Intro to Orienteering

This clip is from the video vault in my Keep the Blaze Alive Coaching Squad (aka “The Squad”). The Squad has three levels of membership, and we meet weekly online with a 2-hour livestream where I answer questions and tell stories, and the Tier 1 members get two monthly two-hour Zoom calls where we talk face-to-face. I also host two 3-day events per year for my Tier 1 members. Learn more about The Squad at / coachingsquad
#PatMac #PatMcNamara

[@michaelbierlein5642]

I would definitely like to get into more detail with your presentations. When I went through basic training it was a basic familiarization. I’d like to have a better working knowledge and one of these days I plan to take a class.

[@wannabecarguy]

I joined a group and we were taught how to do land nav. Should you volunteer for search and rescue they will need people who know how to use a map.

[@RB-vr7mq]

Taught to get lost in a straight line...

[@frccustomguns7859]

You can literally buy books about this shit. Boy Scouts used to teach this.

[@joeybaggadoughnuts5715]

Love the information and educational value of the video. Plus, to me watching Pat's videos is like watching Snoopy & Woodstock: always put me in a good mood! 😊

[@SwitchbackGuitars]

Pat Mac is the professor we all need but don’t deserve.

[@rostamr4096]

it is 4 am where i am, and I love watching this....

[@sciencerocks9613]

Thanks for the video. I did orienteering on a regular basis in gym class as a kid growing up in Sweden back in the late 70's and early 80's. There was also a regular weekend orienteering competition open for all to join in the little town that I grew up in. It was a great way to enjoy nature. So watching your video brought back many good old memories 😊 Thanks

[@cptxlobster]

Amazing class, even in the brief time you delivered it. Land nav was my favorite part of the infantry- walkin' through the woods! It is difficult to master. I would love to see you take some time while on your camping adventures to show real examples of route planning, use of compass, use of protractor, and what most everybody forgets: checking the map scale first!!! Thanks Pat, you're awesome!!

[@chadweir1246]

Definitely more of these Pat, such a great skill to learn and always good to gain knowledge on how to cross arduous terrain, map reading and plotting courses for maximum efficiency. Ace brother

[@Kamtheman1]

Nice video Pat. I was taught map reading and orienteering in high school by a retired Lt. Col Army Ranger. Prime Vietnam era vet too, so he really knew his stuff. Always enjoyed land nav, and went on many field trips doing orienteering courses on the weekends with our class. Great time, underrated life skill, and in my mind 100% basic dude stuff. Thanks for the content, and would enjoy a more in depth video on your experiences and expertise in map reading. Thanks again, and keep up the good work with the great content. P.S. - this is a potentially life saving skills folks, no different than basic first aid. It’s a joy to learn too, so LEARN IT! It could save your life.

[@barrysmith916]

Thanks Mac, real skills for real world survival. Land Nav is an art all itself .

[@billplunkett8989]

Awesome job explaining the fundamentals of Orienteering and Land Nav! First time learning this topic and made total sense!

[@jakeb8856]

Thank you. I’ve had an itch to dig into these topics to improve my outdoor skills. This was a great primer. Much appreciated!

[@patrickoberem9109]

Getting after it - making a difference. Good job Pat.

[@moscowcowboy_13]

Great info Pat, and as usual everything is on point! One of the most useful things I learned in the Boy Scouts growing up was how to do my paces for 100 ft, how to read a contour map, using visual landmarks, reading a compass, accounting for declination etc. How to find direction when it's a cloudy day, using moss on trees. Most people have no clue about any of this.

[@jefflemaster2850]

I learned in the Boy Scouts as well- unfortunately I have forgotten some things.

[@CoolestDude38NC]

I like this video. Im fifty four, Im an old Eagle Scout and at one time decades ago I was really good at orienteering and land navigation. Used to do a lot of land nav in the Uwharrie mountains of NC. Additionally, I have a Bachelor's degree in Geography from 1994. Took classes in cartography and a lot of physical geography, climatology. Not tooting my own horn but at one time I could have smoked most Army infantry guys and infantry Marines on the subjects of land nav and orienteering. Watching your video makes me want to get back into that stuff.

[@Yoshimurha]

Thanks for the time and the video+editing! Clear pricise and to the point. Great balance. Appreciate the upload, helped me understand some fundamental basics that my 8th grade teacher in the 1990's never managed to explain in an understandable way, haha.✔👌🤘

[@kennyellis5535]

Your the man Pat ! I have never been in the military. And I salute everyone that has. But I believe our military was at its best when you was in listed.. Your knowledge of the system is very impressive

[@MBriggs-vu2ko]

I’m at home in the woods and on the water. Get me near a city and my palms get sweaty. Love the content Mac!

