John, my wife and I are in the hospital. She is in labor with our first baby! We love your channel and I couldn’t help but check out todays video while I wait. Thanks! Update: 48 hours in labor, momma is feeling it. Please send good vibes and prayers our way. God bless! Update: baby girl Nevaeh, born 4:45am June 13th via c-section. Thank you everyone for the support and prayers!
I'm glad John posted a video like this. When I was younger I got lost in a National Forest and had it not been for being tracked down by a Forest Ranger it could have turned into a series survival situation. I told my self I'll never be caught in a situation like that again without knowing how to navigate and survive. Now I'm a big survival nerd and I'm looking into Game and Parks for a career. To make a long story extremely long, awesome video John.
@diomedes39 Surprisingly no, gosh that was 4 years ago and it is weird looking back and thinking on the ambitions, hopes, and dreams I had. I have almost finished a bachelor's degree in Criminal Justice and I am working to get onto a S.W.A.T. team. That is the current plan, due to the disgusting world we currently live in. Thank you for the memories, man.
Yay for that! Yay for that! Yay for that! Yay for that! Yay for that! Yay for that! Yay for that! Yay for that! Yay for that! Yay for that! Yay for that! Yay for that! Yay for that! Yay for that! Yay for that! Yay for that!
As we teach in the Virginia search and rescue program, map and compass are your primary source of navigation, GPS is secondary. And, as GPS is always subject to failure, a map with a hole in it is still a map. A GPS with a hole in it is a paperweight to hold down your map. Good video, John.
Thank you so much for what you do. Especially appreciate that you don’t curse, so my wife and children can watch along without fearing F-bombs coming out of your mouth. God bless you and your family my brother.
Don’t worry about buying stuff. Pen and paper. Start making a list as you go out you will find what you really need. Tips: 1)good boots/shoes that are well worn in. Don’t go hunting in brand new boots! 2) Have a plan for cooling the meat down as soon as possible and how to get it back to camp/town. 3. Don’t take as much stuff as you think you need. Light is good when you are on your feet all day. 4. Get in shape. Walk, run, climb before you go. Elk love to hang out in rugged terrain and it will kick your butt. Good luck.
@@matthewcrawford4216 thanks man! Yeah I've gotten most of that covered, but I had just thought learning to read and comprehend mapping would be a useful skill for hunting, basically so I'm not looking at the guide or guides like they're speaking in tongues
Absolutely essential skill. Glad you're covering this, it's becoming a lost art in the age of GPS and digital navigation. The ability to read a map and find your way can save lives, I've seen it first hand.
Got a good lauth. Lieutenants and land navigation. As a retired. Senior NCO your comment about 2nd LTs still being lost brought back a flood of funny "war" stories.
"As a 2nd Lt., it doesn't matter how many......you have, you're still going to get lost..." Loved this quote. You described me perfectly way back when - that was me to a T. Great video, John...thanks!
Funny, I recently started looking into land navigation again, refreshing something that I learned over 40 years ago in the Scouts. Haven’t really used it much over the years, but thought it a good idea to become reacquainted with the skill... Thanks for the video!
I LOVE land nav......soooooo easy..... stars, sunrise/set directions, compass, the awesome maps that read like a book, easy for me, landmarks, terrain features.... more...... land nav is easy, fun, awesome........
@Christopher C. Same here. I’m a Life Scout right now and am about to start my Eagle project soon. Over the years (11 including Cub Scout) I got pretty good with a map and compass. I was supposed to go to Philmont this summer but our trip was canceled. I would have been our starting navigator. 😢
Me: google knows too much about me and my whereabouts John: I use google maps, it’s the best and I love it Me: I use google maps, it’s the best and I love it
"Inside my head is like a bag of stray cats". Love it. Thanks. Night land nav is interesting. Knowing constellations, where they are, or are not depending on the season, in the sky, and where you are on the planet can be helpful if you do a lot of this stuff.
Nice tune up John. 28 years ago when I wrapped it up as a 11C30, those tools would have been nice. Doubt they’d have been allowed on the EIB course though... Hope you continue this series. It’s amazing how much you forget when the skills aren’t used regularly.
It always amazes me how many people don't know whether the next town is north, south east or west of there own home. Just LOOKING at a map once in a while is helpful.
John is good. No doubt about it. But, I can tell time, temp, altitude, weather, direction, moon phase, and much more... just by looking at the sun, moon, stars, and such. No, not at the same time. Now if it's stormy, I gotta wait till it clears up but, there ya go. John, keep'em coming. Love'em all.
Yes, bring it! As a Boy Scout leader, I teach land navigation (we call it "Orienteering") as an important Scout skill. I am always looking to improve my own abilities, so that I can pass that knowledge on to my Scouts. As with everything I teach them, I don't want them to be good at it, I want them to be exceptional! So, again, with an enthusiastic thumbs up I say, "Bring it on, sir!"
John you should be a salesman.Knowledge is better than all that gear.In land-nav we learned how to use all that stuff and we learned to navigate without any of it.Anyway a good vid.
As a land navigation total beginner, this is helpful. I appreciate your explanation of the different kinds and qualities of compasses, and how to use one for finding an azimuth, etc.
After 29 years of service, I can look back, thank the Lord that I had amazing NCOs to serve with! Many fellow INF O’s did not, and they suffered dearly for that! Love y’all’s work! “Keep Up the Fire”
Just like shooting land navigation is a perishable skill that takes practice. I havent done a land nav course in 4 years since I ets'd and it's time to brush up. Good video!
