The Happymapper is quite right about the Pace thing.
Calibrating one's pace to feet or meters is a technique used in
Orienteering all the time. All distances in Orienteering are given
in true distances (feet, meters, miles etc. rather than in steps or
paces ) According to them, (the orienteer-ers) a pace is indeed
counted when the same foot hits the ground. ie right foot to right
foot. The secret is to measure your pace over a long distance.
For instance, if you take a long tape measure and then measure
100' on the ground and then walk it several times to get an
average this will still not be as accurate as if you had gone
around a track. We tend to not walk normally when we know we
are counting them! Going around a track is a long enough
distance that we tend to fall into our regular rhythm and thus get
a more accurate measurement. I was taught to do this a long
time ago. There was a small group of folks who wanted to start
an orienteering club. They had a lot of great ideas. One of those
was to use a clothespin. Clip it on a bush or tree or whatever
and then give directions to it. 400' @ 210 , 235' @ 90 for
example. This will definitely teach you to pay attention to how you
hold a compass! 1 over 100 feet is a long way off! (BTW this
little game is almost as much fun as letterboxing, seriously!)
In spite of all this, I still count my steps rather than my paces.
My paces do not divide evenly into 100' and the steps do. I also
tend to forget to count when pacing and have to go back and start
all over. This is not such a big deal over 100' but it is a real trial
when working with larger distances. I think you will find that
being able to estimate distances by walking them is a fairly
useful skill. You can become very accurate with only a very little
practice. There are several good books on orienteering and
compass work out there. Seems to me one title was "Be an
expert with map and compass" Kjellstrom. But don't quote me.
Also, be aware that reading about using a compass is deadly
dull, using a compass is exciting and fun!
Ok, so that was probably way more than anyone wanted to
know on the subject. Still, being able to use a compass and
map is a skill that anyone spending a lot of time in wilderness
areas should know. Even more worthwhile is to learn some
aidless navigation. ie telling direction from sun position, stars,
etc.
Enough. sorry to ramble. :-)
Pace count
2 messages in this thread |
Started on 2002-09-07
Pace count
From: healwar (gdavw@mac.com) |
Date: 2002-09-07 04:31:04 UTC
Re: Pace count
From: drewclan11 (drewclan@aol.com) |
Date: 2002-09-07 15:06:50 UTC
> Even more worthwhile is to learn some
> aidless navigation. ie telling direction from sun position, stars,
> etc.
>
While we usually give "steps" (count each footfall) in our clues, we
often forget to use calibration legs that help people gauge how far
our steps are compared to their own. But I love your allusion to the
zen of finding your way in the outdoors. Orienteers in particular
seem to have a knack for flowing with the countryside, kind of like
birds in migration. Plus they have those cool little thumby-compasses.
I had a chance two summers ago to play army at Fort Sam Houston in
Texas and we did some "land navigation" that was a blast. The army is
very rigid about those things, using detailed topo maps and putting
everything into a grid so they don't drop bombs on each other. We had
to navigate, under fire, across several miles of Texas hill country,
eluding opposing forces, to find a helicopter crash site and rescue
the crew. It was letterboxing-like in it's fun factor, and the
camoflauge face paint was just a bonus.
We did the whole army-style compass/grid/pacing thing, but since none
of us were really army and were just play-soldiers, we also used the
sun, wind, and noise from a huge generator a mile away to find our
way. Listening to the noise source move from right to left as we
travelled across the terrain really gave me an appreciation
for "transfering" mentally from the map graphic to the path ahead. We
only got ambushed once, and we were lucky enough to find the helo
crew. They were big guys and carrying them out turned into a
whole 'nother challenge.
Jay (who has pretty short legs so DrewClan "steps" are like 1/3 of
a "pace")
> aidless navigation. ie telling direction from sun position, stars,
> etc.
>
While we usually give "steps" (count each footfall) in our clues, we
often forget to use calibration legs that help people gauge how far
our steps are compared to their own. But I love your allusion to the
zen of finding your way in the outdoors. Orienteers in particular
seem to have a knack for flowing with the countryside, kind of like
birds in migration. Plus they have those cool little thumby-compasses.
I had a chance two summers ago to play army at Fort Sam Houston in
Texas and we did some "land navigation" that was a blast. The army is
very rigid about those things, using detailed topo maps and putting
everything into a grid so they don't drop bombs on each other. We had
to navigate, under fire, across several miles of Texas hill country,
eluding opposing forces, to find a helicopter crash site and rescue
the crew. It was letterboxing-like in it's fun factor, and the
camoflauge face paint was just a bonus.
We did the whole army-style compass/grid/pacing thing, but since none
of us were really army and were just play-soldiers, we also used the
sun, wind, and noise from a huge generator a mile away to find our
way. Listening to the noise source move from right to left as we
travelled across the terrain really gave me an appreciation
for "transfering" mentally from the map graphic to the path ahead. We
only got ambushed once, and we were lucky enough to find the helo
crew. They were big guys and carrying them out turned into a
whole 'nother challenge.
Jay (who has pretty short legs so DrewClan "steps" are like 1/3 of
a "pace")