Duke of Edinburgh Award Recommended Kit
Whilst we might be better known for our range of carefully selected high end outdoor equipment we pride ourselves on our ranges specifically selected for entrants to the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme. These products often make up part of our range for the Outdoor Education sector too. So whether you are an individual looking for some tried and tested products for your backpacking trip, a family looking to prepare their pride and joy for a night under canvas, a Scout Group or Cadet Troop, School or Outdoor Centre this range will be a great place to look.
With over 60 different product lines recommended by the Duke of Edinburgh Scheme in our range we are sure to be able to help you get out side and excel.
Where we don’t agree with the Duke of Edinburgh Recommended Kit List we don’t just blindly carry the stock anyway, we choose alternatives that we think fit the bill with function, fit, performance and value at the forefront of our mind.
Camping
You’ve reached your camp ground, what do you need to get through the night?
Obviously you’ll want a tent and in many cases this will be provided by your Duke of Edinburgh provider, but our recommended offerings come from Vango in the form of the Halo, Helvellyn and Omega ranges. Inside you’ll want to add a Vango Trek Pro 3 sleeping mat and Vango Nitestar Alpha 250 or 350 sleeping bag. If you feel you might want to add a bit of warmth to an existing sleeping bag or add some hygiene to a group use bag the Lifeventure Thermolite and Cotton liners are also recommended.
But before you go to sleep it’s time to get some food in and we carry tried and tested group cooking Trangia 25 larger and 27 smaller stove and pan sets and smaller Vango Folding Gas Stoves, but you’ll need to add pans to the latter. We also carry appropriate fuel to use with them, something that can’t be said of many larger retailers. The Life Systems Stormproof Matches will be sure to get your stove going whatever the weather. We love recommending Wayfayrer food as it’s quick and easy to cook and is much like food you’d buy in a supermarket, without heavy tinned packaging. It’s time to eat and we supply Lifeventure Ellipse crockery and Camping Cutlery or Titanium Cutlery to help you out here. Finally for cleaning up and general hygiene we stock Lifeventure All Purpose Soap and Dry Wash and a Recycled SoftFibre Trek Towel, in a variety of sizes, which packs small and dries quickly.
Keeping hydrated whilst on the go and at camp is super important and for places where water isn’t guaranteed to be completely safe we carry Life Systems Chlorine Dioxide Tablets which are simple and easy to use. If you are heading somewhere more extreme we have lots of other water treatment solutions to help keep you healthy.
On the go
But how do you carry all of this? We have a selection of Vango Denali Pro backpacking packs to reliably and comfortably help you carry it all there too. We stock Silva Classic, Field, Ranger and Expedition 4 compasses to make sure that you actually reach your destination, though it’s down to you to learn how to use them. Make sure to keep the sun off with not only a sun hat and maybe a long sleeved base layer but don’t forget your Life Systems Mountain Suncream Combi and Mountain Sunscreen. And it seems to be becoming harder and harder to avoid the dreaded midge or the mozzy so we supply Life Systems Expedition 50 Pro and Natural Mosquito Repellant. If your expedition takes you somewhere even more exotic we also recommend the Life Systems MicroNet Mosquito Net.
Safety
A first aid kit is a requirement and Life Systems provide us with a Camping, Trek and Waterproof First Aid Kit. Their Echo Whistle and Safety Whistle are vital for letting people know that you are in trouble and their Light Sticks can mark out an area for you to be easily located. If things go wrong then you always have your tent to put a casualty in, but whilst you are pitching it you will need to keep them warm and protected, so we have Life Systems Thermal Blankets and Heatshield Thermal Blankets. If pitching a tent isn’t practical with a casualty or if you quickly need some shelter to give a team moral talk then a survival shelter or bothy bag can be a game changer. We have a 50% off RRP special offer currently on Vango Storm Shelters.
Clothing and Footwear
A lot of the time young people have fast drying, comfortable clothing already in their wardrobe. Check to see if you own polyester underwear, polyester or nylon tees, fleece jumpers, synthetic trousers and leggings for base and mid layers. Just remember to stay away from cotton as it holds onto moisture which will be uncomfortable, can rub and at worst can cause hypothermia. If you don’t have them then we will be able to fill the gaps from our clothing range.
We stock waterproof jackets and trousers that cover a wide range of needs from Bronze to Gold Expeditions at home and abroad starting from as little as £22 and £13 respectively and all carefully selected by Up and Unders ranging team for function, fit, performance and value.
Where we really don’t like to make do is with feet. We stock a range of recommended socks from Bridgedale including Coolmax Liners and Midweight Merino Socks. We carry Hi-Tec Ravine WP walking boots that we can fit in-store to make sure that you make it to the end of your expedition with a smile on your face and no wounds on your feet. We do also carry the Life Systems Blister Kit just in case.
Other things to think about, where we either don’t carry the Duke of Edinburgh Recommended option (our team has found something that they and our customers prefer) or there isn’t a specifc recommended product from the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme include:
Rucksack Liners - The Highlander Rucksack Liner is a heavy duty purpose shaped plastic bag or you can choose to use a large Exped DryBag Versa. We feel the Highlander combined with one or two smaller drybags to keep vital kit dry that lives in lid pockets etc. is ideal.
Head torches - It’s Petzl all the way for reliability, the Tikkina is great as you won’t be doing any night navigation and is less expensive and brighter than the least expensive DofE recommended options. If you are considering doing lots of complex night navigation stepping up in their range is worth considering.
Water Bottles and Hydration Bladders - don’t mess around with potential leakers, lid poppers or heavy weights, we recommend a Nalgene 1 Litre bottle or a Hydrapak Contour 2 or 3 litre bladder.
Sun Hat - you probably already have one.
Warm Hat and Glove - you probably already have them, if not we can help here.
Gaiters - help keep the bottom half of your trousers dry, keep bog and water out of your boots with the Highlander Walking Gaiters V2.
Trekking Poles - help your knees, reduce the strain on your quads and stay stable on river crossings, etc. Check out our best priced from world number one brand Leki with their Voyager poles.
Oh and don’t forget to show evidence of your Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme involvement at the till to get some extra discount. If you are shopping online then drop us an email with photo evidence for your DofE discount code. It usually averages around 16% off RRP!
