[Xiomara]

I've got my Gold expedition coming up in two weeks, how best can I get in shape? We're going to the Brecon Beacons...

Secondly, what is the best priced GPS system to buy? (yes, the rule book says you're allowed, and yes I want one so please don't try and talk me out of it).
I also have just bought a Samsung Galaxy S mp3 player which has GPS access, so if anyone could recommend some GPS apps that would suffice that would be great too!

[hajinator]

You're not allowed phones because of the country code, would have thought you'd know that by now? Oh and you can get in shape by filling your camping bag full of junk and running or walking over hills.

[johnnyavfc]

I felt like wanting to throw myself off one of the cliffs when I did bronze award, I hated it that much so I never bothered with the others. As for the gps, just use the one on your phone

[Tortious]

(Original post by hajinator)
You're not allowed phones because of the country code, would have thought you'd know that by now? Oh and you can get in shape by filling your camping bag full of junk and running or walking over hills.

Out of interest, what are you basing that on? Number 12?

(I'm just curious - thankfully my sister's the one doing the expedition! )

[Quoi?]

(Original post by hajinator)
You're not allowed phones because of the country code, would have thought you'd know that by now? Oh and you can get in shape by filling your camping bag full of junk and running or walking over hills.

Phones are allowed but for emergency use only. If you are in wild country they are especially important. I certainly wouldn't leave for a day in the hills without one.

Also, having a GPS is all fine and well but they aren't much good when the battery dies - make sure you are confident in your map reading skills.

Anyway, good luck and have a good time! Although you might not think it at the time in years to come you'll look back on the four days with great fondness!

[yakuzakitty]

While according to the rules GPS systems may be allowed, I would check with whoever is assessing you. They might not approve, and since they're the ones deciding if you pass or not, it's up to them.

The DofE is supposed to test your navigation and survival skills, so personally I see a GPS as a bit of a cheat. But each to their own!

[Quadratic]

Wow. What a poor effort... why can't you just follow a map like everyone else? Plus for Gold you have to be in wild country - surely you'll be going off the beaten track into open-access land, so a GPS will be useless?

[Xiomara]

(Original post by yakuzakitty)
While according to the rules GPS systems may be allowed, I would check with whoever is assessing you. They might not approve, and since they're the ones deciding if you pass or not, it's up to them.

The DofE is supposed to test your navigation and survival skills, so personally I see a GPS as a bit of a cheat. But each to their own!

This is a practice, we have no assessors.

(Original post by Quoi?)
Phones are allowed but for emergency use only. If you are in wild country they are especially important. I certainly wouldn't leave for a day in the hills without one.

Also, having a GPS is all fine and well but they aren't much good when the battery dies - make sure you are confident in your map reading skills.

Anyway, good luck and have a good time! Although you might not think it at the time in years to come you'll look back on the four days with great fondness!

I'm not taking a phone :P We have got a map, but I just want to be doubly sure. GPS + map is probably better than map alone. I've done four expeditions with just the map and want to experiment!

(Original post by hajinator)
You're not allowed phones because of the country code, would have thought you'd know that by now? Oh and you can get in shape by filling your camping bag full of junk and running or walking over hills.

Funnily enough, I'm not taking one and didn't mention that I was.

(Original post by Quadratic)
Wow. What a poor effort... why can't you just follow a map like everyone else? Plus for Gold you have to be in wild country - surely you'll be going off the beaten track into open-access land, so a GPS will be useless?

...we have a map, we're using GPS as well to make doubly sure. Thanks for your uselessness, really appreciated.

[Quadratic]

(Original post by Xiomara)
...we have a map, we're using GPS as well to make doubly sure. Thanks for your uselessness, really appreciated.

Well you're hardly in the spirit of DofE; navigating by yourself and learning to survive without technology. And like people have mentioned above, I doubt your assessor will let you use one on the final expedition. This is a practice for that, so why waste the opportunity of practising navigation? Just doesn't make sense.

[yakuzakitty]

(Original post by Xiomara)
This is a practice, we have no assessors.

That's all well and good, but maybe ask the people who will be assessing you what they think. There's no point using a GPS on your practice just to find you won't be able to on your real hike.

[Drewski]

(Original post by Xiomara)
I'm not taking a phone :P We have got a map, but I just want to be doubly sure. GPS + map is probably better than map alone. I've done four expeditions with just the map and want to experiment!

Tbh, if you haven't already got a GPS system, then it's not going to be that much use to you. You need time and practise with it before they become useful.

And on the cheap front... the cheap ones are generally cheap for a reason, not very simple and battery intensive. The good ones that coordinate themselves best with maps and what you're seeing rather than just way points and headings are expensive for a reason, too.
Unless you know anyone who has a Garmin unit that you could borrow, it's not really that worth it, imo, you're looking at £250+ for an item that's not really going to help you that much.


Fitness wise, there's not a lot you can do in 2 weeks to make a huge amount of difference, but you can start working now to help yourself for your 'proper' exped.

[Danielle89]

I did my bronze and silver, hated it but completed it and felt it made me realise how strong I could be (emotionally AND physically - cheeeeese). At the time I probably only weighed about 7st and the bag hurt my shoulders and I felt like crying everytime anyone mentioned home, but I got through it.

Just keep calm and carry on, and if you feel you're falling behind, remember that even though people ahead seem ages away, if they stopped it'd take only a couple minutes tops to catch up...

[Converse Rocker]

(Original post by Xiomara)
I've got my Gold expedition coming up in two weeks, how best can I get in shape? We're going to the Brecon Beacons...

You could just fill up your bag and walk somewhere with it, find a hill or something?

