Scouts -Bivouac Adventure - Winter 2017

As part of our Survival Skills badge we are having an overnight camp from Saturday 18th February to morning of Sunday 19th February. No tents needed, we will be building shelters in Ballycastle Forest and sleeping in them overnight. Drop-off at the Ballycastle Forest Car Park on Drumavoley Road at 10:30am (or as soon as you can after any sports). This will give us plenty of time get building very sturdy shelters before it gets too dark.Bring a packed lunch with you for lunch time.Evening food will be cooked there if you can catch it.CRITICALLY IMPORTANT INFORMATION!!It is VERY important that you have enough clothing to keep warm. You should have a MINIMUM OF 5 LAYERS on your upper body for wearing overnight. If you have any base layers or can borrow them, wear them. A thick wooly pair of gloves, and 2 hats that cover your ears are really important. Bring a scarf too, you basically want to be as warm as possible, especially as the weather forecast currently shows overnight temperatures in single digits overnight.Essentials you MUST also bring in a single rucksack that can be carried by you on your back up into the forest:

•  Sleeping Bag
• Bivouac bag (big plastic bag that your sleeping bag goes inside) (See bivi bag here on Amazon)
• Torch (head torch ideally, but any torch is fine)
• 2+ Warm wooly jumpers and Woolly Hat (a warm hat is VERY, VERY IMPORTANT, you will be wearing this all night to keep your head warm) and a warm pair of gloves.
• Waterproof coat & Wellington boots
• Spare socks
• Wear your scout scarf
• A metal or enamel mug (NOT plastic)
• Some toilet paper / Baby wipes
• Knife and/or axe

After building shelters we will be learning how to catch some game within the forest for us to cook on sharpened sticks for evening meal and breakfast the following morning. As a small exception, given our troop history of excellence in marshmallow toasting, please bring some marshmallows if you would like to toast some. We will be making nettle or pine needle tea to have as a hot survival drink before bed.Collection from same car park at 9:30am Saturday morning. Please do not bring phones or electronic devices as it is highly likely they will get lost or damaged.NB. This is a survival skills camp, in true Bear Grylls style it will be muddy, wet and cold. It will not be a luxury camp, however it will be amazing fun!