When active, I used to assist teaching land nav to fellow grunts, civilians, municipalities, etc. It was always the 2nd LT we had to SAR. I loved teaching the course and still have the maps (and protractor! ) I used back then... I'm old school, but wanting to learn the ways of the GPS nav. Guess I'll be investing in garmin~ and John, I'll even send you my back up protractor 🤣
Thank you for sharing! I started doing search and rescue before covid-19 hit and shut every thing down. Training still hasn’t opened back up yet, so I’ve been reading a lot of land nav and tracking material. This video covered the first 3 chapters of one of my books lol.
John, I love land nav and still have my pace count beads. Warrior Poet is one of the channels i always goto. you can change any topographical maps that read Lat/Long can be turned into a MGRS map. Just look for the blue hash marks on the edges of the map and connect the marks. I can't believe a retired Navy guy had to teach you that
I've used my Garmin instinct for about a year and I love it! There's a great book by Bjorn Kjellstrom, Be Expert with Map and Compass, The complete orienteering handbook.
Just seeing this. Good refresh. But, all I could think after you picked up the laminator was what was preached in Marine Corps TBS - “Laminate it. Take it to the field. It’ll save your life some day!” Even my wife uses the phrase still today - 25 yrs later.
Yeah, I'm going to go ahead and sell my truck so I can spend a couple weeks with you John. Wanting to do Pistol 1 & 2 & 3, Rifle 1 & 2, 1 man clearing, Long Distance Patrol, Map Class... just everything. Really going to need that map class since I'm selling my truck.
Hey John, good video only one small oversight, guys do not forget a notebook and pencil. Rite in the rain or any other it don't matter just make sure you have one. Map markers will work in a pinch but Murphy will jump up and bite ya at the worst time. Stay safe, hooah!!
I never get lost. I always know where I am. I'm here! I might not know how I got here. Or how I'm getting out of here but I always know where I am. I'm always here!!!
We print our maps onto waterproof paper, no lamination needed. However, love the idea of being able to erase after marking up map. Going to have to see how well erasing works on wp paper. Love my Suunto X6 watch, alarm never worked, but has done me well for over 15 years.
A bag of stray cats 😂! I heard about this video on T. Rex arms, btw, fantastic! Thanks WPS! Give us more please. Especially on the communication and moving part. Like how to get groups of people into certain positions. Excellent.
wearing a watch and just paying attention can do a lot if you can’t get ahold of the nicer stuff. for example, if it’s 6:00 PM you can look at the sun and tell roughly which way is west, it’s not perfect but it’s saved me a few times.
This is very useful. I havent done land nav in 3 years and really wish i wasnt so tired during training. Because of that, my land nav skills are DECENT at best. Id love a refresher because i know i can be great at it
I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS!!!! Edit: Now that I've actually watched it... This is a great Land Nav resource(gear) video for various practical styles of LandNav.
This was great, for an intor to the tools. Now, how about an intro to actually using these tools so we all, are not as lost as a Second Lieutenant? Lol.
I love my Garmin Felix 6. Bought it to thru hike the Appalachian trail.i also have the 64st also. I am watching this video to see if I want to use it for training for my top volunteers for finding 2 missing hikers in Washington and Also would love to see the series. Triangulation with a brunton or similar flip style compass is very easy to do after you get the hang of it without the added weight of the range finder. I was down in Georgia twice this year and to be honest triangulation (I didn't actually attempt it) seems like an impossibility in alot of the terrain because of the massive amount of trees. Here out west its got to be way easier. Love the show.
great video John. I remember all of the land navigation rules. I hope that you are planning on teaching orienteering as well. Flat landers don"t have a lot of terrain features other than swamps.
That compass with tritium -- sure was a great feeling having a radioactive emitting substance right up against my body all the time (and very close to my package no less)! We never seemed to have enough supply of the MGRS protractors -- I think I had to use the same on for nearly 10 years. Mech units sure ate up those Staedtler markers for map overlays; it was like the end of the world if we didn't have them.
@@tylerdurden4080 It isn't so much the quantity it is more of a psychological factor. Tritium is a low-energy beta ray emitter and it only takes a few mm of metal to absorb it.
Would definitely love to here some more on land nav. I ship Feb 8th to basic and that’s the one thing that makes me nervous. You can yell at me and have me run and ruck all day in the rain, but put a map in front of me a might cry… lol
Your watch is the Garmin instinct tactical. I’ve been researching watches for the last 4 weeks. Your watch is actually the same one I settled on. Garmin makes a more expensive model with color maps and such but it’s north of $700.00 bucks. The instinct tactical is around $200.00. Great watch. Can’t wait till mine gets here. Love the content WPS. Plan on signing up for WPSN this weekend. ❤️
of all the military skills i learned in my 20 plus years in land nav was by far, for me, the most difficult to master. in fact it took me 4 recycles to get through sfqc. wait, John there are good 2lts? really when did that happen? now I still practice on a monthly basis at least once a weekend. yes an excuse to go out camping...lol don't tell my better half. I still use my Silva, am on my 3rd one in 30 years. great vid John. always good to review basics as I have just done again. thanks bro.
Yah for that! I haven't done much of the land navigation stuff since I retired from the military but I'm going to be doing more this year as I'm going to be looking for some new hunting areas thanks for the video
Brought me back a few years ago to some Boy Scout trips, we were bushwacking and our adult leaders thought we were off course, so we changed course, turned out we had been doing it right and the adults were mistaken, good memories... Great video and information, still learning even though I've been taught a lot already, using a range finder for triangulation would be sweet
Thanks John! Just got back into land Nav this spring. Looking forward to your vids on it. I was a 19D Cav Scout before the GPS, so I have a little knowledge. The links are a welcome source. Thanks again!
