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#179860 - 08/20/09 06:38 PM Walking in circles...
Andy Offline
Enthusiast

Registered: 09/13/07
Posts: 378
Loc: SE PA
Interesting story on MSNBC.com about a scientist's experiements on having people walk in straight lines. I had always heard walking in circles happened because people's legs were of different lengths so they tend to walk towards the side with the shorter leg. Urban myth, I guess.
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#179862 - 08/20/09 06:58 PM Re: Walking in circles... [Re: Andy]
scafool Offline
Pooh-Bah

Registered: 12/18/08
Posts: 1534
Loc: Muskoka
So what happens to them if they try walking in circles?
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#179863 - 08/20/09 07:02 PM Re: Walking in circles... [Re: scafool]
oldsoldier Offline
Old Hand

Registered: 11/25/06
Posts: 742
Loc: MA
One thing I learned in the Army, when navigating, was that people tend to wander towards their dominant hand. to offset that, we always used the compass in our weak hand. It actually seemed to work, at least to me. Sort of like minor auto-corrections.
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#179865 - 08/20/09 07:07 PM Re: Walking in circles... [Re: oldsoldier]
oldsoldier Offline
Old Hand

Registered: 11/25/06
Posts: 742
Loc: MA
I REALLY wish they would stop using the "moss" theory. That has no relevance in most places... moss grows on ALL sides of a tree.
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#179868 - 08/20/09 07:37 PM Re: Walking in circles... [Re: oldsoldier]
GoatRider Offline
Old Hand

Registered: 08/28/04
Posts: 835
Loc: Maple Grove, MN
On a similar note about tuning in to unconscious clues, I observed something like that during my instrument flying training. I was on my long cross country with an instructor. I couldn't see out the window at all, because of the goggles I wore to simulate instrument flying conditions. But all of a sudden I was having a much harder time staying in control- I told my instructor this, and he said we had flown into a cloud. Apparently the sun shining on the instrument panel was enough to clue me in unconsciously.
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#179873 - 08/20/09 08:18 PM Re: Walking in circles... [Re: GoatRider]
Susan Offline
Geezer

Registered: 01/21/04
Posts: 5163
Loc: W. WA
I, too, wish they would stop perpetuating that moss myth. Moss grows on the shady side, and very frequently the shade is caused by other trees and shrubs, a tree's own foliage, terrain, large rocks, etc.

Common sense should indicate that you pick your direction and find something near that direction to aim for. And you should look back frequently, too, just in case you get lost and have to backtrack. The same area can look very different from the opposite direction.

Other things can guide you, too, such as the wind, if it isn't too variable. Keeping the south wind on your left cheek will keep you heading west, even in heavy overcast. At night, the glow of a city can be your beacon.

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#179881 - 08/20/09 09:55 PM Re: Walking in circles... [Re: oldsoldier]
bsmith Offline
day hiker
Addict

Registered: 02/15/07
Posts: 590
Loc: ventura county, ca
Originally Posted By: oldsoldier
One thing I learned in the Army, when navigating, was that people tend to wander towards their dominant hand. to offset that, we always used the compass in our weak hand. It actually seemed to work, at least to me. Sort of like minor auto-corrections.

i seem to recall reading somewhere that when trying to walk in a straight line in a forest that - if you were right handed, for example - you should always pass to the left of a tree. and to the right side if you were left handed.

any others recall this?
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#179883 - 08/20/09 10:11 PM Re: Walking in circles... [Re: bsmith]
MoBOB Offline
Veteran

Registered: 09/17/07
Posts: 1219
Loc: here
I heard differently from the Security guys in the Air Force. You alternate left and right passage around objects. That has a tendency to keep vector drift smaller.
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#179887 - 08/20/09 10:31 PM Re: Walking in circles... [Re: MoBOB]
MostlyHarmless Offline
Old Hand

Registered: 06/03/09
Posts: 982
Loc: Norway
Originally Posted By: MoBOB
I heard differently from the Security guys in the Air Force. You alternate left and right passage around objects. That has a tendency to keep vector drift smaller.


That sounds plausible. If I start going left around an obstacle, I tend to keep going left around the next obstacles. If I start going right, I keep going right...

I think the most important effect of the various advice above is to focus the mind. If you are really concentrating on walking straight you are probably deviating less than if you just are walking. Any trick that you can use to keep focused is good - a mental placebo effect, so to speak.

