D of E List

[FLV]

My lad is doing the D of E and I'm going to help him sort his stuff this afternoon. the list is pretty funny. He has to take a tea towel FFS....

[Ben98]

More concerned about your lad being asked to take a sports bra tbh?

[Zippy]

Here's a copy of my Gold DofE kit list from back in the day!

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/185 ... itList.pdf

[johnnystorm]

I'm out this weekend. The official list can be a bit OTT.

http://www.dofeshopping.org/expedition- ... n-kit-list

In fairness to the School/Org that the OP's son is with......anything that encourages the little darlings to wash the Trangias after they've carbonised baked beans and sausages into them makes the D.ofE. Coordinator less likely to have a nervous breakdown on the following Monday!

/V.O.E

[Dave Barter]

I ended up lending my daughter half my bikepacking gear in a desperate attempt to reduce rucksack size for her DoE.

I pass so many groups of unhappy looking DoE teenagers with mahoosive packs on their backs that it makes me think it could all do with a bit of a review. All this stuff means they have little room for initiative on the trail, planning food supply, finding water, clearing it etc.. Or suffering discomfort, making clothing choices and all that. Most of us learnt the hard way on a rough night, bad weather day or extended period without grub. I personally think they should be challenged in a similar manner. If it was me, DoE would be a start/finish and then you sort the rest out. When I was in scouts we did something called the Spartan hike which worked the same way. I suspect modern HSE kills any ability to do that.

[johnnystorm]

I ended up lending my daughter half my bikepacking gear in a desperate attempt to reduce rucksack size for her DoE.

I pass so many groups of unhappy looking DoE teenagers with mahoosive packs on their backs that it makes me think it could all do with a bit of a review. All this stuff means they have little room for initiative on the trail, planning food supply, finding water, clearing it etc.. Or suffering discomfort, making clothing choices and all that. Most of us learnt the hard way on a rough night, bad weather day or extended period without grub. I personally think they should be challenged in a similar manner. If it was me, DoE would be a start/finish and then you sort the rest out. When I was in scouts we did something called the Spartan hike which worked the same way. I suspect modern HSE kills any ability to do that.

It's inappropriate fear of HSE and of being hung out to dry by your line manager that prompts it. DofE *is* just a start/finish point and you don't even have to see the groups other than counting them in/out at the start/finish. Remote supervision with message points is perfectly fine. No matter what we tell them they still bring too much on expeds (on the practice at least) and pack their rucksacks really badly!

[HaYWiRe]

I've witnessed many DofE guys struggling with their massive packs and I often wonder what the actually put IN them?
I mean I see all the time the rollmat, tent and sleeping bag strapped to the outside, with a few pots dangling from a carabiner, what on earth do they fill it with?

I can quite happy do a weekend out of a 35L 10kg pack (including food and water)
Hardly ultralight but quite a few home comforts and precautions, ill never understand 75L packs....

[AlasdairMc]

rollmat, tent and sleeping bag strapped to the outside

Yep, you can always tell the DoE lot out on the trails. Map case around their neck, always one at the back looking miserable.

I think there is a risk that you put people off the outdoors for life by carrying all this extra weight. It would be good if they adopted the fast and light principles we go by and looked at efficiencies in kit.

Wait until you get onto the food chat. My cousin is an instructor and has some good stories. Kids eating tins of chilli, cold, for every meal. The group deciding to carry 3kg bags of apples etc.

[johnnystorm]

rollmat, tent and sleeping bag strapped to the outside

I think there is a risk that you put people off the outdoors for life by carrying all this extra weight. It would be good if they adopted the fast and light principles we go by and looked at efficiencies in kit.

Strong, Light, Cheap. Pick two. That describes how I manage my budget for buying kit.

[Charliecres]

what on earth do they fill it with?

iPad, phone, hair straighteners, body mousse, lip gloss, spangly gold open toe sandals for the evening ...

And that's just the lads.

[FLV]

Trip cancelled. they sent the letter on wednesday organising it

My lad tells me that if he was allowed to take all my kit, his pack would be 50% smaller.

[Dan_K]

yeah, I don't understand it either. I did a week in Majorca with a 35L pack. Only time i've carried a bigger pack was for a week in Iceland where I had to carry all my food for the week and a winter weekend in Scotland.

