As I am past 35 I can identify and use the tools shown, minus the slide rule. Never learned.

I can land nav with the best of them. When I went into the Army I could read a map, make a map, knew my pace count and could use a compass. Now they start map classes with the memnoic "Never Eat Soggy Weenies" - north east south west - to get the rudiments of a map into the heads of the trainees. Scarey huh?

I knew all that camping and hiking with the Scouts would help me sometime.

I object. I am twenty-three-years-old and I can do long division.


I was able to get seven of the nine questions right, which would have given me a grade of 78, by doing the math in my head. I did not use a pencil and paper. I wanted to illustrate that it can be done in one's head. However, I had to use a pencil and paper to convert a fraction into decimal, 7/9 is .777 which, when rounded off, gives me the passing grade of 78.

Had I used a pencil and parer in the quiz, I may have gotten eight of the nine questions right. I missed the second question because I did not pay attention. I added instead of subtracted.

Jeanette Isabelle

It's been a while since I've used some of the skills, so some would be a bit rusty.

I was in school in the 70's, so my basic math in the early 70's didn't require the slide rule, and by the time I was getting to the more complex math in the late-70's, affordable calculators were available, so I missed the slide rule training, though my dad would break out his Versalog from time to time.

This weekend, I'm going to take a brush up with my slide rule, and expose my son to the slide rule. He's said that he can use all of the items listed except the slide rule.

Dad showed me once how to use a slide rule and I did practice with his a couple of times. I don't know if I could do it today.


The one I learned in fifth grade is, "Never Eat Sour Watermelons."

Jeanette Isabelle

The little parallel roller thing in the center of the picture is great for penciling in UTM grids onto your USGS quads :-)

And the dividers are for more precisely plotting the points...

Ya, I know how to use all that stuff. And I have used all but the slipstick recently.

Shouldn't there be an E6B "computer" in that picture?

I've bought a sliderule just to get the hang of it. Should practice more with it though. fractional adddition, subtraction, multiplication, division and long division is not realy a problem.

Then again, my age 37 has something to do with that. That and the fact that my profession is in the ICT, so .... I just don't trust electronics.

Is that slide rule that's in the picture, or is it a substitute for a set of parallel rules? Seems to look like something I've seen that would be the latter.

I am a user of triangles when it comes to chart plotting, although I've used parallel rules any number of times. I think anyone who relies on navigation should be able to use both.

I will admit to being shaky with the log tables. I was taught how to use them, then quite promptly allowed to forget. Other set of tables I have no problems with using.

We've got lots of skills that are lost among the general population, in a lot of areas. I know few women today who can knit. While Mom has knitted, she has not in more than 20 years, but she was no match for anyone in her mother's generation. There are examples of the traditional skills practiced by both men and women disappearing, and, FWIW, I have no qualms about someone crossing gender lines in this regard.

The ruler looks like it has a roller built in so that it can hold a bearing from the compass rose to wherever you need to draw a course (vice versa); so that would be a substitute for parallels.

I've got all that here, except that the parallels have been replaced by an Air Navigation Plotter which is a protractor designed for navigation.

I recognize the rolling ruler in the upper right corner, I had one years ago. I see someone else mentioned it as well. It wasn't a fancy navigation plotting ruler, it was called the rolling ruler, one of those as seen on TV things. it could draw parallel lines and circles and such.

I've got to admit that my "old school" math skills are in a pitiful state... most likely because it's been a long time since I've had the need for them.
And, thinking back, I was never very "focused" in math classes at school... and, I've never used a Slide Rule in my life.

Get past anything really basic, and I am totally "Calculator Dependant" ... I should probably spend some time re-learning some math skills.