PREPARE YOURSELF

#route planning….what’s your strategy? Going on a day, multi-day or expedition there’s homework to be done! #weather reports, route cards, gleening local knowledge and a whole lot of #research will mean you’ve adhered to the 7P’s and all your clothing and equipment can be selected accordingly

The 7 p’s stands for Prior, Preparation and Planning, Prevents, Piss, Poor, Performance.  We’re going to talk about a few things you can do before you go on any expeditions.

Getting in to shape– in any survival situation you are likely to be at your best, both physically and mentally, in the moments before the situation occurs. From that point on, through lack of sleep, food and water, your situation will deteriorate until your rescue. Being in a good physical condition will help you overcome the challenges you’ll face in a survival situation. The benefits to exercising include strength gains, mental alertness and stamina – all great attributes to have in a survival situation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Emergency Plan of Action- is exactly as it sounds. If the worst was to happen to you, someone could look at your EPA (emergency plan of action) and give the information to the rescue services which will massively decrease the search time for you. Below is an example of an EPA which would suffice.

 

 

 

 

EMERGENCY PLAN OF ACTION FORM
Full name as appears on passport:

Bob Stuart

 Date of birth:

27/09/83

 Height: 5,8

Weight 14 stone (93kg)

Hair colour: Brown
Passport  number: xxxxxx

Expires: 12/03/16

 Driving licence number:xxxxxxx

Expires:16/4/16
Distinguishing marks(scars,tattoos): Tribal tattoo left arm Languages spoken

English- native
Medication– anti-malaria tablets

Allergies: N/A

 Swimmer: Strong swimmer

Outdoor skills/experience

Military experience working in all kinds of environments.
Next of Kin 1: Mother

Janet stuart

27 fog close

Moray Iv30 9PO

 Next of kin 2: Sister

Lisa stuart

36 robert drive

Moray IV30 8DS
Tel: 07xxxxxxxxx Tel: 07xxxxxxxxx
Trip details:

Campsite 1 – Grid 1234,5678

Campsite 2 – Grid 1234,5678

Vehicle; Landrover 1 – Black reg- ab1265

Group – Myself, Robert black

Day 1- Park Landrover 1 at campsite 1 and walk to campsite 2 following route card on reverse side.

Day 2- Leave campsite 2 and head back to landrover 1 following same route as day 1.

Foreseeable problems:

Day 1-  None

Day2- None
Communication plan:

Will phone my mum before we leave campsite 1 and will try phone her again half way through the route if I can get signal, If I can’t I have told her not to worry.

Will phone again when we reach campsite 2, should reach campsite 2 NLT 2100. I have phoned campsite 2 and they have told me that mobile service is strong on the site.
My Mob- 07xxxxxxx

Robert-07xxxxxxx                                                                                         Date 14 Jan 16

Campsite 1- 01xxxxxxx

Campsite 2- 01 xxxxxxx


ROUTE CARD

As mentioned above, a route card can also be made to go hand in hand with your EPA. A route card is a piece of paper usually laminated with all your grid references, bearings, back bearings, distances, timings and description of the route you are planning to take during your trip. You want to make at least two copies of this and leave one with a family member along with your EPA, as this will massively increase your chance of rescue if you do get into a spot of bother on your travels. See below for an example.

Leg From Grid To Grid Grid bearing Mag Bearing Back Bearing Distance Timings
1 145770 146761 3090 mils 3176 mils 6376 mils 800m 12min
2 146761 140756 4050 mils 4126 mils 0926 mils 700m 16min
3 140756 148750 2400 mils 2476 mils 5676 mils 1000m 14min
4 148750 154739 2625 mils 2701 mils 5901 mils 1400m 10min
5 154739 172736 1760 mils 1836 mils 5036 mils 1750m 5min
6 172736 176726 2800 mils 2876 mils 6076 mils 1000m 8min
7 176736 177722 2880 mils 2956 mils 6156 mils 525m 25min
8 177722 176714 3355 mils 3436 mils 0236 mils 800m 6min
9 176714 170710 4150 mils 4226 mils 1026 mils 675m 18min
10 170710 167713 5450 mils 5526 mils 2326 mils 500m 7min
11 167713 147717 4950 mils 5026 mils 0826 mils 2300m 23min
12 147717 147724 0030 mils 0106 mils 3306 mils 900m 14min
13 147724 146732 6250 mils 6326 mils 3126 mils 800m 15min
14 146732 148750 0090 mils 0166 mils 3366 mils 1900m 13min
15 148750 140756 5550 mils 5626 mils 2426 mils 1000m 26min
16 140756 146761 0850 mils 0926 mils 4126 mils 700m 28min
17 146761 145770 6290 mils 6366 mils 3166 mils 800m 15min

 

You can also write a description of each leg to remind yourself of what you should see so that you don’t have to constantly get your map out.