[@steveowen5143]

Informative to hear him differentiate between land nav and orienteering.

[@randypennington4968]

Awesome clear instructions !From a true HERO !

[@williamvigil2951]

Army proof I like it. It's been so long since I've done any land nav this is a good refresher. Keep up the the good work.

[@southernrockiesselfreliance]

I’ve seen a lot of these but this one really HIT. Thanks!

[@jed9615]

Great video brother, keep walking with our KING!

[@luguefamily1498]

The way you put it into layman's terms makes it very easy to understand in a very short time. Please make a series/ follow up vids. Thank you

[@BxKRs]

Brings me back. Would definitely like to see more videos on the topic.

[@maxgoldbergstein4746]

Every time I visit this channel, I end up going and buying something:-) Thanks for the education PM. God bless you and yours.

[@wildseedtheron]

Thanks for making this so accessible!

[@james9902]

I love your content and would love to see more on this topic. Thank you Sir.

[@mascasa7502]

I always enjoyed orienteering and land nav but what Mac said about geo-referencing the spur puts things in a new perspective. Good nuggets of info.

[@J0HN3]

Thanks for the video!

[@irondiver292]

Excellence. Give us the full spin up P Mac and crew. Get some, in the right direction.

[@kellymouton7242]

Absolutely! This is a very useful skill, whether GPS works or not. Plotting routes and using terrain features is easy to overwhelm ne students. Keep it simple, and take 1 bite at a time!

[@FastHatTrick]

One thing I have learned in my time in the military (32 years) is that special forces guys are incredible teachers, they have a way of explaining things down to a level that is easily grasped in chunks big enough to take in without overwhelming ya. Thanks Mac!

[@Will_1911]

Please do more of these videos. Love them

[@jerichok1913]

Thank you for your knowledge, and I wouldn't mind more on the topic. Thank you.

[@lacticacidtrip]

Awesome brush stroke of knowledge right there! Thank you

[@toddstewart4135]

More of this please. Awesome stuff!!

[@jmartina3572]

This was awesome! Hard to believe you packed all that info in 9 min and 49 seconds.

[@pamountains2]

Great information Mac

[@SGavin]

Fortunate and grateful that my father loved the outdoors and taught me some of these principles as a kid. Thanks for the video, brings back great memories.

[@cej3940]

Please do more of this! My family and I have a plot of land and was thinking about trying to learn orienteering as I figured it would be helpful

[@herk6124]

Yes sir! More please... Great stuff!

[@teleandtwin65]

More! Well done.

[@jstep100]

You do a great job of teaching sir! thanks much!

[@wagr9824]

Pat, great video, would definitely like to see more orienteering videos. As you highlighted, orienteering is a perishable skill and I it is one skill that I believe is not easily mastered.

[@supernova8642]

Orienteering is awesome look for clubs in your area. We do the same route planning to train for national events. You nailed the terms And key details🤘🏼.

[@prospero6337]

🌟PatMac...glad you are such a good dude. You just get at it. love sharing your vids.🎩

[@stevefournier6375]

Great instruction, Pat, thanks for posting class.

[@rushedandlost]

Interesting. Good information. Haven't used these methods since the 90s when I and 3 or 4 friends back packed in the Rocky Mountains of Wyoming and Colorado. Six-day trips. Great presentation. Thanks .

[@sean58271]

I’d like to hear a lot more on this subject, thanks Pat!

[@Gothicwoodcraft]

Very cool, looking forward to more of these vids. I def need a refresher on all of this.

[@mordecai7820]

Terrain association and looser orienteering is a thoroughly neglected topic-- thank you for dropping the knowledge, more is always appreciated.

[@empizzle8]

Excellent presentation, please continue on with it

[@Blackcloud_Garage]

Great stuff. Even when everyone else hated Land Nav and tried to get out of it I always thought it was interesting and I miss it from my days in the Army. I'd like to take a class to relearn it. Please keep it up in the future👍👍

[@pisom4314]

thanks for sharing your wealth of knowledge with us!!! i would like to see more content on this subject!!

[@josephrosenberg8196]

Awesome block with regards to measuring distance, deadreckoning, and some terrain features. Wld love to see more!

[@joelauda7501]

More please. Great summary, thx.

[@Foreverandever431]

Very much liked this. Please do more thank you

[@georgekirby3361]

For some reason I can learn more in ten minutes from you, then watching hours of others. Yes I want to know more. Any and everything please and thank you.

[@jaypee389]

Definitely Good to understand this stuff

[@brettmcculloch5342]

Thanks for the info Pat. I’ve always been interested in land navigation and orienteering so i found this insightful. I’d be interested in seeing more detailed videos on the subject. Keep up the great work!

[@bradsmith5838]

Fantastic Sir!!

