Beginner Orienteering Course

[+Team MGGPS]

I took my Scouts on a simple GPS course at our family campout last year. I hid a few boxes around our local State Park and we walked around and found the caches and took the goodies I had placed in them. The boys enjoyed getting the goodies but with only one GPS in the group(mine), the excercise lack a little.

This year I thought I might set up an simple orienteering course since most of the boys have compasses and I could purchase compasses for those that didn't. I was thinking about giving a short course on taking bearings and setting pace counts then having them start at point A going a certain direction and distance to point B and after a few check points eventually ending up at a "treasure".

Does anyone know of any courses or web links that would help me in setting this up?

I've looked around some but I can't find a link explaining how to set up a course.

I know this isn't really GPS related but I thought you guys might have some ideas.

Thanks

[+JohnnyVegas]

You might try this group

US Orienteering

They have local groups that set up course durring the year

[+fire943]

http://www.geocities.com/o_sconet/h_usof_colors.html

 

I think this will help you a little. It breaks it down of what the kids should know. Start witht he basics and work up to the pacing. Maybe this could be a class at your weekly meetings. USing compassing, reading maps, contour lines etc. Then when you go camping everyone will be on the same page. Use the internet for more info

[Keystone]

Not a "Getting Started" issue. Moving this thread to the Organized Geocaching forum, where there's many other threads about working with Scouts.

[rogheff]

I have a suggestion for you. Contact the Scoutmaster of a Troop you'd be interested in visiting. The Cubbies will eventually have to do thsi for their Arrow of Light award anyway.

 

Orienteering is a Boy Scout requirement. Why not let the experts help you?

[MikeB3542]

The merit badge pamphlet for Orienteering should outline how it's done.

 

A modern approach would be to lay out all the compass course waypoints, something like 12, maybe at least 100 yds apart, mark the waypoints on your GPSr. When you are back at the lodge, use your route function on your unit to calculate bearing and distance. You can thus set up a couple different routings. Adjust the bearings for local variation of magnetic north, and you should be good.

 

Just for good measure, walk the course with a compass so that you don't have Tenderfoots getting lost in the wild. The Council folks get nervous when you start losing scouts. No sense of humor, those guys.

 

A funny anecdote: a few years back, one of the dads in our Cub Scout Pack laid out a compass course for the guys to run through on our Fall campout. It was a dandy! The only trouble was that everyone veered wildly from the first waypoint. So I sez, where IS the first waypoint? When I checked it out, I came up with a bearing about 90 degrees off. Hmmm... so I ask the dad how he got the first bearing. So he goes over to a wood picnic table (the starting point for the course) and plunks down his compass. Did I happen to mention the picnic table had IRON legs?

[+edscott]

I took my Scouts on a simple GPS course at our family campout last year. I hid a few boxes around our local State Park and we walked around and found the caches and took the goodies I had placed in them. The boys enjoyed getting the goodies but with only one GPS in the group(mine), the excercise lack a little.

This year I thought I might set up an simple orienteering course since most of the boys have compasses and I could purchase compasses for those that didn't. I was thinking about giving a short course on taking bearings and setting pace counts then having them start at point A going a certain direction and distance to point B and after a few check points eventually ending up at a "treasure".

Does anyone know of any courses or web links that would help me in setting this up?

I've looked around some but I can't find a link explaining how to set up a course.

I know this isn't really GPS related but I thought you guys might have some ideas.

Thanks

 

Read the merit badge booklet and the data at www.scoutorienteering.com. A couple things to realize about Orienteering are that electronic navigational devices are not allowed on the course and that the navigation is done by reading a map. Bearings and distances are not provided. If the competitors choose to go on straight line bearings they must calculate them on their own using a hand held compass and determine distances via the map scale. The pace and compass find the stick in the woods stuff isn't orienteering.

[MikeB3542]

The pace and compass find the stick in the woods stuff isn't orienteering.

 

No it isn't really Orienteering -- it doesn't have to be unless the boys are trying to work on merit badge requirements. Sounds like this scout leader/OP was just trying to set up a simple compass course.

