Land Navigation Practice/Exercise

[cmailliard]

I am trying on my own to learn land navigation and it is not real hard but I am having a hard time practicing it. I was looking at the geocaching.com site but it is pretty corny and it seems to be more about finding some obscure object than navigation. I really want to practice with maps and a compass as well as GPS (Foretrex 401)

With this in mind I was seeing if those here would be interested in our own version of geocaching but focusing more on the navigation aspect of it.

Here are my thoughts:


Each navigation exercise should be between 3 and 7 waypoints.
Distance between waypoints should vary to practice different modes of travel, pacing, access, etc.
Each waypoint gives the coordinates to the next waypoint and what to look for.
Each waypoint should be given in at least Lat/Long and MGRS, any others as you wish.
Each waypoint needs to be accessible by anyone at anytime.
Care should be taken to protect info at each waypoint from weather, animals, looky-loo’s, etc.
It is up to each exercise creator to decide whether or not to reward everyone with something at the end point. This is not required and not even part of the exercise, so don’t expect something, however if you are feeling generous and want to leave something, it’s not against the guidelines.
Be creative - When creating an exercise incorporate other survival/preparedness activities at each waypoint. You must tell players what is required for each exercise, be specific or just say bring your bug out bag.
If an error is found or info is missing, report it.
Big boy and girl rules, no douchebaggery.
Any Other Guidelines?

This is also a great way for those looking for some exercise to get out exercise, have some fun, and practice valuable skills.

If this something that some may be interested in, I will go out and create one in the next week or so and will post the info here.

Helpful Links
http://www.tacticalnav.com/ - Great iOS App
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_grid_reference_system - Primer on the MGRS
http://earth-info.nga.mil/GandG/coordsys/images/utm_mgrs_images/utm_basics_20070319.doc - UTM, MGRS, USNG Systems (This is a .doc Download not a website)
http://www.earthpoint.us/Convert.aspx - Convert Lat/Long to MGRS and other systems
http://www.mytopo.com/index.cfm - Purchase custom maps
http://store.usgs.gov/b2c_usgs/usgs/maplocator/(xcm=r3standardpitrex_prd&layout=6_1_61_48&uiarea=2&ctype=areaDetails&carea=%24ROOT)/.do - USGS Free Maps
To use this first navigate to the area you are looking for a map, then select MARK POINTS. The USGS quads will pop up over the map, left click in the area you want and a red maker will appear. Left click on the marker and available maps will appear for you to download for free. They open as a PDF with your can then work with.

[Dave]

Ugh, flashbacks to PLDC for me. If doing map and compass you'll need to know your pace count and get a way of tracking distance. In the Army we used beads on strings, one string had 10 and each denoted 100 meters and the other string denoted kilometers. I'd say to make people learn map and compass before GPS, if SHTF GPS may go down or have access denied for civilian receivers.

[Wulf202]

I did some of these in high school. Id participate if it was kid friendly I.e. not so long of a hike that they start whining.

Also some of the first ones we did were small scale with a list of directions and distances in a park. You turned in your way points and final arrival spot. Bathrooms. Water. Playgrounds and you can't truly get lost

[Irving]

Perfect timing. Just this Tuesday I was trying to get my pace count for 100 yards and ran into some trouble. I measured out the distance and walked it at least 16 times. My step count ranged from 55-62 always increasing, and never the same. What am I doing wrong? I tried to walk as normal as possible. My neighbors think I'm insane now as well after seeing me walk back and forth in front of my house for 20 minutes.

[Wulf202]

Were you counting pace or steps?

[Irving]

Pace, so everytime my right foot hit the ground.

[cstone]

Good memories of the Land/Nav exercise (it was an all out race) during PLDC.

Reading is good - http://armypubs.army.mil/doctrine/21_Series_Collection_1.html

Start with FM 3-25.26

Ranger beads, a decent compass, and lots of practice. Having someone set up a course with lots of points to find will keep you honest and teach you a lot about navigating terrain while trying to be true to your course and distance.

[Irving]

Thanks for the link. My compasses seem great, until I get outside and start trying to look at stuff. I busted out a compass during a recent hike and it seemed like it never settled on the same spot.

[jerrymrc]

Land-Nav was one of those things I for a REMF was good at back in the day. Was still teaching my children (Soldiers) up through 9-11 because a couple of us had set up a course from the Hospital. After that they put up the fence and then 10th group took over the land our course was set on. We used it for EFMB training.

The biggest thing for me to learn was staying straight. I always leaned to the right. Some courses and terrain shooting a back-azimuth was easy but many it was impossible. ft Riley was always easy because of the radio tower but some of the points at Benning were very close together. i still have one good GI compass but the tritium is just about gone.[Flower]

[cmailliard]

Question, since I am learning, if your point is say 1000 meters away but you cannot get to it in a straight line, how do you pace that off? Is it a matter of zig zag in straight lines with know distances to get to your waypoint?

[jerrymrc]

Question, since I am learning, if your point is say 1000 meters away but you cannot get to it in a straight line, how do you pace that off? Is it a matter of zig zag in straight lines with know distances to get to your waypoint?

I always did it in squares. Come to a point. 90 in one,pick your point, pace it, 90 forward, pace it, 90 back and 90 forward. In the worst your downhill in the best your up and once you do it can shoot it back to a point you picked before the jog. Hope I made sense of that.[Flower] I was never a high speed, low drag kind of guy but I learned a lot in PLDC going through with a bunch of 75th guy's. BNOC was worthless for me in my MOS when it came to grunt skillz. [LOL]

[Irving]

Hope I made sense of that.[Flower]

You lost me.

[cstone]

Question, since I am learning, if your point is say 1000 meters away but you cannot get to it in a straight line, how do you pace that off? Is it a matter of zig zag in straight lines with know distances to get to your waypoint?

Break your course down into smaller pieces based on terrain. If it was always straight and level anyone could do it.

If you need to go 1000 m and there is a 500 ft cliff between you and where you need to go, you have to find your route on your map first. Set up intermediate points along your route, estimate distances and bearings, and then pace them off. You should be able to verify your map estimates by matching the waypoints you use on the map with the actual land formations as you check them off. 1000 m as the crow flies often turns out to be a 5k detour around some difficult obstacle. Of course real badasses climb the cliff [LOL]

[cmailliard]

cstone and jerry, thanks.

I may have found a spot for the first exercise. It looks like a park in Longmont may work, I need to go out an walk it as it has some fences and weird roads/paths. There are some terrain features and flat spots to work most aspects of navigation. It looks pretty flat for the most part and is off a major road. Looks like a good easy start.

[jerrymrc]

You lost me.

I am finding out that is not hard.[LOL]

[Irving]

I am finding out that is not hard.[LOL]

My Silva was in the other room when I read your post, so naturally I got lost.

[RonMexico]

Thanks for the link. My compasses seem great, until I get outside and start trying to look at stuff. I busted out a compass during a recent hike and it seemed like it never settled on the same spot.

Did you have a rifle in your hand, by powerlines, close to a vehicle?