Hey john, thanks for all your awesome content, I’ve been soaking it up for a long time now! One thing to note on this subject is the vulnerability of GNSS, which relies on low power signals from high in the atmosphere as well as land based control stations. This vulnerability emphasizes the importance of knowing how to use a map, compass, and pedometery. There are also some cool commercially available products for gps denied nav.. I have some experience with TRX Systems - they make a good product that utilizes your phone as a user interface (links up with ATAK)
Its definitely a use or lose skill - Luckily my army buddies and I teach scouts these skills. Its always nice to keep up on basic land nav skills. Keep it up John! Hit that like button for all those lost LTs haha.
Hey John, there is another option to laminate a map is to use clear shelf paper. This is a plastic clear material. USGS 7.5 minute maps are great and available for many different locations that NAt. Geo may not be.
I like the laminate pouches that have the adhesive strips around the edges. Perfect size for printed at home maps. I used them to cover football call sheets when I was coaching. Plus, thicker plastic than most laminating sheets protects from tears, etc.
It’s good to know types of rocks and how they form. There was an area we owned land and it had lots of rocks of every size. In fact very few flat meadow like spots. In that kind of terrain deep crevices can be hard to see. There was one that ran the edge of the road just under the edge of the road itself. You could stand inside it and no one could tell you were there.
Tip: If you buy one of the old GI protractors, make sure you get a good one. What that means is the corner of that triangle has to be cut so it's lined up right with the hash marks. Many of them are just stamped out with poor precision and can be way off.
I have been using nothing but a campus and map since the age of thirteen. I had no idea they have GPS watches, I have been thinking about getting a range finder for hunting. I will also share this as a tool to start teaching my family these skills thanks!
Cheap clickers counters are a great alternative to a pace cord (even better to combine them), they're foolproof, really tiny, and can be tied to your watch strap. Bes ones sum up how many times it reset (e.g. 10 resets on a 0-999 gives you 10km, when both counters reset you mark it on the cord and keep moving)
I still have a big zip lock bag with my old Tenino map, favorite protractor and mech. pencil in it, leftover from PLDC on Ft. Lewis. Now I just need to get another good compass. Pretty sure the Ranger beads are around here somewhere.
Retired 13F land nav guru. I like watching yer stuff and am interested to hear your Ranger take on something I'm pretty familiar with. That said, no Ranger beads or protractor? John, yer killing me! Lol! Good vid and I do love that Garmin 64ST, you can get water way charts on it too. I use it on the boat all the time.
I go to Walmart and grab a mr clean magic eraser, and some fine point sharpies. Its a bit cheaper so when you lose them in the woods its not as aggravating. I also use a blue headlamp with highlighters for boundaries and major features so when i stop and do a check at night the important things pop out. 🤘 Go get lost you will learn a lot!
My first experience with a compass was as a teenager by Mount Saint Helens hunting deer. We would use the compass to see which way the main road ran then three distant points. With those readings we would go get lost hunting then pull out the compass and figure our way back. My dad had to learn to trust his compass and let go of his feelings. The compass was wrong until he figured out it did work. Being lost in the woods is not fun.
"It's a bag of stray cats sometimes" I would like to personally thank you for your service of giving me the purfect analogy for my catastrophic thought process.
Have lived with paper maps of all forms from USGS topo maps, park or scenic area maps, custom printed maps for a particular trip and almost always treat mine with a water proofing map treatment such as Aquaseal Map Seal liquid, Rain Guard, etc. Protects my maps but they can still be folded which is difficult with lamination. Always keep my maps in a clear waterproof map pouch that are popular with kyakers and backpackers. Always have at least a mid quality compass as a backup in case my Garmin (different models based on upgrades as time progresses) with its combination of compass, altimeter and many important functions caps out. The early models were battery hogs and could die even when put fresh battery in before putting on the rucksack and discover your spare battery is kaput. Most of mine have the neck lanyard kit so wear around my neck and not having to wrestle gloves on and off with it on my wrist or mount them on pack straps plus have them on my overt armor kits. A good Swiss jeweled altimeter was something that was a life or death tool before the advent of multifunction electronic devices. Everyone should have a Thommen altimeter just like a good compass backing up their electronic device if going far from the car not only for knowing altitude to aid in route finding but for forecasting weather. Have sat in tents for up to two weeks back in the 80s and 90s watching my altimeter for a rise in barometric pressure significant enough to feel safe enough to leave the tent to bag a summit and get back down before the next storm rolled in. Always remember "stuff happens" so before a big trip study your maps and commit as much as possible to memory. A climbing partner and I had a bear literally eat our map bag (guess he was mad the food bag was stashed out of reach) while in the Wind River range back in the day when a person could go a week or more without seeing another living soul. Unfortunately those days are gone for CONUS mountain ranges but Alaska, Canada, Andes of South America along with others you can get far enough out the only rescue is self rescue. If lose a pack in an avalanche, to wildlife, etc you need to have enough retained knowledge from pretrip study of maps to navigate back to other humans using the sun, stars or even dead reckoning. Learning to shoot a back asmuth and triangulate your position on a map if your GPS dies is still a necessary skill as GPSs usually die at the worst time. While I love range finders and have a collection from constant upgrading I see very little use as a navigation tool. Luckily I took two years of military science through ROTC in 1980 through 1983 when map reading was one of the skills most beat into our heads. Combined with navigation skills learned in outdoor