The best methods to packing is to have your instructors measure off a chain course before leaving base.  A surveyor's chain is a unit of measurement that is very handy for pacing and map work.  A chain is 66 feet.  The way you measure off a chain in the woods is by counting your paces...to count a pace, you count every other foot-fall. For instance, start with your feet together, step first with your left foot, and then you will count every time your right foot takes a step.

    So, walk the 66' course several times to get the best estimate of your pace.  Your pace should be something close to 10 to 15 paces per chain.  When you are out in the woods and need to use this method, you can count in your head until you count 10 chains worth of paces. So, if you pace is 13 paces per chain, you'd count until your right foot hit the ground 130 times and then you'd know you've walked 10 chains.

    Here is the cool part: there are 80 chains per mile. So, you know when you've walked 20 chains, you have gone 1/4 mile (40 chains to the half mile, and so forth).  Since we rarely pace-off more than a mile at a time, keeping track of 10 chain units is pretty easy.

 

 

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