncream a cap/hat & sunglasses. Also enough water bottles to hold at least 1 litre of water especially if it's meant to be hot.

DofE is great fun, so hope your DD enjoys it :)