NIGHT NAVIGATION

Due to the fact that man is not a nocturnal animal seeing at night has its limitations, especially without artificial light. He becomes very unsure of himself and his surroundings especially in unknown terrain.

Movement at Night

Moving on foot at night will be much slower and this should be taken into consideration when planning your route. Also remember you could be caught out, or delayed on a walk during daylight and you may have to finish in darkness especially during the winter months.

Using a Compass at Night

If you have to cover distances cross country at night to get to your destination, it should be done in stages and on magnetic bearings.

Once you have taken the grid bearing of your intended route apply the magnetic bearing to your compass, look down the bearing line and try and pick out an object or feature on your line of march, advance until you are at that location, check the bearing and carry out the same procedure until you reach your destination.

Even at night, because of the difference in darkness between the sky and ground, you will be able to locate features, objects on the skyline, even if this means laying down to observe. The only exception to this would be bad visibility.

Point to note: If you are having a problem seeing the luminous parts of your compass, all you have to do is shine the light of your torch onto the compass this will illumnate the luminous parts.

Leap Frogging

Another way is to send someone out in front of you keeping them on the bearing by talking to them, or using hand signals or a combination of both. Once that person starts to disappear from view (your limit of visibility) tell them to stop. Walk forward and join up with them and then carry out the procedure again until you reach your destination.

This method is slow, but can be very accurate when combined with pacing.

The basic technique used for night navigation is dead reckoning.

When moving around in the dark, it is safer to move slowly.

Travel at a steady pace and avoid running.

You tend to travel slower and take shorter steps, you will need to adjust your pace count.

Check your position at least every 30 minutes.

Lifting your knees higher than normal when walking will reduce the risk of stumbling.

Pitfalls

It is esential at night or in bad visibility, prior to moving, that you really study your intended route on the map before proceeding, looking for any potenial hazards that could be a danger to you or your party.

Ambient Light

This is the light that comes from the moon and stars. On a clear moonlit night its amazing how much ground detail you can see,especially if you do away with artificial light and just use your eyes.

Judging Distances

At night this is even harder than in daylight due to shadow and dead ground. How many times have you had someone walking towards you with a torch on, and you have said to yourself he's a good bit away, and before you know it that person is standing beside you.

Using your Senses

At night and in bad visibility it is always advisable to stop, stand still and listen, its amazing what you can hear especially at night. For example if you where looking for a stream or river you will hear the water, also looking for a wood or plantation you will hear the wind in the trees, even a slight wind. All sound travels further at night.

Safety

When moving at night with a party or team it his advisable to nominate a responsible person to bring up the rear of the party or team.

Their role is to make sure that no other member of the party or team drops back behind them, keeping the whole group together and under control.

It is not easy in any circumstances to hold to a constant course in the dark. Every precaution should be taken and plenty of practice is needed before it can be done with complete confidence.

Finding the North Star

FINDING THE NORTH STAR

Except for Polaris the stars of the Little Bear are not very prominent and the usual way of locating Polaris is to identfy the very distinctive stars of the Great Bear (The Plough) and to extend the line from the so-called pointers about five times to the first bright star. This is Polaris. If the Great Bear is obscured for any reason the constellation Casseopeia may be used; Casseopeia has a distinctive "W" configuration and is also easily identified.

ARGYLL OUTDOOR NAVIGATION