Leadership Training Extended Unit 2: Pack Carries

1. Leadership Training Extended Unit 2: Pack Carries

2. Researching the walk You, and your club, have decided you’re ready to lead an overnight walk for the club. You’ve considered your abilities and worked out the type of overnight walk you want to lead for the club. The club through it’s own system has worked out what you may lead too. • What next? What research will you do? BWV Walk Leader Training Extended Unit 2: Pack Carries

3. Researching the walk Working in pairs, with the person next to you, discuss what you know, what you need to find out, and how you may find it. • List everything and everyone you’d look at and speak to, to research your walk. • Try just to get the ideas written down without discussing if it’s a good source or not. • You have only 5 minutes for this discussion and list making. BWV Walk Leader Training Extended Unit 2: Pack Carries

4. Researching the walk Here’s our list: • Read any books, guides and track notes available, both hard copy and internet based. • Blogs can be a good source of recent information. • Get the maps of the area and study these. • Talk to anyone who may have been there. BWV Walk Leader Training Extended Unit 2: Pack Carries

5. Researching the walk Our list continued: • Check Club records for ideas, and details, of previous walks. • Check regulations for the land management authority, including permits and fees required to camp there, and limits on group numbers. • Look for possible camp sites with water. BWV Walk Leader Training Extended Unit 2: Pack Carries

6. Researching the walk Our list continued: • Prepare a detailed route plan and time estimation, including emergency plans and escape routes. • Use Naismith’s Rule for time estimation. • Be prepared to cut back the day’s journey should the time estimation be too long for the group. BWV Walk Leader Training Extended Unit 2: Pack Carries

7. Group Selection Tell us just 1 item or comment per person as we go round the group. You can pass, or say “same as he/she said” too. • How do your club members sign up for your walk? • What controls do you have as leader to say no to a person? • Is it different for members or visitors? BWV Walk Leader Training Extended Unit 2: Pack Carries

8. Group Selection Some ideas of ours: • Advertise your walk, prepare and send details to prospective members. • Hold a pre-trip briefing, in person or by phone or email. Discuss the emergency procedures and use your Club contact system. “Let someone know before you go”. • Check Club policy regarding group size: no fewer than 4 on a walk, 6 to 8 is a good number for an overnight trip. More than 12 is getting too large. BWV Walk Leader Training Extended Unit 2: Pack Carries

9. Group Selection Some ideas of ours continued: • Ensure there will be a good balance of experience for the walk grade especially if some members are new to the activity. • You’ll probably want your club mentor with you. BWV Walk Leader Training Extended Unit 2: Pack Carries

10. Group Selection Some ideas of ours continued: • It is important to have a suitably trained first aider in the group, but it doesn’t have to be the leader. • A person with navigation skills in addition to the leader is a good back up. BWV Walk Leader Training Extended Unit 2: Pack Carries

11. Clothing and equipment Clothing and equipment • This information is taken from the book Bushwalking and Ski Touring Leadership, which is available on-line at www.outdoorleaderonline.org. BWV Walk Leader Training Extended Unit 2: Pack Carries

12. Clothing and equipment Leaders have a responsibility to ensure that groups are informed of the expected conditions, and there is often a need to check the equipment carried or worn by each group member. BWV Walk Leader Training Extended Unit 2: Pack Carries

13. Clothing and equipment Leaders must be satisfied that equipment is adequate for the trip and should not hesitate to refuse to take someone with unsuitable or inadequate equipment which could jeopardize the safety of the group. BWV Walk Leader Training Extended Unit 2: Pack Carries

14. Clothing and equipment With experienced groups this may mean little more than a verbal check at the beginning of the trip to see that each has the required equipment (e.g. full wet weather gear and two litres of water). BWV Walk Leader Training Extended Unit 2: Pack Carries

15. Clothing and equipment With beginner or inexperienced members it will often be necessary to physically inspect equipment, preferably well before the trip, so that any inadequacies can be remedied. With these groups it is advisable to give and explain an equipment list, and possibly demonstrate key items early in the planning stages. BWV Walk Leader Training Extended Unit 2: Pack Carries

16. Clothing and equipment Some equipment can be shared, particularly within a tent group (e.g. stove, billies, trowel). For longer trips there may be some whole group items (e.g. a spare tarp/fly for bad weather protection, group first aid (depending on your club’s policy), spare ski tips or extra snow shovels for a snow trip). BWV Walk Leader Training Extended Unit 2: Pack Carries

17. Clothing and equipment Now it’s your turn. This is a group activity. • Use the package on the table to create your lists according to the trip detailed next. • Don’t take too long so we can compare our lists! BWV Walk Leader Training Extended Unit 2: Pack Carries

18. Clothing and equipment The first walk that you are leading is a weekend trip. You are going to visit a National Park in Southern Victoria to visit the waterfalls in the Otways around the back of Lorne. You are going in October to see the waterfalls in good flow. • What equipment list will you give to the beginners in your group? BWV Walk Leader Training Extended Unit 2: Pack Carries

19. Clothing and equipment Did anyone leave anything out? • What did you delete from the list? • What about optional items for the uber lightweight walker? • Does it make a difference that it’s just a weekend? BWV Walk Leader Training Extended Unit 2: Pack Carries

20. Clothing and equipment The next walk that you are leading is a Melbourne Cup long weekend trip in early November to the Little Desert National Park in Western Victoria. You will be looking out for birds and wildflowers on this trip. • What equipment list will you give to the members of your group? BWV Walk Leader Training Extended Unit 2: Pack Carries