classes, on my on plus in the field over time after 4F on my physical for MS3 ending any military career instead spent my life in mountain ranges world wide. Winter back country skiing in the Alps, summers in the Andes, winters in Montana where missing your turn could strand you in a life or death situation demands good navigation which is learned by experience. Section hiking the Appilachian Trail and smaller objectives are best used to learn before going big though one time was just 15 minutes off the A.T. once during winter in an area had been dozens of times when a white out rolled in. Walking back to the trail visibility was so poor we crossed the trail and kept walking till were completely bumfuzzled with no way to see anything to get a reference point and were forced to sit down and wait till next morning and clearer weather to walk the half hour back to the truck. Spent the night on Mt Washington one February when a wrong turn in a storm near the summit after a beautiful ice climb caused us to miss our descent gully finding ourselves lost in the trees, waist deep snow in total darkness. Knowing when to sit down and wait out better conditions is as important to surviving when things turn bad rather than wandering into an avalanche area or walking off a cliff in low visibility or darkness. When in doubt, sit down and wait. Always have extra food and water so that option is less miserable. www.CoolAR15.com
Yup never follow a 2nd Lieutenant in the field! I was in a training co. For the most of my Army career and we had to go out and find some.. lol especially night NAV
@warriorpoetsociaty a good gps I came across years ago is the garmin rhino. It's a gps/walkie talkie combo and some have a find your friend feature. When my kids were old enough to venture out on their own we had a plan to find them if they didnt make it home by a certain time. We would go to the general area they were in and be able to find them
Want some fun on a Friday afternoon? Have your boot Lt say “hey gents! We are doing land nav, I’ll lead” 😂 Hand sanitizer works really good to erase map pen on laminated maps
FWIW, I use fine-tip Sharpie markers on my Rite-in-the-rain paper and just toss the page and print another when the map is "burned." And ... one more thing ... using a range finder is a really slick trick. It gives you a distance in the way that distance is measured on the map. So, if you're traversing across a valley from one high point to another, you don't have to try to guesstimate your pace count down one side and up the other. Take your front azimuth and your back azimuth and ... shoot, move, communicate.
@@Mudinyeri there is also a math conversion for map to slope distance in case your batteries die, but you need a clinometer or a compass that has those settings to get slope readings.
Ah land nav. I have my protractor within reach.... LOL So many people seemed to have issues with land nav. Especially at night. not sure why. but I guess I grew up reading maps and navigating with my dad who is a pilot. Fairly easy transition for me. I actually enjoyed that part. Oh and the 2nd LT thing....too funny and pretty accurate.
I watched this cause I love land nav. I was a pathfinder in the army years ago and have a tritium lensatic and a bunch of maps. Sometimes I go out just to play with them love your vids
@@daytondeclan3567 should I give al you guys cc informations too? What a coincidence, you all joined 1 month ago, you all watched instafuck while at home, and you all promote it together with simultaneous comments. Nothing suspicious here, just a couple of RUclips scammers from India lmao
John, my wife and I are in the hospital. She is in labor with our first baby! We love your channel and I couldn’t help but check out todays video while I wait. Thanks!
Update: 48 hours in labor, momma is feeling it. Please send good vibes and prayers our way. God bless!
Update: baby girl Nevaeh, born 4:45am June 13th via c-section. Thank you everyone for the support and prayers!
Congratulations! I hope your first born is healthy and happy.
lemminglobber thank you! Watching some yt while momma to be sleeps
I seen you in drae's video also congrats
Good luck!
Aaron McCullough hahaha! Awesome! Thanks again!
I'm glad John posted a video like this. When I was younger I got lost in a National Forest and had it not been for being tracked down by a Forest Ranger it could have turned into a series survival situation. I told my self I'll never be caught in a situation like that again without knowing how to navigate and survive. Now I'm a big survival nerd and I'm looking into Game and Parks for a career. To make a long story extremely long, awesome video John.
Did you end up in games and parks?
@diomedes39 Surprisingly no, gosh that was 4 years ago and it is weird looking back and thinking on the ambitions, hopes, and dreams I had. I have almost finished a bachelor's degree in Criminal Justice and I am working to get onto a S.W.A.T. team. That is the current plan, due to the disgusting world we currently live in. Thank you for the memories, man.
When will y'all put a "Yay for that" patch in the store?
* screams chant* yay for that! Yay for that!
I’ll buy 2!
This MUST happen
Yay for that! Yay for that! Yay for that! Yay for that! Yay for that! Yay for that! Yay for that! Yay for that!
Yay for that! Yay for that! Yay for that! Yay for that! Yay for that! Yay for that! Yay for that! Yay for that!
Or a "Because I like to party" patch
As we teach in the Virginia search and rescue program, map and compass are your primary source of navigation, GPS is secondary. And, as GPS is always subject to failure, a map with a hole in it is still a map. A GPS with a hole in it is a paperweight to hold down your map. Good video, John.
That’s interesting Virginia has such a diversity of environments I bet it makes for interesting search and rescue
I'd definitely like a second video with some land nav instructions, always fun to learn from you
Thank you so much for what you do. Especially appreciate that you don’t curse, so my wife and children can watch along without fearing F-bombs coming out of your mouth. God bless you and your family my brother.
John will be eating dinner tonight, or laying in bed and still wondering, Where the hell is my protractor ... hahaha
Or his wife's thinking his thinking of other women, his thinking 🤔 where the truck is the protractor?
I'm super excited for this series! I'm a hunter and this year I'm doing my first big country elk hunt, so I've been trying to learn all I can!
Are you traveling anywhere in particular? I’d love to do my first big hunt whether it be some deer or elk. I’m in Ohio we have great deer here.
