Land Nav

[6933]

Going to take several navigation and tracking courses this yr. Grew up roaming the outdoors and have spent a large % of my life in the woods. I am at home outside. However, even though having roamed far and wide without using a compass, navigating skills are something that could potentially be life saving. I consider myself a decent tracker but getting professional instruction can only help.

Does anyone have any equipment suggestions?

Suggestions in general?

Courses have been selected, now is the time for gear prep.

[Wake27]

Panteo has a video with Paul Howe on land nav, maybe use that as a starting point? The only real hear you may need is a good lensatic compass ($50 or so on Amazon) and maybe some pace beads. I've only used military maps which require a protractor, but I don't know what civilian maps are like.


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[26 Inf]

Old, old Pathfinder here. My suggestion: https://www.maptools.com/

Back in the day we rolled with huge fricking map cases or laminated map sheets and worked on them with alcohol erasable markers.

Today I can go online and print off what I need, most of the time on a piece of letter paper.

Here is a good site - I'd stay away from the online GTA protractors and get a good one: https://www.maptools.com/

For a compass, you need to know what you are going to be doing. Could be that a bottom end Silva Boy scout compass would be good enough. I had a Suunto M3 - I bought it because I saw it and it looked pretty usable, and it was. Look at their online store.

A clear plate compass is much more usable than a military style lensatic IMO - they almost eliminate the need for a protractor.

[lethal dose]

26, aren't you local to the Carolinas?

[tb-av]

There is a guy on Youtube... I think his name may be Sarge.. I found him very easy to follow. A couple things he went over kinda threw me but it was well worth watching. If I can find a link will post one.

[mack7.62]

This will be a useful skill set come Post GPS era, note to self buy paper maps.

[tb-av]

I can't seem to find that guy I was thinking about. He was a young guy with a northern accent and was trained by .mil but this guy is good too. In fact I think they know each other because the young guy would say check out this guys site for map tools and such.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SP8XG-xQ2zg

[turnburglar]

Id be kinda weary about paying money for multiple land nav courses. There really isn't any secret sauce to using a map/compass/pace count and I feel like a decent youtube video applied to your normal neck of the woods would get you 90% of the way.

[Surf]

I very much think it is important to have these skills and I love to track, more so than doing just pure land nav, but they do go hand in hand.

I won't get too much into the technical aspects as you will learn that in the courses, but for gear I like a couple of different compasses. I have a Brunton TruArc 20 that I have been recently using and I do like a clear base compass that I can overlay on a map, but a lensatic compass will work. I do like the standard USGI Cammenga lensatic compass with tritium. I may use the tritium to set North and be able to quick reference azimuth at night. I also have a couple of the above linked coordinate plotting tools from maptools. 3x5 card and some small string which can be used with the compass or coordinate tool (that should be explained in the course). Topo maps are pretty easy to come by online and quick printable or you can purchase them. Have a simple map keeper set up and have it on a leash (zip lock, doubled corner, duct taped and 550'd will work) . Wear it around your neck or attached to your belt loop and keep it tucked in your shirt. Same with compass, on a leash, in shirt or pocket.

Eye pro that is easily lens switchable from sun glass to clears. Pack that is appropriate sized for the track, or land nav. White light, red light. Good footwear, brimmed hat, sunscreen, bug juice, hydration, basic med kit, powerbars of some sort, good knife. Very important to have pace count beads or similar that are constructed well and most important is to get to know your actual pace count. I can't stress this one enough, learn your pace count. Flat ground, uphill, downhill, rough terrain, at night, fatigued, weighted down, etc... I am sure that I am missing something but this is a good start.

[echo5whiskey]

For tracking, I got a hiking/walking stick and put on two of each of different sized and colored rubber bands for keeping track of different measurements. It was way easier than using a ruler for shoe-size, stride, etc; and it also came in very handy [for stability] if I had to track through rough terrain. I would also recommend a rite-in-the-rain notebook or a short stack of laminated 3x5 cards, attached to each other, for tread sketching and general note-taking (and some alcohol pens if you go that route).

For both types of course, (probably a no-brainer, but speaking from experience...) make sure you have comfortable shoes/boots that can handle the terrain.

[joshrunkle35]

Courses are more important than gear. I'd recommend starting with a course that covers all of the gear. Meaning: unless you know the differences in compasses already, how to find a 90 degree azimuth to go around objects on a map, what your tally step is or anything like that, you have no business wasting money on a feel good class that's going to take you out in the woods at night at teach you how to find Polaris. You really need to sit through some low level land nav classes that will be death by PowerPoint but are really crucial before you spend any time doing any actual navigating. And, any class that teaches the fundamentals is going to teach you why/how the different compass types work and why you should select one over another. Or, maybe the course has a required gear list. Or, they provide those for students. Or, you're taking something out of your league.

[tb-av]

Here's the guy I was thinking of. He's got quite a few vids and starts at the very basics.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axaO9602lvA&list=PLE7A600312A481216