Help!!! Duke of Edinburgh equipment

Our 14 year old is doing his first DofE soon and has bought back a list of stuff he needs to take with him. We need to get pretty much everything on the list.

Does anyone have any recommendations on what sort of kit to get that is not too expensive? The date on the permission letter was tbc, apparently he is doing it in 2 weeks (need to check with the school), had the list on friday, given to us this morning.

No recent experience of DoE but if you can’t borrow stuff, head to Decathlon for good value, good quality stuff.

Can you post the list?

Put the call out to friends and family, most people these days have spare kit you couldn’t have dreamed of 20 years ago

Then go outdoors for boots, get decent socks,

A list would help i suppose, oopps. The list is on this page as a pdf.

https://www.dofeshopping.org/dofe-expedition-kit-list/

I think Go Outdoors offer a discount for  DofE above their discount card price.

Decathlon good if you have one nearby, Go Outdoors also OK for perfectly adequate kit for DofE – Cotswold Outdoors have a DofE kit list and give 15% discount to those taking part – kit is a bit more expensive though

The Dof E schools I work with all have some kit available on loan – especially tents , cookers and waterproofs but definitely worth buying own boots – especially you think he might carry on – budget Regatta or similar are OK for Bronze and probably silver – would personally avoid Sports Direct Karrimor boots though – have seen a few knackered pairs after only a day or so walking.

As per aP – post the list

Cost of kit should not be a barrier to doing DofE/

Most outdoor shops (Cotswold’s, Millet’s, Go Outdoors) do DofE recommended kit with usable discounts

Borrow it, school should be able to help out with expedition kit such as tents and cooking kit, family/friends/forum should be able to help out with personal kit.

Has this come out the blue?  Planning a DOE Bronze practice expedition is not something most inexperienced 14yr olds can do in two weeks (usually a few hours a week).  It’s possible they’ve been asked to bring the kit they have in two weeks so they can discuss its suitability and how to get stuff for those without?

unless the group are experienced in the outdoors then they need to learn basic first aid, how to pitch tents (probably not in a groomed field), how to cook outdoors (often just how to cook!), how to navigate – 6 fig grid refs, taking a bearing, how to work out where they are when lost, making a route card, packing a rucksack, emergency procedures.  I’d be surprised if novices did that in less than 8 hrs, in fact I’d be quite impressed if everyone in the group was genuinely competent in all of that after that sort of time.

Not all school have kit to borrow but many LA do.

For example I know adventure Aberdeen have boots, rucksacks and waterproofs you can hire.

Wife’s last school had tents and trangias.

Top tip. Don’t let the  salesman sell you bling stuff that’s an upgrade on the list. For example a shiny jetboil …. You won’t be thanked -especially when jnr forgets how it works or it isnt working as it should and the practice hike leader isn’t familiar with them……

There’s external funding available so that all schools could have a pool kit of stuff but it takes time and effort to apply for the grant then get the requisite three quotes and raise a PO. Given that in quite a number of schools it’s run as an out of hours activity it’s not surprising that all don’t have a pool kit.

Unlikely to have come out of blue,but it is now doe expedition season for schools doing it in term time.

this might help if you’ve not seen it

http://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/Lib/Img/Promotions/2017/landing-pages/DofE/DofE_SS18_Expedition_Brochure.pdf

It has sort of come out of the blue. We had the permission letter 3 weeks ago with dates tbc, kit list given friday and, after checking, he is going on the 3rd/4th July. This is our first child to do it so all a bit new to us.

As far as training for it goes, he had one hour after school last Wednesday and another hour this Wednesday and that is it. It all seems a bit rushed and an after thought by the school. After reading your comments i think it could have been organised a bit better and more time given in preparation for it.

Looking for not overly expensive kit is not a barrier to him doing it, he is not that sort of kid and probably not likely to do it again or use any of the stuff again. Hopefully he will enjoy it and want to do that sort of thing again.

Hence the recommendations for stuff that is not too expensive, not a lot of time to get everything that could get costly.

