[Triangle-AR] Night Navigation Practice?

[Charlie Roberts]

I don't have any other suggestions for locations in the Raleigh area. I 
think Don and Brian covered those. But I will add that an altimeter is 
indispensable for many longer ARs in our region which are held in, or 
near, the mountains.  I use elevation "catch points" extensively.  One 
thing to remember is that weather changes can significantly mess with 
your readings when using barometer-based altimeters such as the Suunto 
watches.  Always re-calibrate before starting the race and whenever you 
cross a known point.

Keeping track of distance traveled is also very helpful. The cyclometer 
works great on the bike, but on foot you'll need to rely on pacing. I've 
never had the discipline for pace counting and just tried to learn how 
fast I could travel at different exertion levels in different terrain. 
You have to time yourself both during day and night tho.  You always 
move slower at night than you think.  This works pretty good for me 
until the second night without sleep. By that time, the brain is fuzzy 
and the body is in pain...one mile can feel like 5! :-)

For following precise bearings, the "teammate as a marker" trick can 
work pretty good over short distances.  For a navigator I would suggest 
having a high power light, however, to allow them to see and mark those 
distance trees when you really need to be exact.

Oh, and the number one rule...the compass is always right.  It's amazing 
how easy it is to get completely turned around and disoriented when 
bushwhacking in poor conditions at night.


Charlie

Don Childrey wrote:
> Hi Patrick,
> 
> I'd like to get in some night nav too. I was even considering joining BOK
> just to be able to do their night-O in March.
> 
> In the Raleigh area, I don't think any of the park areas are technically
> "open" at night, which only leaves us with the more subversive options.
> I'd be willing to consider something along those lines.
> 
> If you're willing to venture a little further away, the Uwharrie National
> Forest can offer other options. The Forest doesn't close at night, and I'd
> certainly be willing to help set up some kind of course for night nav. It
> might even be worth planning for an overnight trip and getting in some day
> or night riding/hiking as well.
> 
> My past AR experiences at night have only involved simple nav where we
> were following roads/trails. I learned then that paying more attention to
> your cyclometer would help. I have yet to do any real night orienteering.
> With night-O, my guess is that one would need to rely more heavily on the
> compass and less on the surrounding contours, since they're harder to see.
> It might also be useful to send a teammate ahead as a bearing marker,
> since distant trees etc would be harder to see.
> 
> Anyone else interested in setting up something for night nav training?
> 
> Don
> www.GoldNuggetAR.com
> 
> 
> 
>>  Hi All -
>>
>>  Does anyone have a good way to practice night time navigation?
>>Preferably in the greater Raleigh area.
>>  And in case you were wondering, I have already heard many suggestions of
>>wearing dark sunglasses (and one vote for a welders mask) at the next
>>BOK. :-)
>>
>>  Also, as someone new to using UTM, could Brian and Jeff expand on what
>>the "non-standard use of UTM's" were on the Blackbeard race back in
>>October? Just hoping for some AR education not involving pain!
>>
>>  Thanks.....Patrick Downie
>>