21. Clothing and equipment Did anyone leave anything out? • What did you delete from the list? • What about optional items for the uber lightweight walker? • Does it make a difference that it’s a long- weekend? BWV Walk Leader Training Extended Unit 2: Pack Carries

22. Clothing and equipment The next walk that you are leading is a 4 day Easter walk in the Victorian Alps from Mt Hotham (1,861 m) to Mt Bogong (1,986 m), over the High Plains via Mt Cope and Mt Nelse (1,876 m), ending at Mountain Creek. • What recommended equipment list will you give to the members of your group? BWV Walk Leader Training Extended Unit 2: Pack Carries

23. Clothing and equipment Did anyone leave anything out? • What did you delete from the list? • Does it make a difference that it’s an alpine area? • Does it make a difference that it’s an extra-long long- weekend? • What about optional items for the uber lightweight walker? BWV Walk Leader Training Extended Unit 2: Pack Carries

24. Clothing and equipment LEADER'S EMERGENCY REPAIR KITFor Day and Overnight Walks • It is inevitable that at some stage something will break, or at least, threaten to break. A small, lightweight repair kit packed into a small container or stuff sack, waterproofed with plastic bags, will often save the day. • Duct tape or rubberised repair tape (for boots, tent flys, jackets etc) • Super glue' (for re-attaching boot soles. Store in robust container) • Venetian blind cord, 2-3 metres (emergency boot laces, tent guys, lashings etc) • Basic sewing kit (fine & coarse needles, fine and coarse threads, dental floss) • Galvanisedwire, 300mm (Garden tie wire is good. Can be useful in some repairs) • Pliers, such as those on a 'multi-tool' can be invaluable, such as for pulling heavy needles through boot soles, cutting wire, etc. Use this in place of a pocket knife. BWV Walk Leader Training Extended Unit 2: Pack Carries

25. Food Food • As a leader, your food will be of interest to other members of your group. You will be seen, especially by beginners, as a source of much wisdom, including about food. • They may not ask you about it though, they may just look. BWV Walk Leader Training Extended Unit 2: Pack Carries

26. Food What you eat, how you prepare it, and how much you share your experience, if not your food, will influence your group members, whether you want it to or not. • While food may not be a critical leadership ingredient, it definitely adds piquancy to the trip. BWV Walk Leader Training Extended Unit 2: Pack Carries

27. Nutrition Nutrition Nutrition may not appear to be a major issue on an overnight trip, but it becomes more critical the longer you are out. Dietitians now know a great deal about nutrition and human performance. We can use this knowledge to assist our food planning. If you are serious about your performance on a trip, you would be choosing to eat foods that give you the best nutritional balance during the weeks before you head off into the bush for the weekend! BWV Walk Leader Training Extended Unit 2: Pack Carries

28. Nutrition We need to consider what the human body needs, both directly for immediate energy and for replacing the stored energy used during periods of vigorous exercise. BWV Walk Leader Training Extended Unit 2: Pack Carries

29. Meeting energy requirements Bushwalking, ski touring and similar outdoor activities require sustained effort of moderate to high intensity over most of a day, with short regular breaks built in. Participants generally are moving not only their own body weight but also a pack filled with equipment and provisions. These demands are generally significantly greater thaneveryday demands. BWV Walk Leader Training Extended Unit 2: Pack Carries

30. Meeting energy requirements Table 27.1 (p 141) gives an approximate guide to daily energy requirements for men and women involved in moderate to very active work over a period of six to eight hours. Most people require some 120 to 170 kJ/kg of body weight per day when some physical activity is undertaken. This guide is adapted from the National Heart Foundation's guide to daily energy requirements, and may be used by bushwalkers on normal trips under Australian conditions (other than snow trips). BWV Walk Leader Training Extended Unit 2: Pack Carries

31. Meeting energy requirements Table 27.1 Guide to typical daily energy requirements in kilojoules. BWV Walk Leader Training Extended Unit 2: Pack Carries

32. Food sources Food sources It is very easy now to buy food for bushwalks from supermarkets and other regular shops. You can offer advice, especially if you’ve tried different foods for yourself. BWV Walk Leader Training Extended Unit 2: Pack Carries

33. Food sources In most urban areas of Australia, food from other cultures can be used to provide varied and interesting foods suitable for the outdoors. • Asian food shops in particular offer wonderful ingredients including dried fish, seafood and seaweed, dried and semi-dried meat, dried and UHT bean curd, interesting sauces and pastes, spices, dried coconut milk, dried vegetables, lovely teas, endless dried pulses, pappadams, breads, interesting rice, and exotic packet soups, stews and desserts. It may be prudent to try unfamiliar items at home first. BWV Walk Leader Training Extended Unit 2: Pack Carries

34. Food sources Specialty walking shops sell freeze-dried and dehydrated meals and snacks too. • ʻScrogginʼis a favourite of many bushwalkers and skitourers – a mixture of nuts and dried fruits with chocolate, jelly babies or other sweets. • http://ourhikingblog.com.au BWV Walk Leader Training Extended Unit 2: Pack Carries

35. Food sources As leader, you may want to encourage others along the way with offerings from your scroggin bag. Lolly snakes especially are fun, even for adults! BWV Walk Leader Training Extended Unit 2: Pack Carries

36. Food sources Here are some of our ideas for leaders. • Advise the number of Breakfast, Lunch and Dinners. • Suggest what sort of food to take and how to prepare it, especially for inexperienced participants. • Offer advice on stoves, and inform everyone of your club policy on campfires. • Consider the need for water treatment, such as filters, tablets. BWV Walk Leader Training Extended Unit 2: Pack Carries