 

The Orienteering MB pamphlet is a great resource, but I don't think that the goal is to produce a 2k cross-country course (that IS a requirement for the MB and requires map and compass work.) I think the goal here is to get the guys accustomed to navigating with compasses and estimating distances by sight and pace.

 

While not necessarily Orienteering, these ARE basic orienteering skills. For setting up a small course on a weekend where time is at a premium, I see nothing wrong with using gps to bootstrap the process.

 

To keep things honest, situate stations so that the straight bearing-and-pace approach doesn't necessarily work so good.

 

I would talk to someone with a local orienteering group if you want to try something more elaborate. They will be invaluable for the boys who want to continue on and work on the MB.

 

By the way, THE classic reference is "Be Expert with Map and Compass: The Complete Orienteering Handbook" by Bjorn Kjellstrom.

[+oldsoldier]

Ah, the pace count! Years later, I STILL remember mine! One thing you learn; you pace count goes up DRAMATICALLY when moving cross country.

[+edscott]

The pace and compass find the stick in the woods stuff isn't orienteering.

 

No it isn't really Orienteering -- it doesn't have to be unless the boys are trying to work on merit badge requirements. Sounds like this scout leader/OP was just trying to set up a simple compass course.

 

The Orienteering MB pamphlet is a great resource, but I don't think that the goal is to produce a 2k cross-country course (that IS a requirement for the MB and requires map and compass work.) I think the goal here is to get the guys accustomed to navigating with compasses and estimating distances by sight and pace.

 

While not necessarily Orienteering, these ARE basic orienteering skills. For setting up a small course on a weekend where time is at a premium, I see nothing wrong with using gps to bootstrap the process.

 

To keep things honest, situate stations so that the straight bearing-and-pace approach doesn't necessarily work so good.

 

I would talk to someone with a local orienteering group if you want to try something more elaborate. They will be invaluable for the boys who want to continue on and work on the MB.

 

By the way, THE classic reference is "Be Expert with Map and Compass: The Complete Orienteering Handbook" by Bjorn Kjellstrom.

 

Yes Kjellstrom was the classic reference for basic compass work. (He was a great guy, a wonderful host and owned Sylva) but there are a few more recent books on Orienteering that illustrate where the sport has gone since the 70s. If you can find a copy of the New Zealand Mountain Safety Council's "Orienteering", a book by Peter Wilson, New Zealand Mountain Safety Manual 25 [iSBN no 0-908931-01-8] it is a great resource for teaching real Orienteering. ...and thanks for the plug on the merit badge booklet.. we worked a long time with BSA to get that update released.

.

[+dew cache]

I can remember a game that taught orienteering that you could buy at scout shops go to www.scoutstuff.org and search for compass and two games come up I do not know if this is the one we used to use or not.

What you did was put 10-20 numbered stakes in the ground about 10' apart in a straight line. Give the teams a set of coords and distance and they would take off in a direction for so many feet then take another heading for so many feet. They did this for 4 or 5 headings and they would finally come back to the stakes and write down which stake they thought was their final. The team that was closest wins. It may sound easy but it is not very rarely would any team end up on the correct stake. I saw this done at several camporees and the winner was usually 2 stakes off. The game has it all laid out for you as far as the headings and distances but I am not sure if the ones on the web page is it. I am talking 15-20 years ago that I bought it, we used it several times on our troop campouts whenthe boys thought they were getting to good. You would also lay out a distance either 10' or 100' so the boys could get their pace.

[+edscott]

I can remember a game that taught orienteering that you could buy at scout shops go to www.scoutstuff.org and search for compass and two games come up I do not know if this is the one we used to use or not.

What you did was put 10-20 numbered stakes in the ground about 10' apart in a straight line. Give the teams a set of coords and distance

you probably mean give them a bearing not a set of coordinates

and they would take off in a direction for so many feet then take another heading for so many feet. They did this for 4 or 5 headings and they would finally come back to the stakes and write down which stake they thought was their final. The team that was closest wins. It may sound easy but it is not very rarely would any team end up on the correct stake. I saw this done at several camporees and the winner was usually 2 stakes off. The game has it all laid out for you as far as the headings and distances but I am not sure if the ones on the web page is it. I am talking 15-20 years ago that I bought it, we used it several times on our troop campouts whenthe boys thought they were getting to good. You would also lay out a distance either 10' or 100' so the boys could get their pace.

