Scout Survival Skills Activity Badge (Victorinox)

Scout Survival Skills Activity Badge (Victorinox)

The Survival Skills badge is the ultimate challenge activity - giving you the skills to be self-reliant in tough conditions. Take on this badge and practice the skills to survive in the wild.

Together Victorinox and The Scout Association share a commitment to ensure that young people have the information and guidance available to be able to use, maintain and care for a Swiss Army Knife, ensuring all Scouts will have the opportunity to learn responsible ownership of this outdoors kit. Victorinox are thrilled to partner the Scout Survival Skills badge, supporting a range of activities to help leaders deliver this area of the programme safely and inspire every Scout to develop their outdoor survival skills

How to earn the badge:

1. Show that you know:

• basic knife or multi-tool skills, including safety, sharpening and maintenance
• first aid treatment you may need to use while on a survival event, considering you may have limited resources available
• how to construct different kinds of shelter
• how to build a fire and use basic lighting techniques. You should not use man-made materials such as paper or firelighters.
• how to maintain hygiene in a survival situation
• the correct use of international distress signals, using a whistle, torch, mirror or markers
• some basic actions to take while waiting rescue that will both keep you (and your group) safe and will assist your rescuers in locating you

2. Put together a personal survival kit.

• for requirement 2 the young people could find other ways to demonstrate their survival kit. It could be a list, pictures cut from magazines, or a digital recreation of their survival kit.

3. With a group of at least three Scouts, take part in a survival exercise.  The group should:

• construct a shelter of natural or salvaged materials and sleep in it
• prepare a meal using raw ingredients that could have been found or caught
• cook all meals over an open fire
• cook without utensils, although you may use a knife.

! For number 3, wild mountainous country is not suitable. The nights away scheme rules must be followed.

When working with knives is is recommended to work in small manageable groups of 3-4 scouts to one leader. 

Snaring legislation is dependent on National location, so please ensure you know the relevant laws, best practices and required tags/registrations. Where you are not familiar with snaring practices it may be better to have an expert run this activity with your section. As with all Scouting activities, a thorough risk assessment should take place before carrying out the activity. Further information can be found  here and additional information is available for those in Scotland.