Scouts’ guide to summer adventure with Dacia

If you’re setting out on a summer camping trip, then you need to be prepared with plenty of water, hats and long sleeved clothing to protect yourself against the dangers of the sun.

Packing your rucksack

There’s an art to packing your rucksack. Do it the right way and it’ll make life a lot easier on your summer adventure:

• Put the items you need easy access to at the top of the rucksack.
• Spread the weight so it’s easy and comfortable to carry.
• Make sure easily damaged items are stowed carefully in the pockets.
• Keep clothes in a waterproof liner bag to keep them dry.
• Carry mats can be carried beneath the rucksack in a plastic bag, or be secured to the top.
• Place your light bulky items near the bottom and heavier items at the top. This’ll make your rucksack easier to carry.
• Check you have everything on the kit list.

Keeping your tent cool

Where possible, try and pitch your tent in a shade, so you’re not woken up too early by hot, bright sunlight in the morning.

Check the direction of the prevailing wind and pitch your tent in the same direction so the wind flows through, providing cooling ventilation. During the day, open up the tent as much as possible.

Take on plenty of water throughout the day. Consider staying out of the sun during the hottest part of the day, between 11am and 3pm. 

Sunburn

Never underestimate the power of the sun, even if you’re exposed for just a short time. If someone is sunburned, move them out of the sunlight and cover skin with light clothing. Ask them to take sips of cold water. Cool the skin with cold water for 10 minutes. Apply calamine or after sun lotion. If they have blisters, they should be seen by a medical professional. Look out for signs of heat exhaustion.

Heat exhaustion and heatstroke

If hiking or camping in very hot weather, heat exhaustion can occur if you’re not careful to drink plenty of fluids, wear a sun hat and sun cream, and you generally over do it in the heat.

If somebody has a headache, is feeling sick or dizzy, is clammy and sweating, or has cramps, they need to stop and cool down. Heat exhaustion can lead to heatstroke if it’s not spotted, which is a serious condition where the body can no longer cool down.

If someone seems confused and restless, with their responses then deteriorating, move the patient to a shady, cool place. 

1. Remove outer layers of clothing if possible. 
2. Call an ambulance. 
3. Drape the casualty in a wet sheet, or wet towels. Sponge them with cool water. Use cool packs on the neck and arm pits. 
4. Once their temperature has returned to a safe level, cover them in dry sheet or towels. 
5. Keep a close eye on the patient, repeating the cooling process if necessary. 
6. If they become unconscious, you may need to put them in recovery position.

Everyone heading into the great outdoors needs to know how to build a good fire. The size and type of fire you build depends on what you want to use it for: warmth, cooking, or light.

A fire needs three things: heat, oxygen and fuel. To start building your fire, gather sticks of different thickness and start with the smallest. You can light a fire with matches, or, if you’re feeling more adventurous, you can use a flint and steel. A flint and steels creates sparks, so have some cotton wool ready to catch these. You can then use the lit cotton wool to start your fire with dry wood shavings or pieces of tinder and kindling, which are small and very dry twigs.

Whatever you build, you must do it safely and consider the impact you have on the land. Don’t dig a hole in the ground unless you have permission from the landowner.

Here are types of fires for you to try:

• Teepee
• Altar
• Star
• Crane

Knife safety

Outdoor cooking requires a sharp knife. Knives should be stored and carried carefully (in the middle of a rucksack) and only taken out when you’re ready to use them. If you’re sitting, make sure the ground, chair or log is stable and level. Always cut away from your body.

Different countries have different laws for carrying and storing knives. Legally, you must have a good reason to be in possession of a knife in a public place. In the UK, the legal length for a folding blade that doesn’t lock is 7.62cm (three inches). Always check first and remember ignorance of the law is not an excuse.

Take a look at our guidance on knife safety.

Spud eggs

Cut the top off a potato, hollow it out, crack an egg into it, replace the lid and wrap in two layers of foil. Put in hot embers for 40 minutes.

Campfire casserole

Wrap sausages (or finely chopped beef/chicken, or no meat at all), chopped onion and any other vegetables you choose in one layer of foil and put into embers for around 30 minutes.

Baked fish

Clean and gut your fish thoroughly beforehand. Wrap your fish in newspapers, wet thoroughly and place on the embers. Turn the fish several times at intervals of about 3–4 minutes until the newspaper is dried. In about 15 minutes, it’s done.

Kebabs

Peel the bark from a long ‘green’ (living) stick (not laurel or yew, as these are poisonous) and push a mixture of chopped sausages, onion, mushroom, peppers and tomato onto it. Cook over hot embers until the sausage is browned.

Twists or dampers

Mix self raising flour, water, milk and an egg (or just plain flour, water and vegetable oil), to make a thick dough. Roll into a ‘snake’ and wrap it around a green stick (see above). Toast over embers until lightly browned and serve with butter and jam.

