Learn essential survival skills including shelter building, fire lighting, navigation, first aid, outdoor safety and practical skills to survive in the wilderness.
Activity Overview Difficulty: IntermediateTime: 1–2 hoursLocation: Suitable campfire or outdoor cooking areaBest for: Scouts and ExplorersSkills: Camp cooking, fire management, food preparation, heat control, teamwork Campfire baking is the process of baking food using the heat from a campfire rather than a conventional oven. It can be used to make bread, bannock, damper, scones, cakes…
Activity Overview Difficulty: IntermediateTime: 1–2 hoursLocation: Suitable campfire or outdoor cooking areaBest for: Scouts and ExplorersSkills: Fire lighting, camp cooking, food preparation, fire safety, teamwork Ember cooking is the process of cooking food over the steady heat produced by hot, glowing embers rather than directly over flames. A well-established bed of embers provides more even…
Activity Overview Difficulty: AdvancedTime: 30–60 minutesLocation: Suitable outdoor woodcraft or campfire areaBest for: Scouts and ExplorersSkills: Axe safety, woodcraft, fire preparation, tool control, concentration Quick Answer Splitting firewood means using a suitable hand axe to divide small pieces of prepared wood into smaller sections for a campfire. For Scouts, this is an advanced practical skill…
Activity Overview Difficulty: IntermediateTime: 30–45 minutesLocation: Suitable outdoor woodcraft or fire-lighting areaBest for: Scouts and ExplorersSkills: Knife skills, woodcraft, fire lighting, preparation, concentration A feather stick is a piece of dry wood with thin curls of wood shaved from the surface while remaining attached to the stick. These fine curls provide extra surface area and…
Activity Overview Difficulty: BeginnerTime: 30–45 minutesLocation: Outdoors or indoors for preparation; fire-lighting area for testingBest for: Cubs, Scouts and ExplorersSkills: Fire lighting, woodcraft, material selection, preparation, observation A tinder bundle is a loose collection of dry, easily ignited material used to turn a spark or ember into a small flame. Good tinder should be dry,…
Activity Overview Difficulty: AdvancedTime: 45–60 minutesLocation: Indoors for demonstration or a suitable outdoor activity areaBest for: Scouts and ExplorersSkills: Fire-lighting principles, air compression, observation, experimentation, fire safety A fire piston produces heat by rapidly compressing air inside a small cylinder. The compression causes the air temperature to rise enough to ignite a small piece of…
Activity Overview Difficulty: AdvancedTime: 60–90 minutesLocation: Suitable outdoor fire-lighting areaBest for: Scouts and ExplorersSkills: Friction fire lighting, woodcraft, fire safety, patience, observation, problem-solving A bow drill creates an ember through friction between a rotating wooden spindle and a fireboard. A bow provides the movement, while a bearing block holds the top of the spindle in…
Activity Overview Difficulty: IntermediateTime: 30–60 minutesLocation: Campsite or suitable outdoor activity areaBest for: Scouts and ExplorersSkills: Knots, ropework, pioneering, teamwork, problem-solving, communication Pioneering knot challenges turn basic rope skills into practical team activities. Instead of simply tying knots from memory, Scouts have to choose the correct knot, tie it accurately and explain why it is…
Activity Overview Difficulty: IntermediateTime: 45–60 minutesLocation: Campsite or suitable outdoor activity areaBest for: Scouts and ExplorersSkills: Leadership, communication, teamwork, problem-solving, planning, pioneering Pioneering leadership is about getting a team to work safely and effectively towards a shared goal. A good pioneering leader does not simply give orders. They help the team plan, allocate jobs, communicate…
Activity Overview Difficulty: IntermediateTime: 30–45 minutesLocation: Indoors for planning and equipment checks; outdoors for practical useBest for: Scouts and ExplorersSkills: Clothing selection, weather awareness, layering, preparation, mountain safety Mountain clothing should be selected according to the weather, terrain, season, duration and difficulty of the activity. The aim is to stay warm, dry and comfortable while…