 

This was the Boy Scout version of Orienteering back in my childhood also, but today Orienteering is about map reading. A compass is usually taken along as a navigational aid, but only used once in awhile during a run. This exercise is a good way to teach compass work, but the kids need to understand that orienteering is more than taking bearings and following them. It's a lot like needing to know first aid to take a hike.

[+dew cache]

 

This was the Boy Scout version of Orienteering back in my childhood also, but today Orienteering is about map reading. A compass is usually taken along as a navigational aid, but only used once in awhile during a run. This exercise is a good way to teach compass work, but the kids need to understand that orienteering is more than taking bearings and following them. It's a lot like needing to know first aid to take a hike.

 

This was not when I was a boy but the scout master which I did for 18 years. We taught them both orienteering and map reading but the OP was wanting a "Beginning Orienteering Course" so that is what I was trying to do.

 

I remember while on a trek at Philmount you could not get any bearing on anything in order to get a back bearing because of trees so we had a guided learning experience, I taught them how to use the map without being able to get the two bearings by looking at the area and compairing what they saw to what they could find on the map by knowing what trail they were on. I was taught to be a forward artillary observer in the army and can give 8 digit coords and I tried to pass a lot of that onto the boys.

[+GEO*Trailblazer 1]

Orientation is a function of the mind involving awareness of three dimensions: time, place and person.

 

Now we can become more aware and use tools to help us stay oriented.

 

1st One has to be aware of his particular place and surroundings on the planet or within a defined area.

I can and am always aware of where I am others should try to practice this without the use of technology or tools just your mind.

What if we did not have it (technological gadgets)or could not use it?

Foresight.

 

2nd How we can get from one place to another and remember how to get back to that (POB) Point of Beginning.

Back sight.

 

3rd One has to be able to maneuver within this area and stay aware of all his surroundings while keeping track..by memory,compass,GPS,pace,map or other tools.

 

Orienteering takes great mental ability to keep track of things without the use of tools,this is my opinion of it.

It requires you to make mental notes and make bearing objects like Mountain Peaks,trees,certian rock features,make small mounds of stones or any other objects you can use for reference points.

 

You can go to an area with a blank piece of paper and a pencil and draw out your surroundings and then the area you are going to use as well without anything other than what is there to guide you.

If one is good he can draw a map in his mind,but that does not help the others to learn how to.

 

Many Treasure Maps I have worked on use symbols and such to mark out areas.

Once to the right area you use the clues(map you drew).

You could use a Staff or stick at the first stop as a measuring device for the next set of adventures and clues.

 

You can be as intricate as you like or just simple as well.

[+edscott]

 

This was the Boy Scout version of Orienteering back in my childhood also, but today Orienteering is about map reading. A compass is usually taken along as a navigational aid, but only used once in awhile during a run. This exercise is a good way to teach compass work, but the kids need to understand that orienteering is more than taking bearings and following them. It's a lot like needing to know first aid to take a hike.

 

This was not when I was a boy but the scout master which I did for 18 years. We taught them both orienteering and map reading but the OP was wanting a "Beginning Orienteering Course" so that is what I was trying to do.

 

I remember while on a trek at Philmount you could not get any bearing on anything in order to get a back bearing because of trees so we had a guided learning experience, I taught them how to use the map without being able to get the two bearings by looking at the area and compairing what they saw to what they could find on the map by knowing what trail they were on. I was taught to be a forward artillary observer in the army and can give 8 digit coords and I tried to pass a lot of that onto the boys.

 

I was simply pointing out that Orienteering as the sport has now evolved does not involve much compass work and certainly does not involve attaching numbers to a bearing in any way. The compass is used to orient the map and the map is used to find the control point. Learning to use the compass is a skill that is needed, but practicing that skill alone is not Orienteering. The map can be a simple hand drawn trail map, a USGS Topo, or a specialized Orienteering map; but using a plain sheet of paper with bearings and distances is more like surveying not Orienteering. Check www.scoutorienteering.com for a more complete picture of Orienteering at the scout level. Go to Orienteering map for an example of the current map standards for Orienteering.

Edited May 10, 2008 by edscott