Chocolate banana

Slice an unpeeled banana in half lengthways and push chocolate buttons inside. Close it up, wrap in two layers of foil and cook in hot embers for up to 15 minutes.

Baked apple

Cut out the core of an apple, place the apple on foil and fill the hole with raisins, sultanas, sugar and/or, chocolate. Wrap in two layers of foil and cook in hot embers for 20 minutes or so. Eat with care as the sugar gets very hot!

Campfire sausage rolls

Cook sausages in the normal way on a stick or in a pan. Mix flour and water with a pinch of salt to make a dough (twists). Wrap the dough around the sausage put on a stick and turn slowly over a camp fire until light brown. Hey presto – sausage roll.

Believe it or not, but you can get a good indication of the weather just by taking a deep breath. If the air is very pungent, for example with compost-like odours as plants release their waste, then wet weather is on the way. When the air contains more moisture, scents are stronger.

Watch what animals do

Most people know that cows lie down before a thunderstorm. They also tend to huddle together before bad weather. You’ll also notice fewer seagulls in the sky at the coast if a storm is on the way. Almost all animals become subdued before rain. Rows of birds on telegraph wires usually indicate low pressure, and therefore fair weather.

Look down

If you see dew on the grass in the morning, it’s an indicator of fair weather. This means there’s no or little breeze to bring rainclouds your way. If it’s dry, this means it’s been dried by a breeze, which can often bring inclement weather. Forget all of the above if it rained during the night!

Look at a pine cone

Why not use this favourite to predict the weather? If there’s moisture in the air, the scales on the pine cone will close – this means rain is on the way. If it’s dry, the scales will dry up and open.

Cloudspotting

Cloudspotting has become recognised as an art in its own right. It’s easier than you think and allows you to predict weather conditions with surprising accuracy.

What to do in a thunderstorm

Remember, thunderstorms can strike unexpectedly. Between 30 and 60 people are struck by lightning in the UK each year. The first signs of a storm are usually quite obvious; a rumble of thunder for example. But just because the sound is quite distant should be no reassurance – a lightning strike can reach up to a 10-mile radius. In addition, time the delay between the thunder and lightning. A gap of less than 30 seconds spells danger.

If you’re on water, get to shore as quickly as you can as water is a good conductor of electricity. If you’re outdoors, seek shelter immediately – ideally in a house or other permanent structure, but otherwise in a car. A shed or tent is not safe enough and never shelter beneath a tree.

If there’s no shelter at all, find a low place and assume the crash position, with your head between your legs, crouching down and balancing on your heels to avoid too much contact with the earth. 

In a thunderstorm, never:

• Use an umbrella
• Use a mobile phone
• Hold a golf club
• Shelter beneath a tree
• Leave your shelter too early – there’s still a danger up to half an hour after the thunderstorm is over, and yes, lightning can strike the same place, or the same person, twice.

We share our countryside with a huge variety of animals. Take some time to get to know some of these woodland creatures:

• Stoat
• Wood Mouse
• Muntjac deer
• Squirrel
• Red deer
• Badgers

Before heading out into the cold, learn how to build a shelter in an emergency. Here’s how to make an A-frame shelter, which is one of the best and easiest to make.

Prepare the ground

Before you begin work on your A-Frame, check the site is suitable.

• Don’t build it near an animal trail or ants nest.
• Check there aren’t any dead branches above you. 
• Think about where the sun rises and sets and the direction of the prevailing wind. You can use the terrain and surrounding flora to help minimise the latter.
• Avoid lower ground between two high points as cold air can collect in such places and rain runoff may be a problem too. 

Building the frame

• To start the frame, you’ll need a straight and sturdy ridgepole and two forked supports. Make sure the supports are locked together, and the ridgepole is also secured through the middle. You should be able to rest your weight on the entrance end of the ridgepole at this point. You can use a sharpened digging stick to create small depressions in the ground for the supports.
• Next, clear any debris inside the frame and check for any sharp stones.
• Before going any further, lie inside the frame to check you can fit inside without your head sticking out and your feet touching the ridgepole.
• Now start to build the sides by using more sticks which you should rest on the ridgepole. Aim to get fairly straight sticks, avoid rotten ones and trim them to size so that they don’t exceed the ridgepole excessively. This’ll help to funnel rain. If you find that some sticks won’t stay in, weave very thin branches or plants such as nettles between them for support but again, don’t have them sticking out.
• Once the frame is finished, the thatching can start. To make the available leaf litter go further, consider ‘tiling’ the frame with something like bracken if available (never pull bracken as you’ll find the stems can give you a nasty paper-like cut), Birch bark or further woven twigs.
• Finally, add lots of leaf litter, starting at the base of the frame and working upwards towards the apex. Using a coat or old tarp will speed up collection, and keep checking in the entrance for chinks of daylight. If there’s no chance of wind and rain a minimal covering will make a surprisingly cosy shelter. If it’s going to be wet then look to put on in excess of a foot of leaf litter all over. Try not to scoop up soil and small debris as it can fall on you in the night.

