Camp Blankets
It is tradition for every young person to have their own camp blanket, which is usually started after going on camp for the first time.
The blanket is worn around the camp fire to keep warm and is then used as a normal blanket at night over or under a sleeping bag. A camp blanket is usually dark in colour and woollen.
A camp blanket serves two purposes:
- They are great for keeping warm at camp.
- They are a great place to sew on all those badges that don’t belong on current uniform. This includes badges from previous sections, occasional badges, replaced staged badges and souvenir badges.
The number one rule of camp blankets… THERE ARE NO RULES! Unlike uniform, they can have whatever they like on their camp blanket – they don’t even need to be Scouting badges. Some have badges from holidays, days out, sporting activities. The National Trust and Theme Park badges are popular. Over time, blankets become very unique to the owner and are a great talking point for reflecting on all the adventures!
Where do I buy a camp blanket?
Blankets do not neccessarily need to be purchased from the Scout Store. Any dark coloured, natural fibre, blanket will be fine.
Scout Store options:
Scout Store Traditional Camp Blanket
Scout Store Poncho Camp Blanket
Fleece blankets are lighter and cheaper to buy, they are also far more likely to melt with sparks from the fire than traditional wool or cotton blankets and have the potential to catch fire if your child gets too close to the fire. They are also more likely to lose their shape when lots of badges are sewn on!
We’d love to see your camp blankets!
Please send Akela photos of your camp blankets so that we can add them to the gallery below.