[@heathennomad2539]

Thank you Pat

[@kimfoster9196]

Great vid Pat. I would like to see more of this stuff.

[@HiPpiEBoi]

Awesome. Thanks for the explanation.

[@11Wholegrain]

Bro! Do more! This is awesome. I feel like you could do a whole class on this and in multiple layers. Thanks, Pat!

[@mstjerning8919]

Awesome! I would like to dive more into this topic.

[@SeaJayBelfast]

Not joking here, I never realised there was a standardised way maps are folded. I've always kept re-folding it any old way till it rips. 10 years of learning orienteering with Beavers, Cubs and Scouts and Pat's taught me more in about 10 seconds.

[@RichIrving]

Thanks for this! Map and compass is DEFINITELY a lost art. People rely on GPS too much and can neither read a map like you explained, nor use a compass. This was a great introduction to the topic. I'd suggest as a follow up the basics of taking a grid reference on a map (4, 6, 8 figure) then shooting a bearing. It's easy to overwhelm a new person on this topic, you did a great job at breaking it down in simple terms. All the best from Nova Scotia!

[@fishduckdog]

Thanks for sharing! My favorite land navigation! Hope all goes well for you and family.

[@Lobo204RHF]

Always found maps beautiful can learn so much from them.

[@zrex8911]

Awesome info. Rock n roll out some more of these for sure!

[@azhivago2296]

Love this - fascinating.

[@countfurioso7589]

We like this. And we want to get into it a lot more.

[@bobvan2576]

Thanks for another handy video. I check out (pretty well) all your content, but an educational series about orienteering would definitely be must see tv. Thanks again! Best, Bob

[@fitzgeni16]

Use this skill all the time riding and especially when making and blazing new trail in the PNW.

[@catshunt5044]

Great information! Respect!

[@marcushom6789]

Great presentation. I would like to see more. I compete in an event called Sniper Adventure Challenge, and this is the most compressed version of what people need to know.

[@fl260]

Pat, you ARE the man. This is key knowledge. Keep making these!

[@holisticonomist8136]

Definitely a deteriorating skill. Thanks for helping me dust out the cobwebs. Keep the land nav/orienteering lessons coming! Thanks Pat

[@BG-nl3hy]

I feel I could watch this particular type of video for hours.... love keeping in mind the tactical advantage...rock n roll you badass

[@ed008ue]

Pat, good to have a refresher course on Land Nav !!!

[@TheDillio187]

love this, Pat. I'd definitely like to see more. Thanks!

[@zhilaxfow7888]

We like this.

[@dannyhardesty3692]

I learned some of this in Boy Scouts long ago. Pat Mac would be an awesome Scoutmaster!

[@woodsghost9088]

I love the "Time Hack" stuff. That was new to me.

[@mikelearned1628]

Really enjoyed this. I never went to ITS, so this is very valuable to me. I've told several vets that missing this subject matter is one of my regrets of not going to ITS and just going straight into Admin schools. Semper Fi.

[@ph5915]

Excellent info! A few years back another KZbinr, 'Corporals Corner' had a couple videos on land nav and using a compass in the woods and the counting beads, it was very informative, stuff I never knew (I'm a city boy). He was a US Marine so he knew the charts and all too. It's not very difficult once you know what to do, but I'm sure there are many of us in the modern-day have no clue. LOL. Always enjoy your videos, Pat!

[@tendraftsdeep]

@Glizzy6d Exactly. I stopped following Corporal recently because of his whining and complaining about KZbin analytics and not making enough money

[@asmith7876]

@@tendraftsdeep Maybe give him another shot, he's backed off the whining! LOL

[@jkrjhn8]

Excellent!

[@thechad8997]

Love everything you're doing brother! Keep up the great work and thanks!

[@dominickbosson1107]

Love to see more, sir 🤘

[@Sjackson2369]

Great explanations there Pat.

[@thecookiechannel7083]

Thank you!!

[@Voxclamantis]

Loved this clip - so much great data in a short package, explained clearly and easily digestable - more digestable than other orienteering lessons I've watched or read. Would love more lessons in land nav and orienteering!

[@midnightblue131]

Great stuff Mac, would love to see more.

[@ChristofferKeizer]

Thank you, sir.

[@Michael-yt3wz]

Yes, I have been re-learning this information lately and would be grateful to see much more information on this. I am able to now plot gps coords on my topo-map, but am still not using just the map by itself. I want to get there with the GPS as a backup.

[@GlockPistolero]

Please do more of this

[@user-pr3ho5pz4m]

You did a good job explaining. Very interesting subject.

[@Lame_Duck]

👍 Thanks for the free lesson !

[@suntzu5836]

Top Shelf Knowledge! Time to get out and EXPLORE😎