RAF Basic Training - My Personal Kit List, What I Am Taking + Polishing Tips. 

WHAT I HAVE ADDED TO MY LIST SINCE MAKING THIS VIDEO (MIGHT ADD MORE AS TIME GOES ON): 1. Steam Generating Iron 2. First Aid Kit (Bandages, Plasters etc) 3. Walking Shoes (I had a decent pair of Sketchers from my job which cost like £140 brand new but will be taking them for long walks if we do them) 4. Washing Bag 5. Water Bottle 6. Box of Pens 6. Note Books

For anyone watching. I've recently finished basics. I'd recommend a double edged safety razor. Much easier to clean which is a pass/fail point during inspections. Don't bother with aftershave, some deodorant will be just fine. Personally I prefer shaving foam (not gel) just makes life a bit quicker in the mornings. You can't wear jewelry unless its required by your religion, so a cross isn't allowed. Headphones are a must, feels like a way to escape and have some privacy. With polishing stuff, youll need horse-hair brushes, not debatable, get horse-hair. Cherry isn't a great brand, Saphir may cost more but its worth it for the hassle. Youll probably only need 100ml total of black polish, and 150ml total of brown/dark tan. For inspections you can use black polish on the bottom of your shoes the night before to make them look cleaner and more consistent all over. You will NEED fabric softener, the blue shirts you are issued are hard as rock, by the time you get to the stage where you're wearing them youll want them soft, I'd recommend washing them lots as well as a soak in the wash basin in 1/5 softener, 4/5 hot water for about an hour, then just hand wash it out, then tumble dry and repeat. You don't need a water filter but a spray bottle can be a big hand to get out some pesky creases. You can take your laptop or not, won't make a massive difference. I didn't use mine much but some people spent evenings near the end/weekends falling asleep while watching Netflix on theirs, one guy even brought a small tv and his xbox that he would use on weekends. Any other questions anyone has, just ask and I'll do my best to answer them.

My son is currently at basic training. We invested in a decent ironing board with a good height as you will be spending a lot of time ironing. Like the lady has already said, it’s also worth investing in a decent iron/steam generator iron. A water spray bottle is also useful. The water at Halton is hard, so a water filter/descaler for your iron also necessary. Some extras we put in that he has used (based on advice) were: Vitamins, lip balm, paracetamol and ibuprofen plus plenty of plasters, brasso, cleaning cloths and sniper tape too. We also put everything in plastic storage boxes (one for shoe/boot cleaning stuff, etc) to help with his organisation acleaning inside his lockers. You’ll go through loads of polish 😬. Best of luck when you get to Basic, it’s a tough gig but very rewarding 😊

Hello mate, along with the card I’d recommend to take some pics of your family to stick up in ur locker, really good for inspections also. Definitely get another set of brushes for your boots/shoes, don’t mix and match black/tan polish on your brushes. Get another really hard shoe brush for brushing mud off your boots, you’ll be expected to shower, clean and polish your boots and get dressed in minus 5 minutes, enjoy! Haha good luck.

Look at this upgrade 😂 love it mate, keep up the good work!

Glad to see got a lot of same items aha would recommend building a nice first aid kit for yourself as I’m doing with things like Vaseline vapour rub tiger balm and other things to keep you well incase u get under the weather Abit and feeling rough you don’t need to go to med centre u can help yourself out Abit things for recovery too for after exercise will be nice just so u don’t feel it too rough you can sort yourself also get plenty of blister plasters they will be life savers once again great video look forward to seeing you at Halton 🙏

Thanks for this video mate. Im far from this stage only applied the other day just getting the tasks done on the portal thing. Just need to register with a doctors as I haven’t been for 4 years.. lol

Hey man. Noticed your videos ages ago when joining myself couple of months ago. Currently in basic myself:) I hope your RAF journey goes well.

Goodluck mate i just finished phase 1 and got phase 2 end of april bro goodluck

The best polish for bulling shoes/boots is Saphir - Pate de Luxe. Way better than Kiwi ever was. Good luck on your journey

My late mother took the pleasure of sorting my kit out as she'd served 4 years from 1957. That was in 1987 when I was Swinderby bound. I served 12 years. Good luck lad.

A steam generator iron are great! My son took one and it was a lifesaver for him. Loads of his flight borrowed it to do their ironing.

Good luck brotha, I also go to cadets and my CWO was telling me a few tips that you shouldn’t tell that you’re a cadet or the corporals will overuse you, and she was saying how I shouldn’t be too perfect despite having cadet experience so I’ll keep that in mind.

Get a pair of issue boots before you join and walk and run in them to break them in getting your legs use to the extra weight use Vaseline between your toes and heels and talc your feet after washing and run in woollen socks as opposed to nylon

i have the same intake date as you!!

You can use flip flops, crocs, sliders whatever really they don't care about them

Im currently applying to the RAF and was wondering how long does it take until you start basic training at halton after you have passed your fitness test? Also how often do they run basic training at halton? Thanks

Hi mate, please I have applied to join the royal airforce last month.. what should I be expecting and how long does it take to begin the whole process. I got a call from the royal airforce confirming my application few days after I applied. Thanks mate

Do u get paid for basic training at Halton?

What is your intake? I’m on Douglas and hopefully graduate next week.

Can you bring a laptop/ would you even have time to use it?

Hey Mate what role did you go for?

Off to crab air? You forgot the vaseline 😅😅😅

you won’t need baby powder until cpt

Crack girl guides/boy scouts then you will crack this easily.

My son is currently at basic training. We invested in a decent ironing board with a good height as you will be spending a lot of time ironing. Like the lady has already said, it’s also worth investing in a decent iron/steam generator iron. A water spray bottle is also useful. The water at Halton is hard, so a water filter/descaler for your iron also necessary. Some extras we put in that he has used (based on advice) were: Vitamins, lip balm, paracetamol and ibuprofen plus plenty of plasters, brasso, cleaning cloths and sniper tape too. You’ll go through loads of polish 😬. Best of luck when you get to Basic, it’s a tough gig but very rewarding 😊