@@614XJ I'm going to Billings, Montana. My uncle lives there and we found a guide not too far from him
Don’t worry about buying stuff. Pen and paper. Start making a list as you go out you will find what you really need.
Tips: 1)good boots/shoes that are well worn in. Don’t go hunting in brand new boots!
2) Have a plan for cooling the meat down as soon as possible and how to get it back to camp/town.
3. Don’t take as much stuff as you think you need. Light is good when you are on your feet all day.
4. Get in shape. Walk, run, climb before you go. Elk love to hang out in rugged terrain and it will kick your butt.
Good luck.
Christopher Harpster Wow that sounds amazing. Good luck and safe travels with the hunt!
@@matthewcrawford4216 thanks man! Yeah I've gotten most of that covered, but I had just thought learning to read and comprehend mapping would be a useful skill for hunting, basically so I'm not looking at the guide or guides like they're speaking in tongues
Absolutely essential skill. Glad you're covering this, it's becoming a lost art in the age of GPS and digital navigation. The ability to read a map and find your way can save lives, I've seen it first hand.
Got a good lauth. Lieutenants and land navigation. As a retired. Senior NCO your comment about 2nd LTs still being lost brought back a flood of funny "war" stories.
"As a 2nd Lt., it doesn't matter how many......you have, you're still going to get lost..." Loved this quote. You described me perfectly way back when - that was me to a T. Great video, John...thanks!
Funny, I recently started looking into land navigation again, refreshing something that I learned over 40 years ago in the Scouts. Haven’t really used it much over the years, but thought it a good idea to become reacquainted with the skill...
Thanks for the video!
10 years military nav experience. I just like to watch your videos to hear your sweet sweet voice, John...
And the occasional dad joke. Poet on!
I LOVE land nav......soooooo easy..... stars, sunrise/set directions, compass, the awesome maps that read like a book, easy for me, landmarks, terrain features.... more...... land nav is easy, fun, awesome........
I recently started learning to use land navigation tools.
Last time i did it the old fashioned way was in boy scouts!!
@Christopher C.
Same here. I’m a Life Scout right now and am about to start my Eagle project soon. Over the years (11 including Cub Scout) I got pretty good with a map and compass. I was supposed to go to Philmont this summer but our trip was canceled. I would have been our starting navigator. 😢
How recent? Like when you started watching this video?
Recently as in 9 hours ago? 😉
@@TheBrandicus nope, a few months ago.
Me: google knows too much about me and my whereabouts
John: I use google maps, it’s the best and I love it
Me: I use google maps, it’s the best and I love it
Totally underrated comment
*google Earth
Dammit big brother is a dick sometimes
lol
"Inside my head is like a bag of stray cats". Love it. Thanks. Night land nav is interesting. Knowing constellations, where they are, or are not depending on the season, in the sky, and where you are on the planet can be helpful if you do a lot of this stuff.
Nice tune up John. 28 years ago when I wrapped it up as a 11C30, those tools would have been nice. Doubt they’d have been allowed on the EIB course though... Hope you continue this series. It’s amazing how much you forget when the skills aren’t used regularly.
It always amazes me how many people don't know whether the next town is north, south east or west of there own home. Just LOOKING at a map once in a while is helpful.
John is good. No doubt about it. But, I can tell time, temp, altitude, weather, direction, moon phase, and much more... just by looking at the sun, moon, stars, and such. No, not at the same time. Now if it's stormy, I gotta wait till it clears up but, there ya go. John, keep'em coming. Love'em all.
Hi John, as an old 11B20, it's nice to hear someone speak about nav.
I need to get a new protractor, thanks for the reminder. Be safe.
Yes, bring it! As a Boy Scout leader, I teach land navigation (we call it "Orienteering") as an important Scout skill. I am always looking to improve my own abilities, so that I can pass that knowledge on to my Scouts. As with everything I teach them, I don't want them to be good at it, I want them to be exceptional! So, again, with an enthusiastic thumbs up I say, "Bring it on, sir!"
The dude is just a great teacher PERIOD! Wish I was one of those stray cats in his head so I could steal some of that knowledge.
Good job!!
John you should be a salesman.Knowledge is better than all that gear.In land-nav we learned how to use all that stuff and we learned to navigate without any of it.Anyway a good vid.
As a land navigation total beginner, this is helpful. I appreciate your explanation of the different kinds and qualities of compasses, and how to use one for finding an azimuth, etc.
Land nav is so underrated in the days of ubiquitous cell phones. Thanks for this video and please continue with part 2!
John is a gift from a higher being. I was just telling my buddy the other day about how I can’t figure out anything about land nav!
I just became a member of WPSN. I can't think of many better groups to give money to. You guys are awesome. Keep it up.
John, Great job! Having been a lost LT, you did an awesome RI down and dirty video! Love it! Keep it up! God Speed!
Thanks!!! So glad a group of NCOs finally found you and brought you back to us!! 👬🥳
After 29 years of service, I can look back, thank the Lord that I had amazing NCOs to serve with! Many fellow INF O’s did not, and they suffered dearly for that!
Love y’all’s work! “Keep Up the Fire”
Just like shooting land navigation is a perishable skill that takes practice. I havent done a land nav course in 4 years since I ets'd and it's time to brush up. Good video!
When active, I used to assist teaching land nav to fellow grunts, civilians, municipalities, etc. It was always the 2nd LT we had to SAR. I loved teaching the course and still have the maps (and protractor! ) I used back then... I'm old school, but wanting to learn the ways of the GPS nav. Guess I'll be investing in garmin~ and John, I'll even send you my back up protractor 🤣
Thank you for sharing! I started doing search and rescue before covid-19 hit and shut every thing down. Training still hasn’t opened back up yet, so I’ve been reading a lot of land nav and tracking material. This video covered the first 3 chapters of one of my books lol.
