Camping and Equipment Advice

From camping in summer in the summer sun to camping in tent in the snow and the cold, can be a fun and enjoyable experience, from the cosiness of the fire to spectacular natural scenery the summer sun or winter sub zero temperature bring.

Camping is always enjoyable if you are prepared and have the right equipment. the Swedish have a saying (and they know cold) “Det finns inget dåligt väder, bara dåliga kläder” and for those not fluent in Swedish, it means “there’s no such thing as bad weather, only the wrong clothes”.
Your leaders have many years of experience of camping and are there to support the Scouts at camp, although there is little we can do if a Scout is not equipped for the weather they experience at camp. This advice document is for parent to know what equipment the Scouts should have at camp to ensure the memories they make at camp are good ones.

Camping in the extremes of hot and colds temperatures are not without its challenges. Camping in the cold is especially hard if you are not prepared physically and mentally, this why as a section we award a sub zero badge which is a backing to the nights away badge and it makes it look like the nights away badge is slightly frosted or frozen.

IF you need to buy any of this equipment, shopping around is your best bet, Argos Decathlon and Go Outdoors usually do the equipment you need at a good price.

If you have any questions or concerns please speak to your leader either at the Scout Meeting or on the contact details below.
Equipment
Sleeping Bag Camping

First and foremost the most Import item of equipment is a warm sleeping bag as this protects your child from cold during the night when its coldest. If you are buying one sleeping bag buy a thick and warm one as below, as the Scouts can make a sleeping bag cooler by opening a zip, but it cant make it warmer at camp, it really is a case of the thicker the better.
You should at least have a Sleeping Bag like the following :

• 4 season sleeping or 500gsm (where season 1 is summer and 5 is artic)
  • Have a comfort rating of between -5 and -10. Do not rely on the extreme rating as this is the temperature at which the sleeping bag will preserve life and not support sleep.
  • It should be mummy shaped, as the smaller amount of air space (compared to square sleeping bags) makes the Sleeping bag more efficient.
  • It should have a hood, as if it get really cold the hood cam be pulled done and maximise the insulation to the body and minimise heat loss.
  • A 3.5 or 3/4 Sleeping bag would be ok if it is supplemented with a fleecy sleeping bag liner, these add about 0.5 seasons to a sleeping bag.

Sleeping Mat

This is another essential piece of equipment, not only for winter camping but all camping as it ensures a good night sleep. The mat will insulate the sleeping bag from the floor without the mat the cold ground will take heat from the body. The Sleeping mat should be :
• Ideally self inflating and insulated internally i.e. NOT an air bad (the air gets cold and sucks heat from the body.
• A thicker the better as this means its more comfortable and more insulation
• If you intending on are using a foam mat which are generally thinner than self inflating mattresses, please supply two to make it thicker.
• If your sleeping mat isn’t thick enough then the insulation can be increased by sleeping on a additional blanket or duvet.
Sleeping Blanket

This is another essential piece of equipment for winter or cold weather camping camping. Ideally Scouts should take 2 one to sleep under and one to sleep on to insulate from the floor (in addition to a sleeping mat). Sleeping on a blanket in the cold offsets the affects of body weight compressing the sleeping bag filling reducing its effectiveness.

Clothing Innerwear /Thermals when its cold

In winter to keep the body warm it is better to wear thin layers than one thick layer. To this end it is recommended to wear a thermals or tight fitting thin clothes under the outer clothes even 2 pairs of socks. If you don’t have thermal tight fitting 2/3 T-shirts and or jumpers will suffice.

It is essential that your child has a number items of spare thin clothes in their bag as the inner layer could become wet either from outside (i.e. rain or snow) or inside from sweat. As soon as the inner layer is wet it must be replaced as the wetness reduces warmth.

