Category: Land Navigation & GPS

Letter Re: OPSEC Issue: Geotagging on Pictures from Smart Phones

Dear Mr. Rawles, With the proliferation of smart phones, as well as advanced cameras with GPSs installed, people may be giving away more information than they intend to when they snap and distribute pictures. This can be an operational security (OPSEC) issue. Embedded in the Exchangeable Image File (EXIF) data on the picture, the GPS coordinates of the picture location may be stored for anyone to access. This is especially a problem as people post these pictures online (for social networking, emailing to friends/family, or for online sales, etc.). This embedded GPS data can reveal the exact location of your …


Non-Electronic Navigation, by Noil

In the modern world more and more people are dependent upon their electronic devices to get them from point A to point B. But what happens when those devices stop working? It can happen either through a natural cause such as a geomagnetic storm, or something man-made like electromagnetic pulse (EMP), a terrorist [cyber] attack, or war. What the majority of people do not realize is that the GPS satellite network is owned and operated by the US Department of Defense. In a case of martial law or an act of war on US soil, civilian access to GPS may …


Letter Re: Making Land Navigation and Stealthy Movement Fun

Taking a page from my Marine Corps training from way back and utilizing the civilian environment which we are in I believe I have come across a fun way for groups/families to practice land navigation (land nav) and stealth/concealment at the same time. I have two young teen age children and have been trying to teach them land nav which is somewhat fun for a short time but they haven’t really gotten it yet. One thing kids really like is hide and seek another is to camouflage up. I liked it and in the past become very proficient and blending …


Long-Term Preparedness and the Eight Mechanical Arts, by J.D.

It’s one thing to prepare for an unexpected event that you can ride out in the course of a week or two; secure, defensible shelter that functions without the grid, a store of food and water, and stockpiles of essentials such as ammo and medical supplies may be more than enough to last until the disaster passes and social order is restored. But what about long-term survival in the face of TEOTWAWKI?  I’ve always found it instructive to study how we lived before 20th-century innovations such as electricity and refrigeration and potable water piped right into the kitchen. It wasn’t …


Letter Re: Wife Rescue–Another Tale of GPS Over-Reliance in the Backcountry

Dear Editor: I am writing this hoping to let others learn from my families’ ordeal. Our summer camping trip almost became a search and rescue operation. From July 8th to the 18th, several friends and I ventured into the mountains of Arizona for a leisurely cooler [high country] camping trip. During the first half of this trip I had my three daughters with me, while my wife had stayed home near Phoenix. She planned to come up the last weekend of the camping trip as she is not a big fan of camping. I had planned ahead for her and …


Letter Re: Practice Night Hiking to Get Ready to Bug Out to Your Retreat

The following describes my recent “dry run” at bugging out on foot. I’ve been thinking that someday soon I will be in need of backpacking over to my group’s retreat. So I created a plan to make a dry run. I grabbed my basic day pack (a Camelbak hydration pack with the minimum goodies in it.) My load included, three liters of water, simple folding knife, space blanket, fire starter, single pen of bug stuff, a few Cliff bars, and speed loaders for my Ruger .357 Magnum. I also had spare batteries for my head lamp, and a bottle of …


Map Reading and Land Navigation for G.O.O.D. Planning, by SSG Q.

Having the equipment and skill necessary to travel cross-country can prove to be very beneficial in a number of survival scenarios.  A key component to cross country travel is map reading and orienteering.  The equipment that you will need for this is a map, a lensatic compass, and a US Military Square 5×5 protractor. The first item of equipment that we will cover is maps.  Different maps serve varied purposes.  A map used for navigating cross country will look very different from the maps that you are familiar with for use with travel on highways and paved roads.  For cross …


Updating the Ancient Art of Caching, by C.W.B.

It was the summer of 1985 and I was deep in the rain forest near the ruins of the ancient city of Tikal in Guatemala. Talking over the cries of howler monkeys, the guide showed us a small cave that had been uncovered on the side of the road. He told us this was one of many caches archeologists had found around the outskirts of the crumbling city. Some had contained only empty containers, and some had been full of grain and other food items. Could some of the citizens of Tikal, preparing for what they saw as the inevitable …


Letter Re: Nefarious Uses of Google Earth

Howdy Mr. Rawles, I had two comments to add to the conversation about thieves using Google Earth to steal koi. First, when we typed our address into Google Earth, it popped to a house about a 1/4 mile from us (we checked that fact many times, not just once, so it was not a typo on our part). That was just ducky with the family, as it helped our farm stay invisible. After reading about the koi thefts, I decided to check on Google Earth again. I was so disappointed when it popped right to the farm this time! The …


Letter Re: Nefarious Uses of Google Earth

Sir; In response to what Art A. wrote about the koi thieves. I want to add an aside that I don’t know if you covered in your Google Earth piece. I work for a municipal police agency. Google Earth is widely used with the agency to be able to view locations of potential suspects. It is particularly informative when serving search warrants on large compound-like properties as it alerts officials to the location of all building, etc., as well as other things located on the property. When chasing criminals it seems a good tool but when the government decides that …


Letter: Re: Errant Guidance from Vehicular GPS Systems

Dear Editor: I often find myself visiting family in the mountainous areas of North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and Kentucky. I can’t believe how incorrect my TomTom can be. I first got it because I’m a bit of a gear junkie and I’ve got one on a boat in the Canadian Great Lakes area which has always been very accurate. This Christmas, I was blessed enough to be able to be off work from the fire department and went to visit my mother in North Carolina. Little did I know that I-40 has been shut three miles into North Carolina from …


Letter Re: Making Your Own Maps for the Field

Jim, I have several books, folded sheet, and other type maps. I wanted to purchase or acquire a good satellite image map with roads and terrain. After thinking, big mistake, I realized I already had the answer loaded on my computer. I have Google Earth. On Google Earth you can add lots of legend material, Miles/ Kilometer, parks, etc, I went to the area I was in and printed out several elevations. In some areas you can zoom down to 100 feet elevation. I then went to the nearby office place and had the sheets laminated, and spiral bound. Keep …


Letter Re: Some Travel and Bug Out Gear Recommendations

Sir, First, as promised earlier I wanted to follow up and describe the kit I take with me on my trips. As I have mentioned in the past my job takes me overseas all the time, so for the past decade I have spent 80-90% of my time in third and second world countries. As a result the type of kit I take with me becomes important – it has to be packable and lightweight (especially now that the airlines are limiting you to 50 lbs. per bag versus the old 75 lbs. per bag). I have built up a …


Letter Re: Bug Out Contingency Planning

[Introductory note from JWR: I normally send detailed letter replies only to their intended recipients, but in this case, I thought that this letter was a great example of terrain and obstacle analysis,a s well as “outside the box” planning, so I’m positing it for the entire SurvivalBlog readership to ponder. Do you have similar plans for off-road mobility, and contingency plans, folks?] Mr. Rawles, A note for Diane about her relative living on-post at Fort Riley, Kansas: First thing to obtain if you want to bug out of Ft. Riley is to get a Kansas Atlas & Gazetteer map …


Letter Re: GPS for Day-to-Day Use and Survival

Hi Jim, I enjoyed that excellent GPS article [by Mike S., “GPS for Day-to-Day Use and Survival”.] It squares well with my personal experience. GPS on-board mapping has many errors. Seems worse in the hinterlands. Also pretty bad where new construction is concerned. I was amused while driving in MA that for about a half mile my GPS unit thought I was driving down railroad tracks. While snowshoeing with friends, my buddy had to demonstrate the GPS on his iPhone. All it showed was a dot in the middle of a blank screen. We were beyond the reach of cell …