Jubilee Centre BEL Course Notes

Living Out of Doors

Where you camp depends on your group and the experience they want to get. Select a site at the planning stage, once there take into account the land and wind direction.
Agree hygiene procedures, be clean, don't pollute water sources, take care where you wash up and go to the toilet, understand the ground and where water levels can rise to. If you can't take waste with you, (there is no reason why anything should be left behind), dispose of it very carefully.
Plan your food carefully, for short ventures worry more about calories than balance. Keep it light, dried food, look at the cooking times when buying, longer times take more fuel. Take food you like, having an enjoyable meal after a hard day can lift the spirit. Spread your intake over the day, it is often said that when breakfast ends, lunch begins. Eat within two hours of finishing exercise, this helps the body refuel muscles effectively.

Stoves

Gas Stoves - Simple and clean but expensive on fuel, they do lose pressure as they run out, they can also lose pressure in the cold, although some mixtures of gas help prevent this problem.

Pressure Stoves - They need priming and can be awkward to use and service. In the hands of a novice they can be lethal. If you know how to use one, they are quick, adjustable, can run on a variety of fuels and are cheap to run.

Meths Burners - Trangias are simple to use, it all comes in one package. They are relatively safe as long as care is taken when lighting and re fuelling. The fuel is expensive and cooking is slow, but for inexperienced campers, a simpler system is hard to find.

Give plenty of training in all stoves, cook away from tents, change cylinders and refuel in the open only when the stove is cold and do not overfill.

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