If you're going through forested area, use compass to keep going in the same direction - avoid going in circles
When you occasionally get to a place you can actually see around, find a destination, see what angle it is on compass, then keep going in that direction as you go through forested area where you can no longer see the destination
Nav Work 103 - Pacing, Obstacles, and Nav-Nerds
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retired jerry
- Posts: 14424
- Joined: May 28th, 2008, 10:03 pm
Re: Nav Work 103 - Pacing, Obstacles, and Nav-Nerds
Yes, I must make one of these. My brother-in-law learned some good nav skills in the military, and I he's used these before on our off-trail hikes.Lurch wrote:These are also know as Ranger Beads... Essentially this is your trail abacus.
Re: Nav Work 103 - Pacing, Obstacles, and Nav-Nerds
I kind of agree Raven. You should regularly be able to get within a couple degrees, and like I said before 1° at a distance of 1 mile is about 90' off target.
While there is unavoidable error on multiple levels of the system, either from compass calibration, to map errors, or simple technique errors. With this grade of equipment you can't rely on perfect accuracy, but you should attempt it. It's undoubtedly more logical to take a super basic approach to things, which is why I was talking about using broad handrails as containment, not rely on hitting a specific target. If you use your compass as accurately as possible, you're going to be as accurate as possible. Even with the inherent fudgery in the system, much like guns, they're probably going to be far more accurate than the average user, and most cause for a "miss" is through operator error on some level. If you go into it thinking you're going to miss, you've already missed.
While there is unavoidable error on multiple levels of the system, either from compass calibration, to map errors, or simple technique errors. With this grade of equipment you can't rely on perfect accuracy, but you should attempt it. It's undoubtedly more logical to take a super basic approach to things, which is why I was talking about using broad handrails as containment, not rely on hitting a specific target. If you use your compass as accurately as possible, you're going to be as accurate as possible. Even with the inherent fudgery in the system, much like guns, they're probably going to be far more accurate than the average user, and most cause for a "miss" is through operator error on some level. If you go into it thinking you're going to miss, you've already missed.