Rule of Thumb ESTIMATE DISTANCE

Using the rule of thumb to estimate distance
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[@DavidCanterbury]

For those asking about the multiplier of 10 the distance between you eyes is about 1/10 the distance to your fist.

[@instantsiv]

900 meters is just over half a mile. Guessing 2 mph walking speed thru the fields would take about 15 minutes. That’s useful info, thank you for showing it.

[@eatmorenachos]

Math is hard, but that's a brilliant idea. Reminds me of the method you showed for estimating how much time you have until sunset (extend your arm and count how many finger widths the sun is from the horizon. Each finger equals 15 minutes). I use it all the time.

[@mr.zardoz3344]

Back in the day, the Rule of Thumb, meant you couldn't beat your wife or kids with a stick thicker then your thumb. Hence, Rule of Thumb. Its also mentioned in the movie Boondock Saints.

[@scottm6927]

Appreciate the learnin', sir! Very sorry to hear y'all won't be at BLADE SHOW this year. I've really enjoyed seeing/chatting/shopping with you there the last 2 years. In all honesty, was the highlight of the shows for me. You will be missed for certain. My family's best to you and yours!

[@patslee1394]

thank you. very informative video. i already use the fingers method to guess relative time till the sun goes down below horizon as its pretty good and will now be trying this too for distance. appreciate all you release for free.

[@spiritsuit7846]

The most useful information I have heard in a long time. Thanks Dave!

[@Uncivil-Engie]

Perfect! A good fast substitute when you need to range something. This is pretty similar in concept to milling with a scope. I suspect the x10 multiplier is an approximate ratio of your arm length to your eye spacing and should be very consistent for most people. Never ceases to amaze me how much you can do with just a little know-how. Thank you for a great video, as always!

[@jasoncastle4818]

Dave is a Jedi knight!! Outstanding AF!!

[@abcstardust]

Thank you for this excellent video!

[@sherripittman2872]

Thank you for sharing your knowledge …….leaned something new ❤🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏

[@Doodlefisher]

Minute of angle 📐 vs minute of thumb 👍 thumb is approximately one inch thick. Inches to yards using parallel shift of eyes which are roughly 1 1/2 to “2” apart in triangulation to distance. 2divided by 1 or in half. Yardage measured by stride of step can vary according to flexibility and posture and terrain. That’s why it’s estimated roughly and not in precision. Got it!

[@davidadams8209]

Thank U Brother for all the info & teaching! Great video's! GODBLESS U!

[@outdoor-suedost]

Hello Dave, what an awesome little tip, for improvising out in the fields! Thanks for showing and all the best from Austria 🇦🇹🤠👍🏕🔥

[@perpirak00]

Really brilliant and effective way! 👍

[@herbsmith6871]

Good stuff Dave! Thanks for sharing 🤠

[@intotheriver9]

Great trick. Good to see how you reasoned out the distance to the house. I'm a poor judge of distance and dimension (always getting a tape measure out even for things that only require approximation), but I think this trick will help me hone my intuition for these things. Thanks for sharing.

[@kotycassidy6955]

So cool you showed this my grandfather taught me this technique when I was 10 or so shooting my Fred bear recurve. Dave you are a treasure please keep these knowledge videos coming so important

[@curtisbottoms3316]

Thank you for the info.

[@davidribner9190]

This is an awesome technique. Thank you for sharing.

[@user-cs3hi8zp7p]

Great stuff Dave!! And guesstimating the lengths of objects is always rounded, so being a lil short or long is a given! Super accurate to hone in on "bout how far" questions!💪😎👍

[@averagecamper4265]

I was expecting dave to just get in the jeep and drive off

[@GlennShaffstall]

Nice tip Dave! I need to get out and try this.

[@The_Story_Channel]

This was a better explanation of the rule of thumb than the last video that I watched. Thanks.

[@yyyalbert]

Well explained Mr Canterbury .Thats a great Method that i use since i was i kid

[@darrenspurling2357]

Thanks, great tips Dave..

[@deborahsweitzer4901]

That's awesome!! Thank you!! God bless.

[@danielww9022]

This is an excellent approximation skill for bow hunters like myself (i.e., those who won't take a shot beyond 50 yards). I've compared my estimates to the digital rangefinder, & am 100% confident with taking a shot based on thumb estimates. I have noticed some discrepancy when thumbing distances uphill/downhill, though. I'm not sure why that is. It doesn't make sense to me, but i can live with that. The digital rangefinder accounts for all that, so I'm good. Thanks for the video, Dave.

[@KT_survival]

Great tip David, thank you.

