Any one use these for distance tracking? Just wanted to get an idea how everyone tracks distance as they go, ie. pacing beads, pedometers, landmarks...etc?

I'm sure someone could rig up a lightweight set too!

I used these often in my early days as a Ranger but went to a GPS once they were issued to us. The one I used(and still have) was like #6 only modified with more top beads for longer distances.

I now use a pedometer due to its lower weight over a GPS

Edited by djjmikie on 02/29/2008 11:10:45 MST.

Can you adjust a pedometer for any uphill/downhill adjustments? I know with beads you can drop out every third for steep ups and downs...

I normally hike decently defined trails..I just would like to have a double check distance wise between maps and landmarks.

I made a set a while ago (similar to #2) from black rubber washers that I found at Home Depot, and some paracord. The washers are beveled on one side so that you can slide them down the cord with gloves on.

I have yet to try them out simply because I never went out and marked out a known distance on the ground to count my standard pace to.

I did make some notes from articles that I found on the internet. They may be helpful to you:

Pace Beads:
4 Upper beads = 1 mile (1/10 mile) or 1 kilometer (1000 meters)
9 Lower Beads = 1/10 mile or 1/10 kilometer (100 meters

Determining Pace:
Zero your car odometer by a landmark and drive until your odometer hits .1 mile. Walk this distance a number of times counting how many times the same foot hits the street. Average the results. This is your base pace count.

Making allowance for changing conditions: On rough terrain, slope (up or down), thick brush, low light, add 20% for each condition that might cause you to change your stride.

Example: You’re walking to your next point and have a normal pace of 100 for 1/10th of a mile. You need to climb a section of hill for the next 1/10th of a mile, so for that section, your pace for the next section will be 120 paces per 1/10th of a mile instead of 100. If you were doing the same thing in the dark it would be 140 paces because you are applying the 20% for two different factors. Assume at least a 10 percent error rate on flat open terrain.

Hope this helps!

I do not know of a way to adjust a pedometer for grades, as the technology for a pedometer includes a mechanical sensor and software to count steps. The accuracy of step counters varies widely between devices. Most step counters today are reasonably accurate at a walking pace on a flat surface if the device is placed in its optimal position (usually a belt clip). If it is placed in a user's pocket or handbag, accuracy is dramatically reduced. Equally, most step counters today falsely count steps when a user is driving a car or makes other habitual motions that the device encounters throughout the day. Accuracy also depends on the step-length the user enters.

I made a set by buying a children's foam necklace kit. Just add para-cord and choose your colours...

Total weight 2g!!! MYOG Ranger Beads

Edited by ArchNemesis on 02/29/2008 15:50:09 MST.

I like the colorful foam beads but I wonder about the long-term durability. I used a set of beads like this for leading night patrols when using a bright GPS screen was a non-option. I found the plastic beads had a chance of making noise (clacking against my carbine stock) so I replaced them with small washers made from old jungle boot leather, which I poked holes in with a reamer. This setup was pretty light.. You could make the washers really small and slide them onto nano cord, but you'd have to double or triple up the knots.
As for pacing on grades - why not measure off 100m on an "average" grade hill, and use that? Also consider that if you spend an equal time going downhill as you go up, it probably evens itself out.

Edited by pbrown19 on 02/29/2008 17:40:02 MST.

You could use an average uphill pace count, but you'd have to modify it for your true lateral distance, thats what i was asking...how you modify a pedometer for uphill and downhill.

Uphill vs. Downhill doesn't balance out, go back to trig in highschool......if you have a 60/60/60 triangle...if you go up hill 200 ft...and down hill 200 ft...it doesnt balance to the lateral distance...

I think I'll rig up a standard English set...7 on the bottom and 6 up top for 1/2 miles. I figure at 6'5" i can use 52 pace counts per click...but I'll double check that depending on terrain and load out. As far as uphill downhill, trial and error for a while. I did read an article about keeping a log, but thats alotta counting, moving beads, and writing to have an enjoyable hike!

i've never had to really pace count in general off-track bushwalking-navigation by feature usually works fine, and estimating distance using general awareness/speed travelled/time, etc.

everynow and then whilst rogaining i will count pace, usually i keep a track by using my free hand and point a finger down for every twenty paces. rarely do i pace more than about 200m though, so this method works fine (remembering how many times I have been through a "hand").

Stewart I know that going up a hill you wouldn't be able to pace off the true "lateral" distance as measured on a map. Realize that I use pace counting in a military application, where it is more useful for true range measurement than lateral distance tracking.
Even with a lot of guestimating, pace counting is difficult in the mountains for this reason. You'd probably be better off using dead reckoning and a map, with the pace count as a guide. Or you could go out with a GPS and count paces between intervals on different grades, then you could make a chart to determine your pace with different elevation changes. This would only really work if you had a relatively straight trail. But I have seen guys who kept a table of pace over elevation in their notebooks.

Edited by pbrown19 on 03/01/2008 07:37:23 MST.

Cool!! I appreciate all your help, this should be fun to mess around with on the trail!!

Hmm.. and here I just figured out my loaded miles / hour for uphill, flat and downhill and looked at my watch periodically.

I've used a pedometer and as long as I adjusted it for the terrain type it proved within 10%. My biggest problem with them was losing them since they were just on a belt clip.

If I am in a more open area I take my Garmin Foretrex 201 GPS. It is quite useful as a pedometer. Being small it is easy to take along.