Minimum Equipment Rules

BSAR NSW encourages participants at NavShield to carry a Personal Locator Beacon (PLB). Specific information about how to register your PLB with AMSA (Australian Maritime Safety Authority) prior to Navshield will be provided in the participant information pack, which will be sent to teams one week before the event. For more information refer to here.

Please ensure that your PLB is a digital 406MHz distress beacon with GPS, and that is it registered with AMSA. Please check your PLB’s expiry date to ensure that it will be valid for the date NavShield is to be held.

Minimum Equipment Rules (Two Day Event)

Please read the minimum equipment rules carefully and ensure that your whole team understands them. Only the Rogaine Division is exempt from these rules.

The safety of all participants is taken seriously. Navshield is a winter activity and it can be extremely cold. Therefore the minimum equipment is mandatory, and it must be carried for the duration of the event. Even if you plan to return to base overnight, the minimum equipment must be carried on both days.

Each participant in the two day event must carry all of the personal gear listed below. Your team must also carry all of the team gear listed below.

During the event Bushrangers will patrol the course, and may ask to inspect some of your equipment to ensure that you and your team are complying with the event rules. Penalties may apply to breaches of the event rules, including a failure to carry the minimum mandatory equipment mentioned below.

Minimum Mandatory Equipment (Two Day Event)

 Personal Gear  Team Gear
  1. Wet weather jacket (high quality outer layer).
  2. Cold weather clothing, example; inner layer consisting of thermal top and underwear, mid-layer consisting of a warm, dry, jacket (fleece or wool), warm head wear.
  3. Compass.
  4. Whistle.
  5. Fire starting equipment (matches, lighter, flint striker, or similar).
  6. Torch.
  7. Pen or pencil.
  8. Emergency thermal (“space”) blanket
  9. Sleeping bag of suitable winter standard; rated for at least -5°C (comfort) or 3-4 season rating.
  10. Food for the duration of the event.
  11. Minimum two litre water bottle (must be full at start of event).
  1. Tent or shelter (minimum tent fly).
  2. Stove and cooking equipment. Note: The self-heating pack in the 24 hour ration pack is acceptable as your cooker.
  3. Two map sets covering the entire event course (Each team member is provided one map set during the event registration).
  4. Adequate first aid kit.

Is this the first time that you have participated in the Navshield two day event?

For those competitors who are new to Navshield we encourage you to look at the recommended gear lists. This list provides some suggestions for personal gear which you might pack for Navshield.

Be conscience of your pack weight. This will help you to enjoy Navshield, and to prevent injuries. You should select your gear carefully to ensure that you meet the Navshield rules, but you should also strive to achieve a suitable pack weight for the activity.

We suggest a maximum pack weight of 15kgs for a winter bushwalk. However, at Navshield you should be able to reduce your pack weight to approximately 12kgs.

Minimum Equipment Rules (One Day Event)

Minimum Mandatory Equipment (One Day Event):

 Personal Gear

 Team Gear
  1. Wet weather jacket (high quality outer layer).
  2. Cold weather clothing, example; inner layer consisting of thermal top and underwear, mid-layer consisting of a warm, dry, jacket (fleece or wool), warm head wear.
  3. Compass.
  4. Whistle.
  5. Torch.
  6. Pen or pencil.
  7. Emergency thermal (“space”) blanket
  8. Food for the duration of the event.
  9. Minimum two litre water bottle (must be full at start of event).
  1. Two map sets covering the entire event course (Each team member is provided one map set during the event registration).
  2. Adequate first aid kit.

Is this the first time that you have participated in the NavShield one day event?

For those who are new to NavShield we recommend that each team member in the one day event prepares a small to medium sized day pack which is suitable for a day walk in winter.

You might plan to finish the one day event before sunset, but sometimes the unexpected can happen and you can be accidently benighted. Therefore we suggest that you think about carrying a space blanket, bivvy bag, or fly sheet during the one day event. A small stove, and some spare food and water, should also be considered.

In the interests of safety, if your team does not expect to finish the one day event on time then we ask that you try to get to a radio check point by the finish time.