The BIG problem with ‘DofE recommended kit’
This is a personal gripe I have with ‘DofE recommended kit’ — and you should too. You’ve probably seen the logo (click here) at shops or online; it represents the unspoken promise that a certain piece of equipment is something you might need for an upcoming expedition. As a quick disclaimer, none of the products in this article are affiliate links.
For those with minimal camping and hiking experience, the DofE ‘stamp of approval’ should make purchasing things easier. Often nowadays, consumers are struck with decision paralysis — the overwhelming feeling of having too many available choices, which reduces one’s ability to make an actual decision. Have you ever been to an ice cream shop and, overwhelmed by the array of choices, find yourself unable to pick a flavour until the person behind the counter forces you to?
This should be the aim of DofE recommended kit: removing the decision paralysis and enabling people to purchase good gear with the confidence it will be just that. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of waterproof jackets you can pick from, and DofE have selected just a few that they feel are the best — the best quality and the best value for money — for a DofE expedition. This is where the ‘DofE recommended kit’ shines.
But there’s a twist. The ‘stamp of approval’ doesn’t just enable people to purchase high quality equipment in confidence, it is a message to prospective customers that this product is beneficial for DofE — and this is where the problem lies.
Take sleeping bags: depending on the month of your expedition, you’ll want a different type of sleeping bag. If your expedition is in the intensity of a summer heatwave — as one of mine was — you’re best off with a summer sleeping bag (shock horror). For an October expedition, you’re going to need a much warmer one — probably a three or even four-season sleeping bag. The issue is, the ‘DofE recommended kit’ doesn’t tell you that.
Yes, if you know that you need a three-season synthetic-insulation sleeping bag for an upcoming expedition, you can filter through the recommended sleeping bags to find one that meets these criteria. But what if you’re just getting started at camping (as we all once were) and don’t know to look out for temperature ratings or insulation type? You may make the reasonable assumption that a ‘DofE recommended kit’ sleeping bag is, well, good for DofE.
They state on their website here that “all DofE Recommended Kit is fit for purpose for a DofE expedition”. I’m sorry to be the one to break the news, but this two-person mosquito net is not fit for a rainy, autumnal expedition in the Chiltern Hills.
On the same webpage, DofE states that their “kit list is a guide” and “you should always check with your Leader that your kit is suitable for your particular expedition”. Hang on, didn’t they just say that all DofE recommended kit is fit for purpose for a DofE expedition?
There is an inherent contradiction: either all the recommended kit is fit for purpose, or simply that’s generally true, hence the “check with your Leader”. The answer is clearly the latter. Not all the ‘DofE recommended kit’ is fit for all expeditions.
You may wonder if ‘DofE recommended kit’ is actually recommended by DofE? Well, yes, it is. DofE has an expedition kit list, which contains all the products that can have a ‘DofE recommended kit’ label applied. In one column they have the item, such as ‘tent’, and in the next column they have the specific items recommended — in this case, these are a range of tents by Vango.
On the DofE expedition kit list there is a section at the bottom for ‘additional optional kit’. This includes the expected seasonal equipment, from neck tubes to sunglasses to the aforementioned mosquito net. In the PDF they make it clear: these items are optional, and those ones aren’t.
But, for the person who stumbles across a product at a retailer like GO Outdoors, there is no concept of ‘additional optional kit’. The mosquito net is just as recommended for DofE as a good waterproof jacket.
At the end of the day, you do not need to spend over £30 on a compass (I'm not joking). In fact, you probably don’t need to buy a compass at all (as most expedition providers will supply you with one).
This begs a final question: how are ‘DofE recommended kit’ products selected? There is a range of criteria that DofE use to select their recommended kit, but it’s important to first mention that DofE makes money from royalties. Described here, DofE explains that “since 2013, the DofE has received £2.5m from royalty payments linked to DofE Recommended Kit purchases.”
I have no problem with this — I, for one, with DofE Hero, make a small commission when you purchase an item via a link on this website. DofE is also a charity. They reinvest the money they generate into “[helping] support more and more young people get involved and complete their Award.” The royalties have altruistic intentions.
But what are the criteria for a product to qualify, royalties aside? This is where it becomes a little… blurrier. DofE states that a product must be “[suitable] for DofE expeditions – all levels, across the UK from March to October.” Our favourite mosquito net certainly doesn’t meet this criterion.
The next requirement is that the product is “lightweight to carry, durable in all weathers, and comfortable if clothing”. The vast majority of recommended products do meet this requirement. The rucksack that I used for all three of my DofE expeditions is a recommended product, and it was perfect. (If you’re interested in which rucksack I used, read my post on how to pack a DofE rucksack.)
Thirdly, the product must be “good value for money — the quality and price of the product is appropriate for a teenager who may or may not continue to use the kit beyond their expedition”. Again, many of the products meet this requirement, but some certainly do not. I don’t know any teenager who’ll happily part with £36 for a compass. Do you?
Overall, this is a complex, multi-faceted problem. The first thing DofE needs to do is make their website clearer. It is misleading to say “all DofE Recommended Kit is fit for purpose for a DofE expedition,” when what they mean is ‘all DofE recommended kit is fit for the purpose of some DofE expeditions’.
They also need to promote the genuinely helpful pages that already exist on making decisions about what gear to buy. I explained earlier why it is unhelpful to label different types of sleeping bag all as ‘recommended kit’, and that it is vital a consumer understands what kind of sleeping bag they want. DofE have this information! This page here answers all the questions you can have on sleeping bags, and more — it just needs to be visible, and integrated into the ‘DofE recommended kit’ ecosystem.
Finally, the angle of what it means to be ‘DofE recommended kit’ has to change . It must switch from the implication that ‘product X is necessary for a DofE expedition because it’s recommended kit’ to ‘if you’re looking for a certain type of product for your DofE expedition, product X is approved by DofE and is a good choice’. This is the end goal. And, um, maybe remove the £30 compass?