LATEST OUTDOOR GUIDES
Keep up to date with the latest guides, activities and resources from Survival Guides UK. Explore new articles covering outdoor skills, survival, Scout activities, camping, navigation, knots, fire safety and practical skills.
Our latest posts are designed to help Scouts, youth groups, leaders and anyone interested in outdoor learning develop practical knowledge and confidence. From new activity ideas and survival skills to useful how-to guides, check back regularly for the latest resources.
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SGUK Outdoor Skills Challenge: Something Big Is Coming
Something big is coming to Survival Guides UK. Not another short list of outdoor activities. Not a course that finishes after a few lessons. And not a challenge that stops when you reach number 100. We are building something much bigger. The SGUK Outdoor Skills Challenge is going to be a huge, ever-growing collection of…
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How to Stay Dry and Manage Sweat Outdoors
Staying dry outdoors is not simply a matter of putting on a waterproof jacket. Rain is an obvious source of moisture, but sweat can leave you just as wet, particularly when you’re walking uphill, carrying a heavy rucksack or working hard around camp. The trick is to manage both at the same time. You want…
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How to Use a Bivvy Bag or Emergency Blanket
A bivvy bag and an emergency blanket are both useful pieces of outdoor equipment, but they have different important jobs. A bivvy bag is designed to go around you and your sleeping system, while an emergency blanket is much more flexible and can be used to reflect heat, provide some protection from wind and rain,…
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How to Build a Debris Shelter
A debris shelter is a simple woodland shelter made mainly from natural materials such as branches, leaves, moss and other fallen vegetation. It is one of the more interesting shelter-building skills to practise because the materials are all around you, but making a shelter that actually keeps you warm and reasonably dry takes more than…
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How to Build a tarp A-frame
A tarp A-frame shelter is a classic and one of the simplest shelters you can build outdoors. It is a useful skill to learn because the same basic design works with very little equipment. With a tarp, some cordage and a few suitable pegs, you can create a shelter that gives you protection from rain…
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How to Pitch a Tent in Wind
Putting up a tent is usually straightforward when the weather is calm, but strong wind can turn a simple job into a terrible battle. Poles blow around, fabric catches the wind like a sail and anything you put down seems to disappear across the campsite just when you need it. The key is to work…
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Your Outdoor Skills Journey Starts Here
What if learning outdoor skills wasn’t just about reading an article and moving on? What if you could actually build your skills, track your progress, take on challenges and see how far you’ve come? That’s what we’re building here at Survival Guides UK. We’ve been adding new tools and features to turn the site into…
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100 Outdoor Skills Everyone Should Know (Free Digital Checklist)
Whether you’re heading up a fell, camping in the Highlands or just want to be ready for a winter power cut, knowing the right outdoor skills conditions demand can make a real difference. Our weather is cold, wet and changeable here in the UK, and most outdoor emergencies here start with something small: a wrong…
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How to Start a Nature Journal
You don’t need to know the names of hundreds of plants and animals to keep a nature journal. In fact, one of the best things about starting one is that it gives you a reason to slow down and pay attention to what is happening around you. A nature journal can be as simple as…
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10 Fire Safety Rules Every Child Should Know
Fire can be one of the most enjoyable parts of being outdoors. Sitting around a campfire, cooking outside or learning how to light a fire are all useful experiences, but fire needs to be treated with respect from the very beginning. Children don’t need to be frightened of fire, or told to keep away, but…
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25 Outdoor Skills Worth Learning
There are hundreds of different skills you can learn outdoors but you don’t need to master all of them to become much more capable outside. In fact, learning a handful of practical skills and gradually building on them is often far more useful than trying to learn everything at once. Some skills are immediately useful…
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