John, I love land nav and still have my pace count beads. Warrior Poet is one of the channels i always goto. you can change any topographical maps that read Lat/Long can be turned into a MGRS map. Just look for the blue hash marks on the edges of the map and connect the marks. I can't believe a retired Navy guy had to teach you that
The memories are rolling in now.........Thanks for jogging my brain and putting this course on
I've used my Garmin instinct for about a year and I love it!
There's a great book by Bjorn Kjellstrom, Be Expert with Map and Compass, The complete orienteering handbook.
Another great video that helps net out what a person needs. Favorite video quote " welcome to my head, it is like a bag of stray cats sometimes" epic!
Just seeing this. Good refresh.
But, all I could think after you picked up the laminator was what was preached in Marine Corps TBS - “Laminate it. Take it to the field. It’ll save your life some day!” Even my wife uses the phrase still today - 25 yrs later.
Yeah, I'm going to go ahead and sell my truck so I can spend a couple weeks with you John. Wanting to do Pistol 1 & 2 & 3, Rifle 1 & 2, 1 man clearing, Long Distance Patrol, Map Class... just everything. Really going to need that map class since I'm selling my truck.
Good luck even getting registered
Hey John, good video only one small oversight, guys do not forget a notebook and pencil. Rite in the rain or any other it don't matter just make sure you have one. Map markers will work in a pinch but Murphy will jump up and bite ya at the worst time. Stay safe, hooah!!
I never get lost. I always know where I am. I'm here! I might not know how I got here. Or how I'm getting out of here but I always know where I am. I'm always here!!!
I'm a land surveyor and so was my dad. Good topic to cover.
Tough job for a man without shins Cotton.
We print our maps onto waterproof paper, no lamination needed. However, love the idea of being able to erase after marking up map. Going to have to see how well erasing works on wp paper. Love my Suunto X6 watch, alarm never worked, but has done me well for over 15 years.
Anywhere they sell lots of National Geographic folded maps...REI, Sportsman's Warehouse, GPS Store, to name a few...
A bag of stray cats 😂!
I heard about this video on T. Rex arms, btw, fantastic! Thanks WPS! Give us more please. Especially on the communication and moving part. Like how to get groups of people into certain positions. Excellent.
Awesome! Land Nav.... My son and I would love to see it on the channel!
wearing a watch and just paying attention can do a lot if you can’t get ahold of the nicer stuff. for example, if it’s 6:00 PM you can look at the sun and tell roughly which way is west, it’s not perfect but it’s saved me a few times.
This is very useful. I havent done land nav in 3 years and really wish i wasnt so tired during training. Because of that, my land nav skills are DECENT at best. Id love a refresher because i know i can be great at it
A little refresher course since my kindergarten experience in the Army. Thanks for sharing!
I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS!!!!
Edit: Now that I've actually watched it... This is a great Land Nav resource(gear) video for various practical styles of LandNav.
This was great, for an intor to the tools. Now, how about an intro to actually using these tools so we all, are not as lost as a Second Lieutenant? Lol.
I love my Garmin Felix 6. Bought it to thru hike the Appalachian trail.i also have the 64st also. I am watching this video to see if I want to use it for training for my top volunteers for finding 2 missing hikers in Washington and Also would love to see the series. Triangulation with a brunton or similar flip style compass is very easy to do after you get the hang of it without the added weight of the range finder. I was down in Georgia twice this year and to be honest triangulation (I didn't actually attempt it) seems like an impossibility in alot of the terrain because of the massive amount of trees. Here out west its got to be way easier. Love the show.
Great video, at 3:30 I did briefly think you were a 2Lt spinning that map around 😉
great video John. I remember all of the land navigation rules. I hope that you are planning on teaching orienteering as well. Flat landers don"t have a lot of terrain features other than swamps.
That compass with tritium -- sure was a great feeling having a radioactive emitting substance right up against my body all the time (and very close to my package no less)! We never seemed to have enough supply of the MGRS protractors -- I think I had to use the same on for nearly 10 years. Mech units sure ate up those Staedtler markers for map overlays; it was like the end of the world if we didn't have them.
Don't think there was enough tritium there to hurt you
@@tylerdurden4080 It isn't so much the quantity it is more of a psychological factor. Tritium is a low-energy beta ray emitter and it only takes a few mm of metal to absorb it.
Me and my son follow your channel John, he is in the army; thanks for all
Would definitely love to here some more on land nav. I ship Feb 8th to basic and that’s the one thing that makes me nervous. You can yell at me and have me run and ruck all day in the rain, but put a map in front of me a might cry… lol
Your watch is the Garmin instinct tactical. I’ve been researching watches for the last 4 weeks. Your watch is actually the same one I settled on. Garmin makes a more expensive model with color maps and such but it’s north of $700.00 bucks. The instinct tactical is around $200.00. Great watch. Can’t wait till mine gets here. Love the content WPS. Plan on signing up for WPSN this weekend. ❤️
I loved the Google Earth zoom in to the Disney Princess Store!
of all the military skills i learned in my 20 plus years in land nav was by far, for me, the most difficult to master. in fact it took me 4 recycles to get through sfqc.
wait, John there are good 2lts? really when did that happen?
now I still practice on a monthly basis at least once a weekend. yes an excuse to go out camping...lol don't tell my better half. I still use my Silva, am on my 3rd one in 30 years.
great vid John. always good to review basics as I have just done again. thanks bro.