The only sure way I know of to keep going strait is to find visual targets in the direction I need to go. When I reach that target I make a new target. This works really well when visibility is good, but it is quite hard to do accurately in dense forest.

Of course, being aware of your surroundings, sensing your environment (wind, sun etc) and looking back at where you came from is always very good advice.

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#179895 - 08/21/09 12:05 AM Re: Walking in circles... [Re: MostlyHarmless]
Desperado Offline
Veteran

Registered: 11/01/08
Posts: 1530
Loc: DFW, Texas
I always told my soldiers it was because they carried too much crap and it was off balance to one side.
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#179899 - 08/21/09 12:15 AM Re: Walking in circles... [Re: Desperado]
EdD270 Offline
Journeyman

Registered: 12/03/08
Posts: 94
Loc: White Mountains of Arizona
I understand SAR folks like to find out if a lost person they're searching for is right- or left-handed. It helps them figure out which way they'll be circling toward.
I, too, have heard about passing to the left of an object if you're right-handed, etc. and it seems to work, unless the objects are too close together and you circle left. Alternating would minimize error in dense woods or closely spaced obstacles.
Best plan is to sight a landmark in the distance and go straight toward it. Then pick out another and go to that, etc. If you have a companion, take turns being the landmark. One walks out to edge of vision, looks back and gets lined up on course by person who stayed behind. They then stay still while stay-behind leapfrogs them to edge of vision, repeat process.
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#179903 - 08/21/09 12:43 AM Re: Walking in circles... [Re: EdD270]
scafool Offline
Pooh-Bah

Registered: 12/18/08
Posts: 1534
Loc: Muskoka
I think in most terrain the landscape will matter more than which hand the finger you prefer to pick your nose with is on.
You might want to walk in circles but hills, swamps and other obstacles are going to guide most people into definite paths.

It can be very easy to get turned around in forests though. Even a mild overcast of cloud defeats the sun as a direction guide.

It might be good to ask how you steer your course with no compass.
If you have no GPS or compass how do you keep your heading under various conditions.

(P.S. A compass only gives you a bearing, it does not directly give you a location. The only way to get a position fix with just a compass is by sighting bearings on objects that you know the location of.)


Edited by scafool (08/21/09 12:45 AM)
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#179909 - 08/21/09 01:24 AM Re: Walking in circles... [Re: scafool]
Art_in_FL Offline
Pooh-Bah

Registered: 09/01/07
Posts: 2432
A somewhat more complete and detailed write up of the study that includes informative graphics:
http://scienceblogs.com/notrocketscience/2009/08/do_lost_people_really_go_round_in_circles.php

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#179922 - 08/21/09 05:23 AM Re: Walking in circles... [Re: Art_in_FL]
scafool Offline
Pooh-Bah

Registered: 12/18/08
Posts: 1534
Loc: Muskoka
The study says "Despite walking for 50 minutes, most of these people never made it very far."

I guess this is a good thing.
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#179925 - 08/21/09 05:37 AM Re: Walking in circles... [Re: EdD270]
MostlyHarmless Offline
Old Hand

Registered: 06/03/09
Posts: 982
Loc: Norway
Originally Posted By: EdD270
If you have a companion, take turns being the landmark. One walks out to edge of vision, looks back and gets lined up on course by person who stayed behind. They then stay still while stay-behind leapfrogs them to edge of vision, repeat process.


Give the compass to the LAST person in the group. The rest of the group form a line in front of him. If this line deviates from compass course, the compass guy orders "LEFT" or "RIGHT" corrections by voice or whistle. This method works, but as always - it works best with practice and discipline.


Before GPS, this method was the ONLY way to have any hope whatsoever of maintaining a straight course with acceptable margin of error in total whiteout conditions, such as a blissard or dense fog.

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#179934 - 08/21/09 12:16 PM Re: Walking in circles... [Re: MostlyHarmless]
JBMat Offline
Old Hand

Registered: 03/03/09
Posts: 745
Loc: NC
I was taught several different things -

Alternate going right and left around obstacles. This tends to lessen drift.

First man is point/paceman, second man has compass and directs first guy. Allows the first guy to keep his head up and not get 'tunnel vision'. He can sight on a terrain feature and go for that. If alone, always use the terrain feature method. If in a group, use that method, but have an alternate paceman and compass man towards the rear of the group/

Assume your dominant leg is the same as your dominant hand. Every 100m take a step to the dominant side. Lessens drift to some extent.




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