Explorers Survival Skills Activity Badge
Explorers Survival Skills Activity Badge
If you’re ready to test your resilience, learn essential survival skills, and take on the challenge of thriving in the wild, then then try the Explorers’ Survival Skills badge!
Complete three activities. You could:
Discover - Research and demonstrate different methods of building and lighting fires in outdoor environments, including their advantages and risks.
Compare techniques used in survival situations, explore fire safety protocols, and investigate how fire regulations vary across locations and land types.
Experience - Take part in a survival camp or outdoor challenge where you build your own shelter, cook over fire, and carry essential gear.
Focus on using minimal equipment and adapting to changing conditions like weather, terrain, or limited resources.
Mobilise - Connect with organisations that help people prepare for or respond to emergencies, such as search and rescue, fire services, or humanitarian charities and find some way to support them.
Volunteer, fundraise, or help raise awareness about local risks and how people can stay safe.
Solve -Act out a realistic survival situation, such as getting lost while hiking or being stranded after a storm, demonstrate how you’d respond.
Use only the equipment you’d normally carry and include navigation, first aid, shelter, and emergency communication.
Create - Research and build a survival kit tailored to a particular environment or emergency, such as a winter storm, wildfire, or remote expedition.
Present your kit as a poster, video, or digital guide, explaining your choices and how each item could be used.
Tips
- Remember to think broadly and link it to something that already interests you.
- You could adapt the requirements to focus on one or more specific survival skill. You may also decide to lean towards traditional survival skills, or modern day ones, rather than completing a mix of both.
- Think about your own capabilities and how you can manage it alongside work/school.
- To get the badge, you can either try some of our example activities, or come up with your own with support from a Scouts volunteer or trusted adult. The activities should be challenging for you and take a reasonable amount of time.
You can offer flexibility in the activities and encourage Explorers to choose activities that reflect their interests and skill set.
We’d recommend an Activity Badge should be achievable within 3 weeks of starting the activities.
- When taking part in adventurous activities, remember to let someone know:
- Where you’re going.
- Who you’re with.
- What time you plan to be finished.
- A plan for communicating your progress.
- Ask for help if you're visiting new places or trying new activities.
- Make sure you know what kit you need, that it is in good condition, and you know how to use it effectively.
- Take note of and apply the top safety tips from the Guidance for Food Safety webpage to keep yourself and others safe in various kitchen settings, including when using different stoves or cooking at campsites.
- Be mindful of food allergies and intolerances by always checking ingredient labels and avoiding cross-contamination. Use separate utensils and preparation areas for allergen-free meals to keep everyone safe.
- If cooking together in groups, assign someone the role of reminding everyone about key safety practices and supporting those who are cooking.
- Do make sure that any external provider you use, do follows The Scouts' requirements by checking the Externally Led Activity guidance.
- When taking part in adventurous activities, remember to let someone know:
- All activities for this badge must be safely managed and locally approved.
- Support Explorers to review and understand the Externally Led Activity guidance, that external providers can follow The Scouts requirements.
- Volunteers must have completed a thorough risk assessment and make sure it is shared. Use the safety checklist and activity guidance to help you plan and risk assess the activity.
- Support Explorers to review and understand the Externally Led Activity guidance, that external providers can follow The Scouts requirements.
- Use the safety checklist to help plan and risk assess the activity.
Badges will be available to purchase from Scout Store later in September, please check back for updates.
July 2026.
Requirements can be adapted to suit each young persons abilities. See our guidance on flexibility.