HIKE PLANNING

Set dates for hike

Choose suitable venue

Obtain preliminary permission

Obtain permits

Obtain necessary information from area or district

Obtain maps

Assemble gear - purchase/replace as necessary

Arrange participants

Arrange hiking programme

Arrange hike menus

Draw up food lists

Planning - who is responsible for what

Arrange transport

Work out cost analysis

Issue full information, personal kit lists and consent forms

Collect consent forms and money

Confirm hike route and accommodation

Finalise transport to and from expedition

Buy non perishable foodstuff

Buy perishable foodstuff

Obtain weather information

First aid kit

Personal kit

Survival kit

Establish purpose of hike to occupy various scouting activities - cooking, backwoods, shelters.

Safety - roadways, night hiking, area

Experience

Training in mapwork - Can you read and orientate a map

Training in first aid

Logbook requirements

Reduce pack weight - think carefully about each item

Don’t reduce weight leaving out essentials - remember 1kg becomes 10kg after the second kilometre.

Avoid tins and bottles

Devise dry rations and wrap in lightweight aluminium foil

Eliminate cooking utensils entirely - except for large mug

Cook in foil - eliminate plate and eat from the foil

Take no fork - penknife and spoon sufficient

Small towel

No need for groundsheet and raincoat - light plastic raincoat serves as groundsheet or vice versa, packed at top for easy accessibility

Strap bedroll on top of rucksack protected from rain by thin plastic sheet

Plan to share equipment

Hike pace - short rests frequently

Woollen socks  - avoid synthetic socks causing friction and blisters

Clothing to be loose fitting around waist and neck and shoulders

Impose self discipline with regard to water consumption

Outdoor code

Never hike alone

Stave useful for self defence, making tripods, rigging shelters, improvising stretcher, leaping a stream, prodding suspected swamp or quicksand, testing water depth, finding north and many other things

Law of trespassing - keep off private property or obtain permission to cross

Log keeping

Report to give clear account of route - reader should be able to follow route without difficulty

At cross-roads or forks make inset sketches to larger scale.

Include northpoint and scale on each map

Don’t be afraid to make simple maps and sketches - not art competition

Objects should be recognisable

Give some idea of type of country you pass through,: natural features, kinds of crops, nature of bush or trees, flower - mountings on blank pages - bird and animal life ( sketches, photographs), open spaces, depressions, lakes, bridges, railways. Note place where good and bad conservation practices exist or where they are needed.

Describe features of historical interest: monuments, battlefields, ruins etc.

Describe human life of area, industrial and agricultural development, types of dwelling, local crafts, items of similar interest.

Report suitable places for wide games, camp sites - bearing in mind factors such as shelter, wood, water, supplies, photographs, sketch maps

Prepare suitable logbook for hike - fielddesk.

Compass types and techniques

Travelling on bearing

Finding direction of given landmark

Mapping - map types

Contours

Scale

Grid references

Magnetic declination

Use of romer

Use of GPS (not compulsory)

Survival techniques

Attracting attention

Signalling

Flares

Signalling mirror

Evacuation

Weather and dangers

Cloud patterns

Rainstorms, thunderstorms, hail, windstorms

Emergency procedures

Hazards - exposure - hypothermia/hyperthermia, sunstroke, snakebite

Malaria

Sprains, strains, bleeding

Lightweight foods

Alternative arrangements