Yah for that! I haven't done much of the land navigation stuff since I retired from the military but I'm going to be doing more this year as I'm going to be looking for some new hunting areas thanks for the video
I had to double check after Evan’s intro. The music made me think I was watching Overland Bound
Brought me back a few years ago to some Boy Scout trips, we were bushwacking and our adult leaders thought we were off course, so we changed course, turned out we had been doing it right and the adults were mistaken, good memories...
Great video and information, still learning even though I've been taught a lot already, using a range finder for triangulation would be sweet
Thanks John! Just got back into land Nav this spring. Looking forward to your vids on it. I was a 19D Cav Scout before the GPS, so I have a little knowledge. The links are a welcome source. Thanks again!
Love land nav. I still have my lensatic compass I bought before heading to the sandbox before Desert Shield/Storm.
I lost mine along with almost everything else. Learning to navigate by stars was cool and helped a few times!
Gave my son my CIB, Cav coin, and Ranger beads though.
I’ve also used some golf Gps range finders for long range shooting as well. Can be very handy.
Hey john, thanks for all your awesome content, I’ve been soaking it up for a long time now! One thing to note on this subject is the vulnerability of GNSS, which relies on low power signals from high in the atmosphere as well as land based control stations. This vulnerability emphasizes the importance of knowing how to use a map, compass, and pedometery. There are also some cool commercially available products for gps denied nav.. I have some experience with TRX Systems - they make a good product that utilizes your phone as a user interface (links up with ATAK)
Its definitely a use or lose skill - Luckily my army buddies and I teach scouts these skills. Its always nice to keep up on basic land nav skills. Keep it up John! Hit that like button for all those lost LTs haha.
Hey John, there is another option to laminate a map is to use clear shelf paper. This is a plastic clear material. USGS 7.5 minute maps are great and available for many different locations that NAt. Geo may not be.
I like the laminate pouches that have the adhesive strips around the edges. Perfect size for printed at home maps. I used them to cover football call sheets when I was coaching. Plus, thicker plastic than most laminating sheets protects from tears, etc.
It’s good to know types of rocks and how they form. There was an area we owned land and it had lots of rocks of every size. In fact very few flat meadow like spots. In that kind of terrain deep crevices can be hard to see. There was one that ran the edge of the road just under the edge of the road itself. You could stand inside it and no one could tell you were there.
Instruction on land navigation has me interested. Thanks, Man.
Thank you. And YES on the Land Nav instruction. Please and thank you again.
You can spray clear finishes from china mart on the maps. works well. Also clear drawer liner works fine and can be drawn on.
Tip: If you buy one of the old GI protractors, make sure you get a good one. What that means is the corner of that triangle has to be cut so it's lined up right with the hash marks. Many of them are just stamped out with poor precision and can be way off.
I have been using nothing but a campus and map since the age of thirteen. I had no idea they have GPS watches, I have been thinking about getting a range finder for hunting. I will also share this as a tool to start teaching my family these skills thanks!
Looking forward to the next land nav installment.
I am glad to see y'all are still posting on RUclips
Cheap clickers counters are a great alternative to a pace cord (even better to combine them), they're foolproof, really tiny, and can be tied to your watch strap. Bes ones sum up how many times it reset (e.g. 10 resets on a 0-999 gives you 10km, when both counters reset you mark it on the cord and keep moving)
I still have a big zip lock bag with my old Tenino map, favorite protractor and mech. pencil in it, leftover from PLDC on Ft. Lewis. Now I just need to get another good compass. Pretty sure the Ranger beads are around here somewhere.
Retired 13F land nav guru. I like watching yer stuff and am interested to hear your Ranger take on something I'm pretty familiar with.
That said, no Ranger beads or protractor? John, yer killing me! Lol!
Good vid and I do love that Garmin 64ST, you can get water way charts on it too. I use it on the boat all the time.
I go to Walmart and grab a mr clean magic eraser, and some fine point sharpies. Its a bit cheaper so when you lose them in the woods its not as aggravating. I also use a blue headlamp with highlighters for boundaries and major features so when i stop and do a check at night the important things pop out. 🤘 Go get lost you will learn a lot!
Gosh im about to build my first AR! I cant wait im so excited.
Can't wait for the land nav training video!
My first experience with a compass was as a teenager by Mount Saint Helens hunting deer. We would use the compass to see which way the main road ran then three distant points. With those readings we would go get lost hunting then pull out the compass and figure our way back. My dad had to learn to trust his compass and let go of his feelings. The compass was wrong until he figured out it did work. Being lost in the woods is not fun.
"It's a bag of stray cats sometimes" I would like to personally thank you for your service of giving me the purfect analogy for my catastrophic thought process.
😂 John! I'm crying bro. 7:40 the 2nd lieutenants. That's hilarious
Nice vid. If you haven't already, you ought to do a video about using all of this gear out in the field.
