What Happens If GPS Fails?

Doomsday Prepper Forums

Help Support Doomsday Prepper Forums:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Way back when, I used to keep a pocket Atlas in the glove compartment of my cars. It was extremely helpful when traveling. Once you get to a city and had to find an address, well I was on my own in most cases. That is where I now rely on my GPS. How to find the address once I get to the city. If that goes away, I am experience on finding my way around without it. It is the snowflakes that will be lost (in more ways than one).
 
Road and land navigation are two different types of navigation, road navigation is easy as long as one can read a map, land navigation has a bit of a learning curve. In a SHTF situation hopefully most preppers are at least prepared for land-nav. Land Nav is something I'm been passionate about going back to my childhood.
 
Here is an example of a Land Ranger map
105_york_selby_001c57ad-81cf-40fd-a438-e417de1ef54a_1024x1024.png


Here is an example of an Explorer map

exp_002_map_2015-05_south_legend_2.jpg
 
Land Nav is something I'm been passionate about going back to my childhood.
YES, LandNav. In the NCO Academy we had to find 3 tentpegs, each with a dog tag and a 4 digit number nailed to it. In a 4 square mile area within 1 hour and report back with the numbers to graduate the school. Having a compass is one thing, a good and reliable map, another. Utilising them to get you somewhere, saving energy, not being discovered, getting to the right place in a normal timeframe is an act of grace if you haven't learned and practiced. Intersection to find a point on the map, resection to find your own position, navigating around canyons, mountains and swamps and getting back to the original line of travel...YEEHAW.
Google your landscape, mark it and print it out with 5 colors. practice makes perfect.
 
YES, LandNav. In the NCO Academy we had to find 3 tentpegs, each with a dog tag and a 4 digit number nailed to it. In a 4 square mile area within 1 hour and report back with the numbers to graduate the school. Having a compass is one thing, a good and reliable map, another. Utilising them to get you somewhere, saving energy, not being discovered, getting to the right place in a normal timeframe is an act of grace if you haven't learned and practiced. Intersection to find a point on the map, resection to find your own position, navigating around canyons, mountains and swamps and getting back to the original line of travel...YEEHAW.
Google your landscape, mark it and print it out with 5 colors. practice makes perfect.

Yes, it's my passion ;)
http://doomsdayprepperforums.com/index.php?threads/navigation-the-compass-and-map.6202/
 
Almost right bigpaul...First, get a map and compass. Second, learn how they work. Then, use a map and compass. (and learn how to make a compass from a magnet and other little things you should have in your BOB/INCH/EDC) GP
If you hit a steel needle with a hammer several times, you can magnetize it, and turn it into a compass by floating it on a leaf in a cup of water.
 
If you hit a steel needle with a hammer several times, you can magnetize it, and turn it into a compass by floating it on a leaf in a cup of water.

But that's only giving you general direction of magnetic north not much in way of navigating, also heat will affect the magnetic properties far quicker than a sealed unit.
 
Funny, no matter where I am, there is an uncanny ability to feel the way north within about 10 degrees. If I have seen the North Star once and/or checked a compass, then I don't need it any more. Even in a new city, if I park the car and walk for hours, I can feel the direction to get back to the parking lot and even estimate the distance and take short-cuts through parks and alleys.
 
Funny, no matter where I am, there is an uncanny ability to feel the way north within about 10 degrees. If I have seen the North Star once and/or checked a compass, then I don't need it any more. Even in a new city, if I park the car and walk for hours, I can feel the direction to get back to the parking lot and even estimate the distance and take short-cuts through parks and alleys.
Some people can do this.

Birds can tell direction because of deposits of magnetic material in their brains.

Evidentally, some people have similar abilities as well due to magnetic material in the retinea of the eye.

Look up geomagnetic sense in a Google search.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top