Is this a practice or qualifying expedition? Sounds a long way from being ready for a qualifying exped…

Looking at the kit list someone would need to procure rucksack, boots, waterproofs, sleeping bag, sleeping mat. I’d be on ebay/gumtree/facebook etc looking for quality used examples for same price as cheaper new stuff. What about the group items – tent, stove, pots, navigation – who is providing this? Everything else on the list can be put together from stuff at home, doesn’t need to be walking specific. You don’t need walking specific clothes, tracksuit bottoms are just as good as walking trousers, socks and t-shirts etc you will have, survival bag and whistle are a few quid from gooutdoors/decathlon, first aid kit – make your own from supermarket supplies in a ziplock bag for fraction of the cost of a premade kit. Decent ration kits can be made from supermarket products again for a fraction of the cost – plenty examples online. Mug/plate/bowl – buy the cheapest plastic ones you can get from supermarket. Forget all the optional crap, go with the bare essentials, use heavy duty binbags as rucksack liner and to keep clothes/sleeping bag dry.

This is the bronze award expedition. Not a practice.

You don’t need a survival bag if you’ve got tents, sleeping bags and camp mats with you.

This is the bronze award expedition. Not a practice.

Mrs Dubs ran DofE for her school for a few years – I think it’s unusual not to do a practice weekend first.

Check with school – As trail_rat says above, they might have loan equipment for a lot of stuff (e.g. cooking stoves / tents).

Somewhere on here there’s a thread of all the extraneous kit kids take with them on DofE – worth a read…

As far as training for it goes, he had one hour after school last Wednesday and another hour this Wednesday and that is it

From Dof E ‘Conditions of the Expedition section’

7: At least one practice expedition must be undertaken at each level of the programme, in the same mode of travel in a similar environment to the qualifying expedition.

https://www.dofe.org/doing-your-dofe/activities-sections/expedition/20-conditions/

This is a mandatory rule, they cannot undertake a qualifying expedition without a practice first.

This is the bronze award expedition. Not a practice.

No its not!  Otherwise you’d have all the kit from the practice one!

You must do (at least one) practice expedition before the actual final expedition.  In a perfect world the two are really very similar.  In reality the practice expedition (esp at Bronze) is likely to be supervised more closely, and potential involve some words of “coaching” by the supervisors which would not be expected on the actual expedition.  Actual expeditions also have to have a purpose (usually other than just getting from A-B without dying).  As far as I recall practice expeditions do not require that.

The good news is that means unless he hates the experience totally he will use the equipment again fairly soon.  He’ll also do two expeditions for silver, and two for gold if he progresses through the levels – although obviously he may have grown out of some kit.

I’ve got a few bits and bobs you can have for free (compass, whistle, survival bag) .

PM me your address and I’ll post them….

Minime did his practice this weekend. Two weeks ago he did the training weekend where they were taught the basics; First Aid, Pitching a tent, Map Reading etc. Both weekends meant about 6 hours a day doing ‘stuff’ and (as Polly says) I think an element of this is compulsory.

The practice involved almost everything he will do on the actual expedition, but with supervisors on hand at all times (walking with some of the groups and meeting a bit more often than on the real thing.

We paid a fortune to an external company for these weekends as the school just offer it as an option and don’t really help in any way. The cost included most of the kit . Frustratingly we had most of the  kit (Rucksack, tent, Trangia etc)

As above I expect this is not the real expedition, but the practice.

See if there is kit that you can borrow from the school/relevant organisation. Check with friends/neighbours etc. Ask the local scout group (ours lend kit for a small donation). See if you can find pupils who did it last year.

Buy as little as possible if he is unlikely to use it again. Ebay could help if you have time.

Any money you save on general kit gives you the chance to buy a decent (well fitting) pair of boots which is one of the few things that I spent proper money on.

My daughter spent ages planning for her dofe exped. With a full practice beforehand. I’m sure you dont need me to tell you but it’s gonna be very hot next week as well, so good quality and size water carrier is a must along with suncream. Daughters on silver exped in two weeks and it pains me to say it but I hope it cools down a bit for them.

After reading the comments about practice etc, i finally managed to speak to the teacher coordinating the DofE. I apologise. This is a practise, the proper one is in September.

He explained everything to me, all the kit is needed for this one and the teachers are on hand to help and guide them while they are there this time. Next time it will be a lot less hands on from the teachers and more a case of “here’s what needs to be done, get on with it” type of thing.

As far as the equipment goes, they have some of the group stuff there to borrow if needs be. Been told he is more than welcome to borrow a few bits to save money. He has to go and ask.

He also said there is a DofE pack in school for hi<span style=”font-size: 0.8rem;”>m, with a go outdoors discount card inside.</span>

Thankyou all for your help, it all makes a lot more sense now.

Your child will more that likely be doing two expeditions, the first one will be a practice consisting of 2 days and 1 night and the qualifier will also be over the same duration. There should be some training prior to the practice expedition in areas such as cooking, camp craft, navigation, first aid etc.