[@apar1560]

Very intresting, GREAT DEMO SIR 👍 THANKS ...Alan in 🇨🇱

[@elevatorman7750]

Great video

[@andreaardy1080]

Learn so much from you! Thanks 😊

[@stephenstruman7235]

Just tried this across the room and it’s pretty accurate.

[@annakonda6727]

This is a great tip! Thanks.

[@ricdonato4328]

Very good example for estimating distance. Thank you for sharing a very useful tip. FYI, your camera (cell phone) is vertical, portrait orientation, when capturing video always have the camera in landscape, horizontal, orientation. A vertically captured video is spatially disorientating. Portrait captured videos are called stick videos for a reason, the left 1/3 and the right 1/3 of the image is cut off (appears blank on the screen), however the viewer sees a tall narrow center of the video dead center on their screen. Vertical captured videos appear as if the viewers are looking through a keyhole or wearing horse blinders. Notice, every TV screen, Computer screen, movie theater screen, and the like, is orientated horizontally not vertically, thus we want our video to fill a screen fully left and right. Also, every human, maybe all animals, see their world considerably more horizontal than vertical. Thus, when capturing videos always orientate the camera or cell phone horizontal a.k.a. landscape, never portrait, vertical, mode. Hope this helps you and other folks using a cell phone as well.

[@benterwellen]

Dave, good to know, Ty for sharing..

[@raymondward1009]

I’ve seen a lot of survival l tips videos and I think this is probably the most important thing to know how to do!

[@PenntuckytheCrag]

this is great Dave. thx

[@paulharding1621]

Very interesting.

[@zarar7777]

I am watching you here from Pakistan. I like and started follow you from dual-survival. Stay safe. Stay blessed.

[@markh5889]

My thumb thanks you!! Good info

[@RebelTyrantKing]

I sure will use this method when I go bow hunting, miss u on dual survival. After u left the show, I only hung in there for Cody. Dual survival is dead to me once u both were off it. 1 question though if I can, do u ever meet up with Cody n hang out or something? Yall seemed like good friends as yalls time on the show progressed.

[@sdr22630]

A better explanation than the other video I saw on this topic.

[@outdoorchris333]

Good information to know. Yet another tool in the toolbox. Thanks

[@2acarrier303]

Thanks David. That is a awesome trick! Will be using that a lot.

[@reidycruise]

When buddy?

[@dennistoufexis5790]

Very cool! I'll be trying it this weekend.

[@reidycruise]

Never heard of it before until the other day but now it’s all over it

[@jasonpullan488]

Cool trick!!! Time to go for a walk and try

[@douglasmuncy8507]

Good video Dave bring back the kitchen series!!!

[@dgourdine50]

Very Cool

[@unfi6798]

We figured that you've done some ground work for this vid. This is an old native hack that were use in the good old days. We carry that tradition & knowledge untill today. It is also practice in the military etc. Cheers DC. Stay safe cobber.!

[@sturisa]

Thanks Dave, I'll try it out!

[@kennethwilson8633]

Even on flat ground you probably only take about a 30 inch step … great video thanks Have fun stay safe.

[@amateurshooter6054]

Thanks Dave

[@davidcampbell7209]

This is also good for estimates on tree height

[@jonfishbough9497]

Good info Thank you.

[@richstone2627]

Good video. I don't care what anyone says about that Jeep, it's cool Brother. Thanks for all you do.

[@kevinmoyer6224]

Thats awesome. Im going to try this soon

[@leealtmansr.3811]

Thank you 👍

[@1fromtheroad]

I remember this from Boy Scouts in the late 60’s. Still applies.

[@melaniedebagheera7082]

Another awesome tool for the toolbox!

[@ExpeditionaryJonny]

Is that the same house we looked at the other day? What a neat way to estimate distances. I'll give it a try and let's see if I can start picking it up. I appreciate you , Dave!

[@awells9153]

That is pretty cool always heard that saying never knew how to use it thanks

[@kohinarec6580]

So that's how it works!

[@NichGatton]

That was impressive!

[@blackhatbushcraft]

Excellent content brother! I have not seen this technique before.

[@nickmakarewicz8441]

This is a huge help, thanks!

[@wademartin8822]

LOVE THIS VIDEO!

[@bunyslayer]

Definitely quick and dirty numbers but amazing that it works as good as it does!

