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| Bivouac 2011 |
Hi Scouts,
Definition
Bivouac (biv-oo-ak) n. – a temporary camp without tents or other cover. – v. (bivouacked, bivouacking) to camp in a bivouac. (Source The Oxford Dictionary)
A Bivouac shelter is a simple hut, which you can make quickly. (Source Scouting for boys)
During the weekend of 17th Sept, Alan and I took part in our second County Bivouac event, deep in a woodland somewhere in Gloucestershire.
Bivouac is an activity weekend that has been specifically developed for Scouts and Explorer Scouts of Birmingham County who not only wish to achieve the Survival Skills Badge, but to develop their skills further.
Furthermore each applicant is expected to build and sleep in a Bivouac, no matter what happens with the weather – there are no back up facilities!
There are 4 activities to do, taking 4 years to complete in the following order;
1. Bivouac Training Award
2. Bivouac Award – Assessment for Survival Skills Badge
3. Bivouac Junior Leader Award
4. Bivouac Junior Staff (Building a Bivouac is optional)
Alan and I helped out on one of the training sectors with a group of 6 Scouts, who will hopefully move up to assessment next year.
I was also given the role of a sector leader this year which added a little extra pressure to the weekend!
Two of our Scouts and two of our Explorers also took part in the activity.
On the first day the Scouts had demonstrations on the use of a knife, shelter building, survival tin, fire lighting, cooking, gadget making, distress signals and the use of a survival bag.
The Scouts then built their own shelters, made a fire and cooked their meals on them. They slept in their shelters overnight.
The weather was not kind to us at all this year. It rained heavily and on several occasions we were showered with hailstones! Not good when you are trying to keep a fire going for cooking and warmth. This just made the whole weekend more of a challenge and the sense of achievment at the end even greater!
On the second day the Scouts had demonstrations on first aid, tree identification, edible plants, knife care, water collection and purification.
Shortly after 1pm a whistle was blown to inform all the sectors to light their signal fires. I'm sure the one on our sector was the best!
At the end of the weekend the Scouts on our sector all received the coveted ‘Bivouac Training’ badges and our Explorers received their 'Bivouac' awards.
Well done to Jacob B and Matthew U for completing the training and to Tom A and Ryan U for passing the assessment.
We hope to take part in the event again next year.
Yours in Scouting,
Adam & Alan