Clothing Outerwear

To keep the body warm the outer layer should prevent moisture coming in contact with the inner layer. Coats and even trousers should be waterproof and ideally breathable as this will let sweat evaporate without letting the water in. Most leisure coats are warm but are rainproof rather than waterproof. You can test if a jack is waterproof or rainproof by spraying it with water and seeing if the water beads and runs off (like a polished car). If the water is soaked in then the jacket is not water proof enough and will eventually let water through and under the jacket. If the jacket fails the water test, but it is a proper waterproof then you need to reproof the jacket which will restore the waterproof layer.

Footwear

At camp it is essential that your child has the appropriate footwear. When its cold or wet the footwear must be 100% waterproof, trainers are quite simply not acceptable. The footwear should be
• Previously worn a number of times to mould to the shape of the feet and avoid blisters
• Be well treated with waterproofing (at least twice a season) that has not worn away or have rubberised toes as this where most of the water that enters the shoe comes from.
• If you child does not have walking boots, then wellington boots would be acceptable as these are waterproof and won’t be cold if they have a number of pairs of sock on. In extremely wet camps wellington boots provide better protection to the water and therefore the cold than walking boots as it is very hard to ensure walking boots are 100% water proof.

These are essential wear for most camps and can be purchased cheaply at shops like Decathlon or Go Outdoors. When choosing boots, you should try to select ones with ankle support.

Rucksacks

A rucksack is a key piece of equipment for Scout. These should be used on all scout camps, as they make it easy for them to get to their tent without help parental help, as they are of that age where they seem not to want it any more. Also in Scouts we do hikes where a rucksack is a mandatory piece of kit your Scout can not hike without. Although they make clothes easy to carry they can make it can be difficult to find clothes in a rucksack, so please follow the advice in the packing section below.

A rucksack needs should be the following
• Have a waist belt which is adjustable.
• Shoulder straps which are adjustable in terms of height and length.
• Lots of Pockets on the left / right / top bottom.
• Be between 65 and 85 litres.
• Ideally, it will come with a waterproof cover which is high visibility (colour and reflective bands), although this can be bought separately if not.

When packing for a Camp we also strongly advise getting a handful or drawstring bags or strong carrier bags, and in each bag pack clothes for a day. Then all the Scouts need to do at the start of the day is get the bag out and put the clothes on. This makes it super easy to find the clothes then need for a day as socks always seem to go missing at the bottom of rucksacks.

Knifes

A knife has been an important part of Scouting and bushcraft for many years and the 8th Hornchurch Scout troops continue this tradition. We are very careful to teach the Scouts, in a carefully controlled environment how to use a knife, respect for the knife, knife law and most of important of all it’s a tool and NOT a weapon. We therefore allow scouts to bring their own knifes to camp, but insist they are given to the Scout leaders on arrival at camp to ensure they are only used when the Scouts are in the right frame of mind and supervised by a leader. Whilst at camp the knifes are stored in a locked metal box.
If a Scout has their own knife we would strongly recommend this is a sheath knife and not a pen knife or a leatherman as we find the Scout have trouble gripping the knife with the strength and therefore we will not allow them to carve and whittle with these knifes.
The sheath knife should have the following features
• Be a sheath knife rather than a pen knife or a leatherman type knife.
• Have a handle that fits nicely in your childs hand
• Have finger guard at the end of the handle to stop the hand slipping up the knife
• Be in a sheath which ideally clicks into place
• A straight blade and NOT serrated
• A carbon steel blade is better for Scouts, this will get dirty in use, but hold its edge (sharpness for longer). A stainless steel blade is acceptable, but will loose is edge quicker but will stay cleaner for longer
• The blade length must be less than 6 inches long
• Ideally made by hultafors or Mora as these are excellent and cheap bladed ideal for Scouting.
Some option for suitable cheap knifes (whilst the law still allows them to mail ordered) are
https://www.greenmanbushcraft.co.uk/cutting-tools/knives/hultafors-craftsman-bushcraft-knife.htm
https://www.greenmanbushcraft.co.uk/cutting-tools/knives/frosts-mora-bushcraft-training-knife-high-carbon-clipper.htm

Other

If your scout is susceptible to cracked lips in extremes of weather, then it is advisable to provide them with Lip balm. If its hot or snow is on the ground consider provide you child with sun glasses and sun tan cream, if they are susceptible to bright lights or sun burn.