[@Mart687]

Great method but its more a short range trick. But i never heard of it. So thanks. But the bigger the distance and the smaller the target, the harder it becomes. In my recon platoon, we were spotters for artillery also so if you have features in the terrain, you can use a map to try and figure out the location and distance from you to that location. But with no reference points it's hard to guess long range distance. So we trained on it a lot to guess long range distance. When you first start doing it, you're absolutely terrible at it. A battle tank/big object is easier than a person. Is this target 500 meter, 600 or 800 meters away? We practiced that a lot cause it's very important in recon. So spotting for artillery you guess the location and get on the radio, give coordinates, ask for 1 round to see where it lands. Takes like half a minute cause they are 17km behind you. And you correct it like 1 forward and 2 left, bit like that, one more round. If you're on target you say a word i can't translate but the whole battery of howitzers fires not on the same location but in a grid pattern around it and 2 times. It's crazy to watch the impacts and devastation of artillery rounds like that. Later in life at a company party, we doing a game where you had to answer questions in teams. Who do zebra's have stripes. (heat regulation and camo so a hurd becomes a giant barcode in a dust cloud so hard to target 1 btw) And we had to guess the distance between 2 cones from 10 meter/30 feet away. I won and i was off by 10mm/1cm. It was like 5 meters and 6cm and my guess was 5 meters and 5cm. How did you do that they asked me? Dunno i just can. I won a fire extinguisher. Yay! If you want to get into guessing distances. You train to do it. Like Dave is showing in the video. With this method, do it yourself. And guess and walk it out like he did. Here the distance between 2 lamp posts is 25 meters. How many steps do you take between 2 lamp posts? 30 maybe. So 15 steps is 12,5 meters. Practise like that to get a feel for guessing distance. And what dave is showing is very cool. You can guess and check/correct yourself. Very cool video Dave. You're awesome for sharing your knowledge. Shawn is awesome too btw. Love his channel.

[@hillbillyholler516]

Pretty good, but I'm almost blind on one eye so I will have to stick with my range finder

[@CoyoteRidge]

Thats cool , thanks Dave

[@bikiniluvnguy1]

I've suggested this before myself. I have used a digital rangefinder to confirm a distance, then done the thumb thing and see how it looks at the known distance. then you have your reference scale.

[@darylsarbaugh3491]

We did a lot of this as Division Scouts we had access to Field Artillery, Naval Gun Fire, CAS, and Fast Movers. Estimating distance was very critical so you don't have to make many adjustments. Ideally Fire for effect second time.

[@davidmerritt5702]

Excellent

[@guyperry8888]

Distance estimates have always been difficult for me for me to do. WITH me being half blind and no depth perception. Nobody to teach me because they did not understand the way I see. I thought maybe your method might work for me. Until watching the video and realizing that you needed two working eyes. Any input, advice, or help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks. P.S.. Great video and information.

[@chadlassiter6380]

Good stuff, is that one of those new Henry revolvers boss?

[@antonio4660]

So cool!

[@weshenry9592]

That is good advice but what if you only have 1 eye like me?

[@Hoose111]

wow, awesome

[@terryqueen3233]

I've seen this explained one time before and that all sounds about right

[@jeffrdnck7973]

I’m going to try this but I wonder how my astigmatism in my left eye might affect this

[@vadimssipolnieks2103]

Also you can use tools for measurment with close distance saying 100 meters anything moving to target how many time less it is distance

[@everready19373]

How would you estimate the distance of an object 5' 10" high? Asking for a friend.

[@dpete8995]

Cool, never heard of this technique before… I’ll u see it…

[@bigjimwvmtman9995]

Glad to view you on CNN about Colombia plane crash children lost 16 days in jungle.

[@BRADASSOFFGRIDHOMESTEAD]

This is called parallax. Neat idea to use an "error" to judge distance.

[@social3ngin33rin]

interesting, never thought about trying to figure this out using my thumb :) I might try doing some math :) (and using a laser range finder lol)

[@FidoHouse]

Cool!

[@Jaden48108]

This is something anyone can do in their yard. Valuable lesson to a bow hunter.

[@EdAtoZ]

David, you do that differently than I do. I line up on one edge of the object instead of the center of the object.

[@DavidCanterbury]

Generally can cover with a thumb at distance in the case of something like the Jeep closer to you I may have been more accurate

[@nickcosta8062]

So how does this work for someone like myself whose blind in one eye?

[@Drkhig]

What if you are blind in one eye? When i switch eyes the object disappears

[@mrfixit011]

👍👍

[@jeremymoses7401]

Lol.... i probably wouldve called it a click and called it a day😂.... especially once that elevation change over distance gets involved

[@Flashahol]

Funny, I just watched a year old video on the subject a day before this came up....

[@MrWaththage]

Who else count the steps with him

[@Moto_Medics]

This is awesome I’m abysmal at guessing distances never learned I suppose thank you

[@reidycruise]

I’ve shot a deer at 400 yards how does this help me ?

[@SherryTheSecretary]

Will this work when figuring height as well? Like the height of a tree or a hill?

[@melaniedebagheera7082]

There is a very similar method...yes

[@SimonRiley115]

I would have just guessed 50 ft for the tree and 100 ft for the truck lol