Have lived with paper maps of all forms from USGS topo maps, park or scenic area maps, custom printed maps for a particular trip and almost always treat mine with a water proofing map treatment such as Aquaseal Map Seal liquid, Rain Guard, etc. Protects my maps but they can still be folded which is difficult with lamination. Always keep my maps in a clear waterproof map pouch that are popular with kyakers and backpackers. Always have at least a mid quality compass as a backup in case my Garmin (different models based on upgrades as time progresses) with its combination of compass, altimeter and many important functions caps out. The early models were battery hogs and could die even when put fresh battery in before putting on the rucksack and discover your spare battery is kaput. Most of mine have the neck lanyard kit so wear around my neck and not having to wrestle gloves on and off with it on my wrist or mount them on pack straps plus have them on my overt armor kits. A good Swiss jeweled altimeter was something that was a life or death tool before the advent of multifunction electronic devices. Everyone should have a Thommen altimeter just like a good compass backing up their electronic device if going far from the car not only for knowing altitude to aid in route finding but for forecasting weather. Have sat in tents for up to two weeks back in the 80s and 90s watching my altimeter for a rise in barometric pressure significant enough to feel safe enough to leave the tent to bag a summit and get back down before the next storm rolled in. Always remember "stuff happens" so before a big trip study your maps and commit as much as possible to memory. A climbing partner and I had a bear literally eat our map bag (guess he was mad the food bag was stashed out of reach) while in the Wind River range back in the day when a person could go a week or more without seeing another living soul. Unfortunately those days are gone for CONUS mountain ranges but Alaska, Canada, Andes of South America along with others you can get far enough out the only rescue is self rescue. If lose a pack in an avalanche, to wildlife, etc you need to have enough retained knowledge from pretrip study of maps to navigate back to other humans using the sun, stars or even dead reckoning. Learning to shoot a back asmuth and triangulate your position on a map if your GPS dies is still a necessary skill as GPSs usually die at the worst time. While I love range finders and have a collection from constant upgrading I see very little use as a navigation tool. Luckily I took two years of military science through ROTC in 1980 through 1983 when map reading was one of the skills most beat into our heads. Combined with navigation skills learned in outdoor classes, on my on plus in the field over time after 4F on my physical for MS3 ending any military career instead spent my life in mountain ranges world wide. Winter back country skiing in the Alps, summers in the Andes, winters in Montana where missing your turn could strand you in a life or death situation demands good navigation which is learned by experience. Section hiking the Appilachian Trail and smaller objectives are best used to learn before going big though one time was just 15 minutes off the A.T. once during winter in an area had been dozens of times when a white out rolled in. Walking back to the trail visibility was so poor we crossed the trail and kept walking till were completely bumfuzzled with no way to see anything to get a reference point and were forced to sit down and wait till next morning and clearer weather to walk the half hour back to the truck. Spent the night on Mt Washington one February when a wrong turn in a storm near the summit after a beautiful ice climb caused us to miss our descent gully finding ourselves lost in the trees, waist deep snow in total darkness. Knowing when to sit down and wait out better conditions is as important to surviving when things turn bad rather than wandering into an avalanche area or walking off a cliff in low visibility or darkness. When in doubt, sit down and wait. Always have extra food and water so that option is less miserable. www.CoolAR15.com
Yup never follow a 2nd Lieutenant in the field! I was in a training co. For the most of my Army career and we had to go out and find some.. lol especially night NAV
@warriorpoetsociaty a good gps I came across years ago is the garmin rhino. It's a gps/walkie talkie combo and some have a find your friend feature. When my kids were old enough to venture out on their own we had a plan to find them if they didnt make it home by a certain time. We would go to the general area they were in and be able to find them
Want some fun on a Friday afternoon? Have your boot Lt say “hey gents! We are doing land nav, I’ll lead” 😂
Hand sanitizer works really good to erase map pen on laminated maps
I use the G-Shock Range master. It works very nicely.
Lamination works but I've also laser printed maps on Rite-in-the-rain 8.5X11 sheets. They fold up WAY better than laminated sheets.
FWIW, I use fine-tip Sharpie markers on my Rite-in-the-rain paper and just toss the page and print another when the map is "burned." And ... one more thing ... using a range finder is a really slick trick. It gives you a distance in the way that distance is measured on the map. So, if you're traversing across a valley from one high point to another, you don't have to try to guesstimate your pace count down one side and up the other. Take your front azimuth and your back azimuth and ... shoot, move, communicate.
@@Mudinyeri there is also a math conversion for map to slope distance in case your batteries die, but you need a clinometer or a compass that has those settings to get slope readings.
Rite in the rain still gets wet
@@tylerreis7627, of course it does. But it doesn't matter.
I also use the garmin instict tactical (Johns watch) and absolutely love it, couldn't ask for a better watch for hiking/camping/hunting or all at once
Ah land nav. I have my protractor within reach.... LOL So many people seemed to have issues with land nav. Especially at night. not sure why. but I guess I grew up reading maps and navigating with my dad who is a pilot. Fairly easy transition for me. I actually enjoyed that part.
Oh and the 2nd LT thing....too funny and pretty accurate.
I watched this cause I love land nav. I was a pathfinder in the army years ago and have a tritium lensatic and a bunch of maps. Sometimes I go out just to play with them love your vids
Always loved land nav. During EIB testing I smoked it then turned around and bolo'd range estimation. Yeah....
Love the LOST references 4.8.15.16.23.2042
Caltopo is my absolute favorite free map website. free maps to scale. 1:25,000, 1:50,000 and 1:24,000. and custom scales as well.
EXCELLENT topic.... but... nowadays you're using LAT/LONG? You've gone soft old man 😎
Damn why you gotta do my man john like that? Cmon bro lol😂
Depends on the application. For flying, usually use Degrees, Minutes.Decimal Minutes.
@@daytondeclan3567 should I give al you guys cc informations too? What a coincidence, you all joined 1 month ago, you all watched instafuck while at home, and you all promote it together with simultaneous comments. Nothing suspicious here, just a couple of RUclips scammers from India lmao
The military style Wright in the rain books have a protractor substitute in the cover
I started learning using the UTM it’s literally the same process of MGRS so it works well for me from coming from the military