Dofe Gold tips?!

I'm going on my first Dofe hike to exmoor this weekend, Just need some general tips/advice? Also what did you take for food?( Need two breakfasts, 2 lunch's and 1 dinner) also what snacks/Pickmeups did you eat?

Reply 1

pinkthepig

Original post by Dharp

it will be hard haha! make sure your boots are really good, if not BUY SOME! i made this mistake and my feet nearly fell off, literally. plus make sur eur waterproofs are good! this will save u being soggy all weekend if it rains! best thing for food are the dried meals u poor water into, really light and nice actually! :smile:

snacks - cereal cars, mars bars, nuts are really good! anything else? :smile:

Reply 2

Dharp

Original post by pinkthepig

snacks - cereal cars, mars bars, nuts are really good! anything else? :smile:

That's everything thanks :biggrin:

Reply 3

Smelly Ellie

As above dehydrated food is best, my group loved Super-noodles, easy, lightweight and pretty delicious after a days walking. And definitely agree with the good boots thing, I'd also recommend putting surgical spirit on your feet to toughen them up and take good blister plasters (the Blistex ones are pretty great). Make sure you line your bag, with a bin liner will do, as I was the only one in my group to do this, and the only one with a lovely dry sleeping bag on the last night. Good luck have fun :biggrin:

Some of my group took raw jelly and said that gave them a lot of energy :smile:

I stuck to mars bars, sweets, dried fruit and nuts.

Ooh we had porridge for breakfast, made with powdered milk and sweeteners, tasted gorgeous, and really set us up for the day. We didn't need lunch because of that, just snacks, then we had noodles for dinner followed by custard. It was actually good food, considering.

(edited 13 years ago)

Reply 4

Lack of Creativity

Waterproof your kit. Ortlieb or Lifeventure dry bags are amazing. Your sleeping bag needs to stay bone dry at all times, or you're going to have an absolutely dire expedition.

Take baby wipes for personal hygiene. Get someone else to wipe down your back.

If you have waterproof trousers, roll them up and store them in the rain cover compartment of your rucksack if it has one, you'll always need to use them both at the same time.

As far as food goes, it's really your preference. If I'm looking for something to munch on whilst on the go, I take a bag of jelly babies with some non-salted nuts thrown in.

Don't take too many clothes. I take two sets when I'm on a multiple-day expedition. Dry kit for sleeping and hanging around camp, and wet (dirty) kit for walking in. Clean socks are essential though, take plenty. I pre-talc a pair of socks, ball them together and stuff them into a ziplock bag.

Keep hydrated, keep your spirits up AND the spirits of those in your team, be prepared to slog it out, and you'll have a great time.

Reply 5

drunkensailor258

Original post by Lack of Creativity

Clean socks are essential though, take plenty.

This. I found that taking 3 pairs per day was a good rule of thumb (1 pair to start day, 1 change for lunchtime ish and another pair for evening). Also bag EVERYTHING up and take spare bags. This is a cheap and relatively easy way of splashproofing stuff and combined with a liner and rain cover should keep the worst of the wet off you.

Make sure you have a decent map case that is well waterproof. I did my gold final across the yorkshire moors and it was torrential rain all the time, ended up trashing 3 maps because the mapcases got torn.

On the flipside though make sure you take plenty of water as you drink more than you think you will and especially on a long haul between checkpoints you'll need extra if its hot (had a guy drop out due to heatstroke. On the same expedition we had snow so you never can tell)

Reply 6

Lack of Creativity

Original post by drunkensailor258

Make sure you have a decent map case that is well waterproof. I did my gold final across the yorkshire moors and it was torrential rain all the time, ended up trashing 3 maps because the mapcases got torn.

A decent map case is essential indeed. On previous expeditions though, I've taken to printing out the OS Explorer version of the area I'm walking through, and laminating it. Of course, this isn't something everyone can do, but it's a good safeguard. Laminated map in a map case is virtually indestructible.