Getting off the beaten track and hiking is one of the most inspiring ways to see the countryside. There’s no better feeling than pulling off your boots at the end of a long walk with a good mate. But like anything else, it pays to be prepared.

Safety first

Before setting off anywhere, let someone know where you’re heading and when you expect to return. Check your phone is fully charged and that you have a compass and map with you.

Now, make sure you’re wearing a good pair of boots (preferably waterproof) or comfortable shoes. Take time to plan your route and think carefully about how long it’ll take you to walk it. If there are hills, it’ll take longer! If you’re heading into unfamiliar territory or terrain, learning how to use a map and compass, and hiking skills are essential. Remember your phone can lose signal and charge, leaving you stranded.

The five Ds of Navigation

In Scouts, we’ll help you learn how to use a map and compass, as well as the five D’s of navigation – Distance, Duration, Direction, Description and Destination:

• Distance – (how far)
• Duration – (how long)
• Direction – (which way)
• Description – (what does it look like and what do I see?)
• Destination – (what will I see at the end?)

Navigation using the stars, sun and moon

In an emergency, you can also find your way in dark using the stars, at least when the sky is clear. The North Star is directly above the North Pole, so if we can find it, it’ll show us the way north, because ‘north’ means ‘towards the North Pole’.

The easiest star to find is the one we see during the day – the sun. It rises in the eastern part of the sky and sets in the western part, although the exact points vary over the year. It rises and sets north of east and west in the summer and south of east and west in the winter. In the middle of the day, when the sun is highest in the sky, it’ll be due south from the UK (all of Europe and North America).

Geocaching began when someone wondered what would happen if they hid a container of trinkets and a log book out in the wilderness and posted the coordinates on the internet. Would people go and look for it? They did, and it’s now grown into an activity enjoyed across the world. Participants seek out hidden containers (caches) using published coordinates. When found, they record the find in the log kept in the container and on the website that listed the location.

You can find out more on www.geocaching.com. There are other websites that help to provide essential information and rules specific to the UK too.

It’s important to remember that this activity is based on locating a hidden container, while making sure non-geocachers don’t find the cache.

Follow the code of conduct

A geocache may be of any size from very small (micro-caches), so they only hold a paper log, to large containers, which are several litres in capacity.

More recently, there’s been a new cache category called the Nano cache. This is a specialist container, which just large enough to hold only a long thin strip of paper, it’s often magnetised and secured behind objects, such as road signs. It’s important to always weatherproof the caches too.

Check your fluids

Higher outside temperatures and congestion (like the stationary traffic that quickly builds on busy motorways during holiday season) can expose any weaknesses in your car’s cooling system, so make sure the coolant is at the right level and the correct mixture.

Screen wash also needs to be topped up to clear all the bugs that commonly cover a windscreen during summer! Also, don’t forget to check the oil – if it’s low, it can cause the engine to run hotter and cause premature wear.

Inspect your tyres

Summer holidays and road trips often mean carrying extra weight, and the recommended tyre pressures for your vehicle can vary depending on how loaded your car is. Check the owner’s manual to make sure your tyres are correctly inflated.

Extra weight can also place increased strain on tyres, so check for any perishing and damage that could compromise safety. Don’t forget to inspect the tread depth – the legal limit is 1.6 mm, but many recommend changing a tyre when the tread is at 3 mm.

Look at your wipers and lights

Heavy periods of sun can dry out your rubber windscreen wipers, so check them for any splits and make sure they’re clearing the windscreen effectively. Smearing and noise from the rubber can mean they need replacing. Likewise, make sure all the lights are functioning correctly and that the lenses are clean.

Is the air con working correctly?

Air conditioning is a huge benefit in summer, so check it’s working properly. If it’s blowing hot air, then chances are it needs a re-gas. To keep the air clean and healthy, inspect the cabin filter and change it if you need to. Bad smells from the air conditioning can be worse than just unpleasant, as musty odours are often a sign of potentially harmful bacteria in the system. A bacterial clean should rectify this.

Be prepared for break-downs

It might be warm when you set off, but if you break down at night, it can get cold quickly. At the very least, make sure you keep a coat, torch, road safety triangle and a high visibility vest in the car. You may also want to keep a full-charged portable phone charger and charging lead, blanket, snacks, sun cream, umbrella and jump leads. It’s good to have a paper copy of emergency numbers too.

Keep hydrated and take a break

During the hotter months it’s even more important to have water and refreshments on board. Again, being stranded is bad enough, but it’s doubly worse if you’re hungry and thirsty! Be sure to carry a good supply of food, water and a flask of hot tea or coffee with you. Warmer temperatures can make you more tired as well, so make sure you’re taking breaks on longer journeys.

Wear your shades

Bright sunshine in the summer can dazzle drivers, making it very hard to see the road.

Keep your phone charged

Most people have a mobile phone with them, but always remember the charger! If you need to call for assistance, you don’t want to realise your battery is flat or low on charge.