Ensure they have an insulated leak proof water bottle. This can help prevent dehydration during the day. Also in winter if it is thick and well insulated then the bottle and can be taken to bed full of hot water to act as a hot water bottle, but of course the bottle needs to be of good quality and done up tightly as any leakage will make you cold.

Packing

The Scouts should always pack their own equipment so they know what they have and where to find it (even if its layed out on their bed and they put it in their rucksack).
It is important that the equipment is packed into the Scouts in a way that they can easily find the clothes they need. Ideally this would be a number of drawstring bags packed with one days worth of clothes such that the scouts simply take one drawstring bag out their main bag and then put them all on. This makes the clothes easy to find especially useful when the tent is cold. Also pack a dry bag or bin bag for dirty clothes such that dirty and wet clothes can be kept separate so they do not make the clean clothes dirty and wet and also keeps the tent tidy.
Any gadgets or items such as first aid kits or waterproof they may need quickly without notice should be packed in pockets of the rucksack.

Arrangements at Camp

Food and Drinks

Even though it is cold please encourage your Scout to drink plenty of water at camp (of course they leaders will do likewise) equivalent to a warm day. There is a tendency in children at least to associate drinking water with heat, and to drink less water in the cold. However drinking water is just as important in the cold as the heat as the body will lose lots of water due to sweating because of the layers of insulation to keep it warm. As with ever the Scouts should bring a bottle to camp which they can fill from the squash coolers at any time day or night.

In addition to the cold drinks there will always be hot water available for hot drinks and to fill hot water bottles or insulated drinks bottles for putting in sleeping bags at night.

The food/menu at camp will be more calorific than normal camps with a greater emphasis on snacks at snack times. This will keep the Scout energy levels high and help fuel the body to it keep warm, as the body burns more energy when it is cold.

Sleeping in tents

Generally we use 4 man hiking style tents and generally put 3 to 4 scouts in the tent as this gives the Scouts a little more space in the tent. When it is cold we try to 4 scouts in the tents as the extra body provides a little more warmth. On this basis please follow the packing advice above as this keeps the tents tidier which is especially important when space in the tent is at a premium.

During Before bed at night fill a water bottle with hot water, this can be put in your sleeping bag to warm this up before getting in to the bag. Of course the bottle needs to be of good quality and done up tightly as any leakage will make you cold.

While sleeping in a sleeping bag wear a T-Shirt and shorts or even less. YES believe it or not, LESS CLOTHES = MORE WARMTH. A sleeping bag is an insulator, and for the sleeping bag to work you need to allow heat into the bag, once the bag is warm inside the insulation keeps the warmth in and hopefully keeps you nice and toastie. If you wear lots of clothes the warmth doe not get trapped in the sleeping bag and the sleeping bag can’t do its job.

Sleep

As adults we know the importance of sleep and at camp sleep is very important for the Scouts. On the first night the Scouts are excited and we haven’t meet a Scout yet who doesn’t want to sit up all night chatting with their friends and snacking on midnight feasts. As much as we encourage the Scouts to be quiet, some do carry on to the early hours talking and suffer for it the next day especially the next evening, please encourage your Scout to go to sleep at a sensible hour.

Scout Equipment

In addition to the tents we are taking we are taking party tent and a parachute pitched low to cover the fire and keep some of the heat in. These two areas can get really warm and provide the scouts an area to get warm in (giving them a break from the cold).
We also take spare sleeping bags, sleeping bag liners and blankets in case a Zip breaks or a bag gets wet.