It's not surprising that the kids look miserable.

[johnnystorm]

The other factor is that if each kid is asked to bring everything there is some chance that the group will then have one between them.

[Ben98]

I did my DofE (silver exped) with a half full 40L rucksack (its my comfiest one). Took my solo tarp, bivi bag and mini trangia. The instructors thought I was nuts and hadn't seen a tarp setup before. My bag was so light I took great pleasure in carrying other people's stuff as well to speed them up, god some people are slow!

[benp1]

I used to help with the scouts, I can't tell you he crap they put in their packs

I used to go through it with them and take stuff out!

Books, games, spare shoes, whole cans of deodorant, make up, big bottles of toiletries, spare clothes or spare clothes, monster bath sheets

On one of the bronze practices hikes I did I was the only leader to walk a proper route, hike with all my kit, camp in the field (bunkhouse was where the leaders slept) and cook my own food. I bivied under a tarp, loved it but everyone thought I was odd. Dropped to -4 that night, most of the kids found it hard due to poor camp craft. One girl was so cold and miserable she called her dad to pick her up, but she was a whinger and had also fallen out with the friend she was sharing her tent with

The list is a bit rubbish, but for most people they have to buy new kit for their kids which is expensive when it's all in one go and is rarely used after the DofE

[Joshvegas]

You can replace half that list with a good bottle of something 40%abv

I don't really know how i missed DofE i think i thought i was too cool for it!

[touch]

I used to help with the scouts, I can't tell you he crap they put in their packs

I used to go through it with them and take stuff out!

... spare shoes, whole cans of deodorant, ... big bottles of toiletries, spare clothes or spare clothes, monster bath sheets

Haha, that was me! I had an 80 litre pack crammed full and a detachable 10 litre carrying all my food.
I hated my hiking boots so I took a pair of trainers with me for evenings and I would have had a full-size towel and a full set of spare clothes with alternatives: shorts for if it got hot, waterproofs for the rain.
I still have the backpack now (11-12 years later) and, looking at it, I cant imagine how I managed to fill it?

[StuartG]

I loved the DofE walks when I was doing it nearly 30 years ago. Probably the main reason why I still like the outdoor lifestyle. I do remember a ridiculously heavy bag, with bruised shoulders at the end of the walk - but still some of my best times. Large quantities of smuggled alcohol helped!!!

My son did his silver a year or so ago, he did his normal planning - 2 days before - he decided he needed a rucksack, 2 hours before he thought he had better get some food (sweets!). He then did the walk with a rucksack holding a tent, which they never used, a ground mat and a sleeping bag with sweets. He survived, but said he would take a few biscuits next time as just sugar upset his stomach!! However, they breezed the walk and did each day hours ahead of schedule.

[johnnystorm]

If the walk was "breezed, hours ahead of schedule" then it was too short distance wise or the groups planning was too inaccurate.

/assessor mode

From the Expedition 20 conditions:

18:
You must do the minimum hours of planned daily activity for your DofE level.
19:
You should cook and eat a substantial meal each day.

[benp1]

I did one of the walks with the scouts in the chilterns, it was surprisingly hard to follow as the paths kept disappearing

On their own I'm pretty sure they would have been lost!

[Bearbonesnorm]

I have a love / hate relationship with DoE and I'm sure I've 'aired' my views before ... however, working with DoE providers does produce some great memories, like the lad who had 12 large tins of beans in his pannier, or the chap who had a long box strapped to his rack which upon questioning turned out to be his tent, brand new and still in it's box. Then there was the lad who had no idea what he was carrying because the maid had done his packing and my favourite ... on a very heavily used campsite near Brecon, I couldn't understand why my group of lads were happy to be standing outside in the rain at 10.30pm rather than getting in their tents. I left the comfort of the van to quiz them and discovered that a very large party of 18 year old girls doing their gold hadn't realised that tents become pretty much see through at night if you have a light on inside

[StuartG]

I heading up the the Lakes this year to stay in the same area where I did my Silver and Gold, 30 years ago. The area is Boot, from there I will then do a walk up Scafel. When I was 17 we would then stay up at Burnmoor Tarn for a couple of days. It's a fantastic place and living in Bham, I would never have experienced it without DofE - overall I personally owe it loads.