Where are you located, if your anywhere near me (West Yorkshire) I might be able to loan you some kit. Failing that there are some good suggestions but another good place can be sports direct, cheap boots and waterproofs which are perfectly adequate for DofE.

EDIT – Glad you got sorted, still let me know if you require any kit and are local, happy to help out.

If your short of stuff it might be worth posting a wanted add on here I’m sure many of us have lots of  outdoor gear to shift

Gnusmus – see if you can brorrow. It’s amazing what kit is kicking around friends, many of us have old or spare kit we lend. Don’t get suckered into spending hundreds just yet, get them through bronze to see if he likes it. Also, schools shouldn’t allow cost as a barrier, and again could help with loaner kit.

Top tips: take more food, take less kit (amazing how many carry full PJ’s, towel and tea towel etc around…), boots are probably the biggest aid to comfort, followed by a well packed bag ( you shouldn’t need stuff dangling off the back), finally never ever allow anyone else to make navigation decisions without mini_g checking…

ive spent weekend chasing gold and silver expeds around the Cairngorms. Four lads out had one of my packs, three had our sleeping bags etc.

Yep, daughter did her practice the weekend before last.  Tent, cooking apparatus (inc pots, plates etc) were provided.  Used:

my rucksack

mums waterproof over trousers

my sleeping mat and sleeping bag

3 dry bags (from home bargains at £3.50 each)

my sealskin waterproof cap (also v light for sun duties)

my camelback (in said rucksack)

a pair of “activewear” leggings.

my compass

purchased:

walking boots from mountain wharehouse (waterproof – briefly)

some socks.

half decent waterproof jacket.  Go outdoors this time with her dofe discount

thats it.  Not as bad as I was expecting

I’d also suggest getting hold of boots (via whatever source) as quickly as possible is a good thing, and getting them walking round in them as much as possible now to identify any problems in advance. There is no better way of making for a miserable expedition than badly fitting boots, blisters, squashed toes etc. Rule no 1 is to keep feet dry, – wet feet end up being soft, sore and more likely to blister. Gaiters can help keep water out – regardless of the marketing no boot is fully waterproof…there is a big hole at the top where the foot goes in, for a start….

Compeed plasters are great for preventing blisters – they should be applied as soon as a hot-spot is suspected and will help prevent a blister forming, otherwise help make them feel much better and improve healing.

Keep the feet happy, and you’ll be well on the way to keeping the group happy.

^ he is right.

It will be worth speaking to the teachers about what kit they’re happy to compromise on. I lead DofE at my school and we often get kids with trainers rather than walking boots on bronze. It’s not something we’re too strict on particularly if the weather’s on and the route isn’t too demanding – some leaders will be OK with decent trainers, some will INSIST on walking boots.  If you buy your own walking boots, please make sure you break them in a bit before the exped.

If you are going to borrow stuff from the school or the local association then do give plenty of notice as well – sometimes parents ask us to source stuff last minute and we can’t get hold of it in time.

Things not to waste money on:

– walking trousers (any non-cotton tracksuit bottoms will be fine)

– water bottles. Especially metal ones. Re-use plastic pop bottles and you can save money and the environment at the same time

– Knife/fork/spoon set. If you can’t eat it with a spoon it’s off the menu. Maybe a spork if you’re feeling flash.

– Metal plates/bowls – plastic bowl is better/lighter.

– Most of the special ‘Lifesystems’ type toiletry/cleaning stuff.

Oh yeah, and make sure he has a watch. Most kids rely on their phones to give them the time and they won’t be allowed them on expeditions. It will help hugely with keeping to routecard times.

Hope he has a great time!

@gnusmas

I have loads of kit, civilian and military, PM me your deets and anything that’s outstanding, I’m sure we can sort something out.

Rule one of DofE is to seriously reduce what they feel they need to carry to the absolute minimum. DofE often involves participants who are not used to doing this sort of thing buying budget equipment and supplementing it with little unnecessary luxuries. It’s just a recipe for under prepared kids not used to carrying loads lugging around way more weight than seasoned hikers would choose to looking thoroughly miserable.

I would clarify the exact group kit that he will be provided with (tent, trangia, first aid kit, map, compass etc) then if they are able to borrow personal exped kit (sleeping mat, sleeping bag, waterproofs) and go from there.

