Hey all, frequent reader here for a while, but finally have come up with an issue worth posting about!
A friend and I run a couple of ten tors teams, and we're looking for some dayglo rucksack covers to make our kids stand out from the hordes you get on dartmoor near the event, as sometimes it gets a wee bit tricky to figure out which group is yours from a distance, even with binos
The covers probably need to fit the generic "DofE" size rucksack, so around the 65L mark should do the trick. Any one have any suggestions? I can find smaller ones but none that big!
Cheers,
John
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 Or a dayglo fabric patch glued onto a larger rucsac cover?
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Large easily recognisable geometric shape in a day-glo colour sewn/glued onto the existing cover....
Otherwise. you run the risk of several leaders all having the same idea...finding dayglo covers from the same supplier....and then everyone looks the same!
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 Where are your teams from John?
It's a good idea, I like the patch idea too, but I suspect by the end of the training period it will start to look tatty. Larger covers are available.......
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 Don't know if it's any help, but you see a lot of such covers in Switzerland and Germany. If you find a site selling them and it's in German, I can get the key points translated for you.
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.JPG) Why not go for a recognisable flag like a lot of others?
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Would be good if you could get them pre-printed with your group name etc but I guess it would have to be a significant order
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I did think about the "playstation marker" on the cover in dayglo but came to the same conclusion, that it would probably get tatty! I've seen the odd individual with such a cover from a distance, but never a whole team, and at least it cuts down the number you're looking for!
As for the flag thing, I don't believe in giving my kids extra to carry! Plus given the weather sometimes that's not always a player, during the windy months!
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Attatch a Da-Glo cycling vest to their packs. Problem solved. Orange for one kid, green for the other.
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hi John, im also involved in training ten tors teams and this is somthing we have looked at in the past and we have deicded to get some when i find them Strikeforce supplies use to have them however they are not showing them on the website - it may be worth calling jasper at strike force and asking if he has any still in stock RVops stock some DPM ones with a sqaure orange patch on
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 Am I the only one who thinks this isn't a good idea? I did Pen y Fan at the weekend and while it was pretty crowded it didn't feel too bad but there were 2 groups led by instructors with huge dayglow pack covers and they were visible for miles. They really spoilt the view  .
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 The event this is proposed for Badger Boy, starts with training after the first weekend of Feb. There can be up to 4000 kids + support staff involved at this stage. The teams are trimmed down to 400 x 6 kids who then descend on to Okehampton battle camp in may for the event. At the start, in addition to the 2,400 youngsters there with be another 3-4000 mum's dads teachers etc to see them off. The event is the started by the firing of 2 howitzer(sp) guns. There are 2 sea king helicopters working flat out for four days supporting the event along with an army gazelle. About 20 tors are manned up with admin tents / toilets / sleeping areas,while the event takes place. In terms of visual intrusion, a few rucksack covers won't even be noticed (except by those looking for them) 
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Back to the OP though John you have to make sure that the 'heliboard' identity numbers can be attached to the outside of the rucksack. (outside the cover)
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I get your point FB, but what happens next year when 50% of kids are wearing dayglo packs?
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Good point buddy, but let me assure you that it is hard enough to get the teams to carry the minimum standard kit requirements for scrutineering. So a team manager taking further steps for visibility is to be welcomed. It just isn't a problem so I wouldn't break my leg on a stool that is in the way. The OP just wants some covers, so let's not invent problems for what is an excellent idea.
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I'm with you both - BB, yes I know dayglo packs can be a bit of a whatsit in the butt, but given there will be thousands pounding round the tors...with helicopters flying here there and everywhere, not to mention a load of squaddies in lorries, trucks and jeeps....its never going to be a peaceful weekend is it?
FB...I'm still not sure about dayglo pack covers per se. I used to be involved with scouts..management is involved with guides and I have been on a few events with thousands (I think the biggest one had 30,000) kids and have been down the road of all using the same colour teashirt (for this debate read same colour pack cover) and it didnt work as there are only so many suppliers...so inevitably a number of groups had the same idea with the same colour tshirt.
We got over this by using a plain tshirt and then used dayglo fabric paints for the kids to draw on a geometric design as the group symbol - worked a treat.
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BB + SB The event has been running for 50 years next spring. I will have been involved with the event for 25 of those years. 
This is what the OP is talking about + seeing them return. Team managers and support are not allowed to interact with the teams once they are off. As you can see some teams have differing coloured flags / T shirts and yes dayglow rucksack covers. It just isnt a problem - once they are off they are in the hands of the Ten Tors organisation.
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To be honest...I know nothing about the ten tors...apart from what comes up in the news (25,000 kids on brink of death etc etc etc)- I'm just taking the Ops post on face value....and it must be a problem if the OP thinks it is - at least, it is for him....? He feels a need to be able to identify his group in a sea of similarly looking people...so he is looking for a way to be able to say (whilst looking through bins I guess) thats my lot....
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I'm not so much thinking about the actual event to be honest. By the time we get our lots of 6 in we're more than happy they're adequately trained. It's more the practice weekends in the lead up to it, where there's in the dozens of teams practicing and we'd like to be able to tell from a distance exactly where our kids get lost, without the chance of mistaking another group for ours.
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im with John on that, its just so you are able to spot your team heading to/ away from you we train up to 7 teams normally and if they had highvis colours (yellow or orange) then it justs allows us to spot them earlier on obviously if johns team gets some and my 7 teams get them then it wont be an individual thing however if i spot a team with the covers on in the area we are workin in them there is a high chance its ours. if we spot a team in high vis covers going the opposite direction then prior to takin any action we will ring/radio the staff who checked them last, get a time they left and time expected to arrive with us and that way we can see if all our teams are through and its someone elses or if they have gone slightly off course. when we looked into this last year we considered getting them printed up with the units number on the back
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