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Chap 6

Campcraft

Introduction

1. Most expeditions will involve sleeping under canvas. The DofE scheme requires it. Sleeping in a tent is not especially difficult, but there are a few things to take into account to keep dry and make sure the tent continues to serve for some years. A good tent can easily be the single most expensive piece of basic kit.

2. Reality check - this is initial expedition training and the cadets’ most likely experience following this training and for some years after will be bronze and silver expeditions which will likely involve commercial campsites. The cadets should understand that there are issues they must address in wild country, but the point doesn’t need to be belabored and they don’t need much detail. They will need extra training / supervision before venturing into wild country.

Learning Objectives

3 By the end of this chapter your cadets will understand the basics of setting up and taking down a tent. They should know how to find a suitable campsite.

a. Setting up a tent

b. Packing it away the next morning

c. Where to put your tent

d. Keeping your tent warm and dry

e. Looking after your tent

f. Clean and tidy – during and after

Aim

4. Your aim is to give the cadets a familiarity with tents and how to pitch them, pack them, and look after them. You should introduce the cadets to the basics of choosing a camp site and how to keep their tent dry and clean. The cadets should also understand how to camp while causing the least possible annoyance to others and the least damage to the environment / campsite.

Classroom Teaching Session

5. Spend a short period on a discussion of finding a campsite in low country. Discuss litter, noise and impact of cooking and washing. Briefly mention some special issues of camping in wild country.

Time

6. Discussion time 40 minutes.

Evening Practical Session

7. Take the cadets outside to a patch of grass and demonstrate putting up the tents they will use. Show them how to fold and tent away after taking it down. This can also be effectively done at the end of the consolidation walk – this justifies carrying the tent all day.

Alternative Exercises

8. A weekend fieldcraft weekend or long-range visit can be combined with a camping opportunity. The scout association is often prepared to permit cadets to camp for a small fee. Be sure to check on their policies regarding adult supervision and wearing of uniform.

Technical material

1. Campsites must be level and free of stones and spiky plants. They should be free of larger wildlife/stock – cattle / horses. The campsite should ideally be at least 50-100 m from the nearest stream or pond. Care must be taken that there is no possibility of rain inducing floods. Do not camp in dry stream beds or near rivers that might swell. Do not camp in hollows which might fill with water.

2. The campsite should be kept clean and tidy all the time. Kit should be returned to rucksacks when it’s not being used. Food should be kept in closed bags or containers. Litter and waste likewise. If you leave food containers out at night they may be rifled or stolen by animals. This has been known even at commercial campsites.

3. Low country campsites are often marked on OS maps. Many of these campsites have websites or their contact details are on line or in telephone directories. It is an excellent plan to visit the campsite before the cadets use it. Make sure that toilet and shower facilities are suitable. Many campsites offer discounts to DofE parties. Many scout campsites will permit cadets to camp on their sites. Indeed, scout campsites are pretty much the only places where you can hope to light a campfire. Toasted marshmallows are a treat, but campfires are not permitted at most camping sites and are absolutely out of the question in wild country.

4. Cooking should be by camp-stoves and not hexi-stoves. Hexi-stoves will burn the grass under them and this disfigures the environment.

5. Noise should be kept to a minimum. There are no rights to wild camp and noisy people risk drawing attention to themselves and antagonising landowners. Commercial campsites may ask you to leave. Keep noise down and especially after 10pm.

6. After striking camp, conduct a fod-plod. All litter whether yours or not should be collected and binned. Site owners and managers often notice and may even offer praise for the standard of cleanliness. Some campsites will not take DofE groups normally, but will make an exception for Air Cadets. The reason is standards of behaviour and cleanliness.

7. Water should be collected from taps marked as drinking water. In wild country water can be collected from running sources, preferably where the water falls over a drop and is well churned up with air. Oxygen is toxic to many single celled organisms. Nevertheless the use of puritabs or boiling for 10 mins is recommended. Note the water must BOIL for 10 mins. The formation of small bubbles is not boiling.

8. There can be no excuse for poor hygiene, but cadets should understand the impact of surfactants in washing liquid. Surfactants can be very damaging to the environment, especially aquatic organisms downstream from the washing site. Encourage imaginative use of ‘boil-in-the-bag’ solutions to cooking. This reduces washing-up, saves on fuel since the water can be used for a drink afterwards, and cannot burn the food. It’s often faster to prepare. This doesn’t mean you have to live on pre-prepared food – food can be prepared before hand and carried in zip-lock freezer bags. Pasta could be boiled in a bag – a small amount of water in the bag with the pasta and the bag in a larger pot of boiling water. Drink and food done together.

9. Low country commercial campsites will usually be connected to mains water and have specific areas for washing pans etc. These should be respected. Do not wash pans at hand sinks or in showers.

10. A beer mat folded and sewn down the edges makes a good washing mitten for the body. Similarly – keep use of soaps to a minimum and consider washing in just water. Again at commercial campsites there are often showers which will either be free or charge 50 p - £1 for a 5 min supply of hot water.

11. Tents should be hung out to dry after use. If they are put away wet they will rot and smell awful.

12. On a multi-night expedition the tent should be folded so that the wet surfaces are kept in contact with other wet surfaces. Dry surfaces should only be folded on to dry surfaces. This will mean the inside remains a sanctuary from the elements for the entire trip. An example of how to do this is shown on the slides.

13. Sleeping bags should be removed from their compression sacks at the end of an expedition. They should be allowed to air for a day or so and then packed away in a loose bag.

Toilets

14. This is IET and most of the cadets will experience commercial campsites with fixed, often mains connected toilets. Any toilets connected to septic tanks are likely to have instructions posted by the camp owners. The cadets should be aware that in wild country there are issues to consider, but it shouldn’t be necessary to go into this in too much detail.

For those who wish to pursue this matter see:

How to Shit in the Woods: An Environmentally Sound Approach to a Lost Art - Paperback (1 Oct 1989) by Kathleen Meyer priced £5 at time of writing (06/2010).

The most important issues relate to what to do with faeces and keeping human waste away from water sources.

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