Secondly, what is the best priced GPS system to buy? (yes, the rule book says you're allowed, and yes I want one so please don't try and talk me out of it)

I'm sure between the group you can figure out where you are without the need of a GPS. Wouldn't be surprised if your group leader/assessor just took it off you.

Good luck though, and enjoy

[Xiomara]

(Original post by yakuzakitty)
That's all well and good, but maybe ask the people who will be assessing you what they think. There's no point using a GPS on your practice just to find you won't be able to on your real hike.

Not sure I can to be honest, they randomly appoint assessors from neighbouring schools or sometimes from a company (I think?) so I'm not sure how I would go about asking. Good idea though. I basically want something for giving really accurate grid references and directions as a second, because much of the Brecon Beacons looks the same on the map with few landmarks (on our route, anyway.)

(Original post by Quadratic)
Well you're hardly in the spirit of DofE; navigating by yourself and learning to survive without technology. And like people have mentioned above, I doubt your assessor will let you use one on the final expedition. This is a practice for that, so why waste the opportunity of practising navigation? Just doesn't make sense.

I really don't care.

(Original post by Drewski)
Tbh, if you haven't already got a GPS system, then it's not going to be that much use to you. You need time and practise with it before they become useful.

And on the cheap front... the cheap ones are generally cheap for a reason, not very simple and battery intensive. The good ones that coordinate themselves best with maps and what you're seeing rather than just way points and headings are expensive for a reason, too.
Unless you know anyone who has a Garmin unit that you could borrow, it's not really that worth it, imo, you're looking at £250+ for an item that's not really going to help you that much.


Fitness wise, there's not a lot you can do in 2 weeks to make a huge amount of difference, but you can start working now to help yourself for your 'proper' exped.

Fair enough...even so, I'd like the option. I will enquire if anyone has one I can borrow, though. I just don't fancy falling off a cliff :P

Thanks for your help.

(Original post by Danielle89)
I did my bronze and silver, hated it but completed it and felt it made me realise how strong I could be (emotionally AND physically - cheeeeese). At the time I probably only weighed about 7st and the bag hurt my shoulders and I felt like crying everytime anyone mentioned home, but I got through it.

Just keep calm and carry on, and if you feel you're falling behind, remember that even though people ahead seem ages away, if they stopped it'd take only a couple minutes tops to catch up...

I did both of those too...hated them, but a combination of medical school and parental pressure means I'm back again for the third time!

[Xiomara]

(Original post by Converse Rocker)
You could just fill up your bag and walk somewhere with it, find a hill or something?

I'm sure between the group you can figure out where you are without the need of a GPS. Wouldn't be surprised if your group leader/assessor just took it off you.

Good luck though, and enjoy

Not many hills...I do have a treadmill with an incline option, though. Slightly less scenic but saves petrol, hey ho.

It's the Brecon Beacons, though, and they're people that don't really get on that well so I can see us getting lost and everyone being at everyone's throats, not really worth it.

[Drewski]

(Original post by Xiomara)
Fair enough...even so, I'd like the option. I will enquire if anyone has one I can borrow, though. I just don't fancy falling off a cliff :P

Thanks for your help.

If you're going to walk with your head down staring at the thing 100% of the time and not double checking with your map then maybe you deserve to fall off a cliff?

Besides, looking at the Elis Brigham site, even the better ones only have ~20hrs battery life. If you're walking 4x 8hr days you're going to be out of luck at some point!

[Xiomara]

(Original post by Drewski)
If you're going to walk with your head down staring at the thing 100% of the time and not double checking with your map then maybe you deserve to fall off a cliff?

Besides, looking at the Elis Brigham site, even the better ones only have ~20hrs battery life. If you're walking 4x 8hr days you're going to be out of luck at some point!

Shush, you :P What about fog? Eternally prepared, me.

Are these not ordinary replaceable batteries? I wasn't planning to leave it on all day...

[Danielle89]

(Original post by Xiomara)
I did both of those too...hated them, but a combination of medical school and parental pressure means I'm back again for the third time!

I really did silver so I could do gold, but then realised that i nearly died during silver so doubling the time i'd be walking and carrying stuff didnt seem like a good idea!

[GeekyNick]

(Original post by Xiomara)
I've got my Gold expedition coming up in two weeks, how best can I get in shape? We're going to the Brecon Beacons...

Secondly, what is the best priced GPS system to buy? (yes, the rule book says you're allowed, and yes I want one so please don't try and talk me out of it).
I also have just bought a Samsung Galaxy S mp3 player which has GPS access, so if anyone could recommend some GPS apps that would suffice that would be great too!

So far I've done my Bronze and Silver expeditions and I have found that the GPS on my Android phone is more than sufficient. I use a great app called Maverick which gives you access to free OS maps, OSM maps and so on. You can enter waypoints , find your current location and display various other information.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...from_developer

In terms of whether you are allowed it or not do check with your assessor and supervisor. As far as DofE goes I believe phones, GPS and so on are completely fine but some individual people can have their own rules. Personally I think it's a great idea - yes you should be able to navigate using traditional methods but I know from experience that GPS certainly helps

In terms of improving your fitness I guess you could do some strength training and/or running. Improving your aerobic fitness and strength will help with the walking. I run regularly and have never struggled with the physical aspect of the expeditions to be honest.

[Drewski]

(Original post by Xiomara)
Shush, you :P What about fog? Eternally prepared, me.

Are these not ordinary replaceable batteries? I wasn't planning to leave it on all day...

Map, compass and counting are more use in fog than a GPS unit is!

Some are, some aren't. But then, ones that are, you're just carrying more weight with you... DofE already makes you carry enough unnecessary rubbish as it is, do you really want to add half a kilo to that?