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Measuring Distance
When navigating, we can use a number of simple techniques to help us to estimate how far we have travelled, or how long it will take us to get to our next location. Two commonly used techniques are pacing and timing.
Pacing.
We all generally take a consistent number of 'double paces' to cover 100 metres. Obviously this number of double paces will change as we go uphill or move over broken ground. Most adults take somewhere between 60 and 70 double paces for every 100 metres travelled on 'normal' hillwalking terrain.
To work out your pacing, find an area where it is easy to measure an exact distance over the type of terrain that you will be walking over. This could be a measured distance, (using the romer on your compass) preferably 400 or 500 metres long, between two stream junctions, or along the edge of a forest, for example. Walk the distance at your normal pace, with your day pack on and count the number of double paces that you take. Use this figure to then work out how many paces you took for 100 metres. In order to be accurate, you should learn 'your pace' over a variety of terrain types, on different gradients.
Pacing is generally pretty accurate over relatively short distances.
Timing
We all generally walk at a pretty consistent speed (usually between 3 - 6 kilometres per hour). This means that we will generally take between 10 and 20 minutes to walk a kilometre over flat terrain. For example, if we walk at 4 kilometres per hour, we will walk 4 kilometres in one hour, 1 kilometre in 15 minutes and 100 metres in 1.5 minutes. The simple table below can help us to calculate how long it will take to cover a range of distances:
Distance
Travelled |
Speed of
6 kmh |
Speed of
5 kmh |
Speed of
4kmh |
Speed of
3kmh |
| 100m |
1 min |
1.2 min |
1.5 min |
2 min |
| 200m |
2 min |
2.4 min |
3 min |
4 min |
| 300m |
3 min |
3.6 min |
4.5 min |
6 min |
| 400m |
4 min |
4.8 min |
6 min |
8 min |
| 500m |
5 min |
6 min |
7.5 min |
10 min |
| 600m |
6 min |
7.2 min |
9 min |
12 min |
| 700m |
7 min |
8.4 min |
10.5 min |
14 min |
| 800m |
8 min |
9.6 min |
12 min |
16 min |
| 900m |
9 min |
10.8 min |
13.5 min |
18 min |
| 1 km |
10 min |
12 min |
15 min |
20 min |
When we walk up hill, we generally slow down! To compensate for this, we can add time onto our estimate of the journey time. On most slopes, we can add 1 minute to our journey time, for every 10 metres of height gain. On very steep slopes, it may be more appropriate to add 1.5 mins per 10 metres of height gain or on lesser gradiesnt, we may only add 1/2 a minute for each 10 metres of height gain. This formula is generally known as Naismith's Rule. As with pacing, the more were practice and the more experience we gain, the more accurate we get at measuring distance.
Timing is generally more accurate over longer distances. |
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Tel: 028 4372 2158 Fax: 028 4372 6155
Email: info@tollymoremc.com |
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