Nav 101 -- Low-Tech Wilderness Navigation
For an example of what I mean, check out my video about using the star Mintaka to find east and west. This 16-hour course originally was based largely on Chapter 8 of my book, Surviving the Wilds of Florida. Course topics include:
For direction, you'll use celestial signposts when they're available (e.g. when the sky is clear), a compass when they're not, and a rudimentary map. You'll measure distance traveled either by counting strides or by carefully timing your travels. Finally, you'll learn to make your way cross country without a map through the wilderness, and return to your starting point. The Course Text BookA few years after developing the course, I wrote a 135-page text book for it called Low-Tech Land Navigation.I wanted my students to have something specific to refer to long after they had taken the class. The idea is that if you have something specific and concrete to take home, you can refer to it to remember what you learned. While taking the course helps "bring the book to life," so to speak, the text itself functions as a stand-alone product. You can read this book, and put its ideas into practice without actually taking the course. Naturally, I think the "hands-on" experience of taking the course is helpful, but some people are really good at teaching themselves, and this book allows them to do that if they wish. Course ScheduleDetails for the next Low-Tech Wilderness Navigation Course:
See what the course is likeCheck out this page featuring the December 2007 Low-Tech Wilderness Navigation class.
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