If buying a sleeping bag go for a max 2 season if buying cheap – just too bulky otherwise; buy a cheap sleeping mat not a fancy inflatable one; buy fabric boots not leather (much better than they used to be and breaking in is not really an issue); the cheapest lightest waterproof trousers you can find (unlucky if they have to use them); a slightly better but still lightweight waterproof top. I’d also recommend a cheap fleece – he will probably want to take his hoody but they never get dry once wet and are as bulky as. A cheap fleece can be had for less than a tenner. Would also recommend a light long sleeve top and a hat with a rim- sun stroke is pretty much the main cause of drop out in summer bronze DofE expeds. If buying a rucksack is needed don’t feel the urge to buy too big a version; he’ll only fill it with crap. 50 Litre should do it as an  absolute max. Help him to be the cool kid with just enough to get by and a spring in his step, not the one dragging his heals that they all are waiting for.

edit – also find out if they have rules on shorts. I’ve helped out with centres where the leader insisted kids wore trousers because of brambles and stings pushing through underused footpaths and others where they CNGAF. See also long sleeved tops and sunstroke. One of those mini tubes of p20 sunscreen might not be a bad plan – a teenage lad remembering to apply it once might just happen.

I used to help with DofE and am apparently qualified to train and assess up to silver. I got jacked off with it and gave it up. In our region routes had to be approved by the central assessor 8 weeks prior to the exped which made the whole thing with kids doing their own route planning a joke as you could not realistically to the practise and get them to prepare the plan for the assessed in the time frame to do both in the same season. Then the number of kids who would give you grief doing the expedition but never bother getting the other elements signed off so never got the award. Going off to do their service section like it was a prison sentence. And then the last group would didn’t really want to do it but were told it would look good on their UCAS application. The whole thing seemed to be an exercise in removing the joy out of the outdoors and the ‘voluntary’ and ‘community’ out of community service.

Some good advice here – I’ve recently helped out with a couple of trips, and would reflect that foot care is the essential element.  Our group doesn’t permit trainers (fine for a stroll, but less so when fully laden over longer distances is the reasoning).  Compeed is magic stuff, but as usual prevention is better than cure. 2x thin socks, or proper walking socks (Decathlon is your friend here).  One kid we saw used his football socks which caused no end of grief – don’t do that.

Less is more.  The bronze group had a mountain of food packaging that served no purpose whatsoever except to add weight and bulk.  There was a thread on here about bikepacking grub which might be worth a look.  I discovered recently that kids aren’t allowed to buy lighters, so you might organise that on his behalf rather than damp matches.

Get him to work out with his group who’s carrying which bits of the shared kit.  The one taking the food has a pack that gets lighter as time goes on.  The one with the tent isn’t so lucky.  Plastic bags are even cheaper than cheap drybags and weigh less too.  Don’t be the one at the back with everything hanging off the outside of their pack – if it doesn’t fit, don’t bring it.

I’m sure if you say on here what you are short of you’ll get lots of suggestions.  Have fun!

I’m selling an old Karrimor rucksack that might be suitable. Women’s but I don’t there is much in it fit wise. Can’t remember what I was asking. Email me bayley.jon@gmail.com and I’ll see what I can dig up.

We borrowed some kit from friends who’s kids had dofe’d the year before. Mainly back pack and a sim. Most important is having comfy walking boots. Our daughter has had a pair of go outdoors own brand for a couple of years and they are like slippers to her. All her group had blisters apart from her.

She used a two man decathlon tent and she and a friend carried half the components each. Also Go Outdoors do boil in the bag meals. Which are dry, light and easy to cook.

Thinking about it, I’ve got a 3/4 length Thermarest you can have…..

As I’m about to discover tonight when my 14 year old daughter returns from her Bronze practice trip, the function of the practice trip is to  convince 14 year olds that they don’t actually need all that stuff, they don’t actually know everything, that they should listen to their parents and that they should have made more effort to break those boots in.

I’m actually quite looking forward to it.

Thanks all for the insight and helpful replies, really appreciated.

Makes me feel a bit better knowing a bit more about it. Will be going through the go outdoors/decathlon etc websites tonight to see what is what, but boots advice noted and will be taking him to try some on.

Footflaps, moose and jonba – pms/emails incoming.

Don’t bother with boots – their main purpose is to stop rock strikes on your ankles (there’s no such thing as “support” from them – they actually make your ankle muscles less effective).

However – decent walking shoes should never be skimped on.  And decent, proper walking socks.  Buy those two items, get them right, then he can camp in a bin bag – it’s summertime and (s)he won’t die from cold.  But bad/incorrect footwear is liable to put someone off walking in the mountains for life.