[countrygirl]

OK folks. I have a Wilderness Survival Guide book by Monty Alford. It has instuctions on how to use the book, with plumb line and angles pre-printed on the back cover of the book. This is used to determine slopes, hieght of canyon walls, ect. Is there an easier way- is this just silly stuff or what. When do I need this information? There are a lot of books that get into technical speach about angles, depth equations and I just don't think that if I was in a survival situation I would remember my mathmatics. I am a visual learner, so reading the books give me a overview only. I have to learn by doing.

Thanks,
CG

[Foxfire]

Clinometer are good for using with map and compass.

Here is a powerpoint presentation on them. Not really necessary to have but can come in handy measuring slope angles for travel in the Mtns in winter

http://www.oame.on.ca/main/files/Gr1...AP_U6L2PPT.ppt

[Celticwarrior]

Any straight-edge and kid's protractor can be used to determine your rough inclination. The back-of-the-book idea is interesting, if you are taking the book along on your backpacking trip, but seems a little silly to have to lug it around on every trip for that purpose.

[walkabout]

I think knowing Clinometers would come in handy when dropping large trees, theres a formula that you can tell how tall a tree is. Its your basic trigonometrics.

I don't use it but when i drop a tree I run like heck yelling timber.

[Celticwarrior]

I stink at math. Trig was never a favorite. Shooting asimuths and declinations was always my weak suit for example. However, there are many good reasons for knowing what kind of incline you are facing, and it can be used for things like knowing how far the sun is from the horizon, etc.

[countrygirl]

Thanks for the helpful Info. I will give something a try soon and let you know what happens. Figuring out how tall a tree is and how long its gonna be when you fall it is helpful. Wish my step Dad figured something better for the Christmas tree he picked out. Good thing I was there. They are past 60, both him and my ma- So we go out to the woods and find the "perfect" tree. 16 foot one too. It drops the wrong way, and on a slope with the branches facing the wrong way. So if we were to pull in downslope the branches would have broke. so that was fun. The tree was worth it though. First real one I ever gave my son. And all the way to the ceiling @ 16 feet! good times.

CG

[walkabout]

Originally Posted by countrygirl

Thanks for the helpful Info. I will give something a try soon and let you know what happens. Figuring out how tall a tree is and how long its gonna be when you fall it is helpful. Wish my step Dad figured something better for the Christmas tree he picked out. Good thing I was there. They are past 60, both him and my ma- So we go out to the woods and find the "perfect" tree. 16 foot one too. It drops the wrong way, and on a slope with the branches facing the wrong way. So if we were to pull in downslope the branches would have broke. so that was fun. The tree was worth it though. First real one I ever gave my son. And all the way to the ceiling @ 16 feet! good times.

CG

Hey there CG, lol on the Christmas tree, your son will never forget it. We would go out and cut those big trees down. Our biggest was a 14ft not quite to the ceiling but oh was it hard to get the angel on. Extension ladders!!! Getting it through the door was like giving birth.

How did it go on your fire meeting and that cold boat ride? I love everything about the North, snow, bear, moose and dogsledding. Someday I have plans to head up there and do some mushing.

[countrygirl]

Originally Posted by walkabout

Hey there CG, lol on the Christmas tree, your son will never forget it. We would go out and cut those big trees down. Our biggest was a 14ft not quite to the ceiling but oh was it hard to get the angel on. Extension ladders!!! Getting it through the door was like giving birth.

How did it go on your fire meeting and that cold boat ride? I love everything about the North, snow, bear, moose and dogsledding. Someday I have plans to head up there and do some mushing.

The fire meeting went good. It was cold. I had my layers going on for sure. Not sure how cold, but the lights were out at the hall when we got there. Power outage. One side of the bay got the lights back on already. Its a short ride, maybe 15 minutes tops.

My Great grandma raised Siberian Huskies with blue eyes and did dog sledding with my gramps. That was in parts of Alaska, Canada, Alberta. We don't have dog sledding in SE Alaska around here. We have snow, bear, and maybe once in a while a moose. The moose if a favorite of mine.

CG

[Meldon]

Trig... it's one thing to remember what SOH CAH TOA is, but it's another thing to calculate those without a calculator.

[Dick]

When I'm navigating to a predetermined destination it is sometimes important to be able to calculate your slope distance.
Usually we have a pacer, a compassman, and a navigator.
As navigator I calculate the horizontal distance and azimuth to our destination. The compassman keeps a straight line and the pacer keeps track of the slope distance.
So if I know I have to travel 1000m on the map (horizontal distance) how far do I need to travel on the ground? Well, that needs to be calculated. To do that you need to know the slope.
To keep it simple, if I have a 30 degree slope and I know I have 1000m of horizontal distance to cover I can calculate my slope distance:
1000m divided by cosine 30 deg = 1154m
So my pacer needs to go 1154m to put me on my destination 1000m away (on the map).
I have a card that has a bunch of precalculations on it so I don’t need to carry a calculator.