I was out in Thetford Forest at the weekend, and decided to conduct a (very unscientific) experiment. I've believed for some time that most people have an inbuilt navigational facility, which they're probably not aware of but which can in broad terms set them in the right direction. I thought I'd to put this to the test by trying to get myself lost in order to see if I could still find my way back successfully without any map etc. The area I chose is relatively flat, with large and apparently identical stands of commercially-planted conifers and little else, so doesn't give you much to go in on terms of navigation. I don't know the area from memory, and it's full of remarkably similar-looking tracks. Granted, it was just a light-hearted little test, and it's not as if I was lost in the middle of miles of trackless moorland, but I discovered that I could navigate my way around reasonably efficiently and found my way back to my starting point after doing my best to get disorientated. I wonder whether any other people on here have any experience of this sort of "instinctive navigation". I ought to add, by the way, that I had a map, compass, and functioning GPS in my rucksack just in case!
Instinctive navigation
- Thread starter Smokey
- Start date
-
Hey Guest, Early bird pricing on the Summer Moot (29th July - 10th August) available until April 6th, we'd love you to come. PLEASE CLICK HERE to early bird price and get more information.
Not sure if this qualifies but i have had it pointed out on several occasions that i seem to have a pretty good sense of direction and can find my way back to places previously visited without the aid of a map 9 times out of 10.
The most recent i can think of was a few months back when on a trip to a relatevely small area of forest, about 4-5 sqare miles at most.
We had been to this area once before about 6 months previously and i managed to find the area we last camped first time from memory, the area itself was deep within the woods and well away from any footpaths.
That night one of my group decided he needed an "emergency" trip to the petol station for cigarettes so decided to conduct a similar experiment.
I set a waypoint on my gsp just in case and we headed off on the 7 mile round trip to the station and back at around 11pm in the pitch black.
I managed to find our way out of the forest with no problem and on the way back managed to get us within 20 feet of our campsite before resorting to the gps.
I think if we had left one person in camp with a fire buring i would have managed to find it without the aid of any technology but it just went to show even with a reasonably good sense of natural direction etc... conditions, in this case darkness, really do make an impact.
Even though we had torches, which i refused to use until we really needed them im sure we walk within feet of the camp at one point without knowing it was there.
Hamster
The most recent i can think of was a few months back when on a trip to a relatevely small area of forest, about 4-5 sqare miles at most.
We had been to this area once before about 6 months previously and i managed to find the area we last camped first time from memory, the area itself was deep within the woods and well away from any footpaths.
That night one of my group decided he needed an "emergency" trip to the petol station for cigarettes so decided to conduct a similar experiment.
I set a waypoint on my gsp just in case and we headed off on the 7 mile round trip to the station and back at around 11pm in the pitch black.
I managed to find our way out of the forest with no problem and on the way back managed to get us within 20 feet of our campsite before resorting to the gps.
I think if we had left one person in camp with a fire buring i would have managed to find it without the aid of any technology but it just went to show even with a reasonably good sense of natural direction etc... conditions, in this case darkness, really do make an impact.
Even though we had torches, which i refused to use until we really needed them im sure we walk within feet of the camp at one point without knowing it was there.
Hamster
No, people do not have an instinctive sense of direction.
It can be taught/learned however, by learning to pay attention and look for details in the terrain as you go and memorise these. If practiced often enough it can become second nature, so you don't notice you're doing it, which may lead others, who have no clue of what their doing, to believe you are a natural....
It can be taught/learned however, by learning to pay attention and look for details in the terrain as you go and memorise these. If practiced often enough it can become second nature, so you don't notice you're doing it, which may lead others, who have no clue of what their doing, to believe you are a natural....
I find that I could get apparently lost in forest and on moorland in the sense of not being certain where I was but would always find the exit back to the car or home in reasonable time. In other words deciding on a rigid route and sticking to it just didn't happen but a journey between two points or a circular one was no problem. Of course I had sometimes to walk further than if I had stuck to a fixed route but that didn't matter.
There were a few TV programmes on Natural Navigation but I couldn't see what the problems of the participants were in getting to their destination even without clues from moss on tress etc.
I have the books Natural Navigation and Let Nature Be Your Guide. They are very interesting and worth reading.
There were a few TV programmes on Natural Navigation but I couldn't see what the problems of the participants were in getting to their destination even without clues from moss on tress etc.
I have the books Natural Navigation and Let Nature Be Your Guide. They are very interesting and worth reading.
Agree with RonW here; it's not so much an instinct, more a skill that you have developed, incorporating observation, memory etc. Good to test yourself though.
For those who haven't come across him before, Tristan Gooley is a good source here (http://www.naturalnavigator.com/tristan-gooley/)
For those who haven't come across him before, Tristan Gooley is a good source here (http://www.naturalnavigator.com/tristan-gooley/)
If you're walking through some woods you'll take the path of least resistance. You'd naturally do the same in the opposite direction.
Despite you trying your hardest to loose yourself you still knew the way you'd been and where you were.
Might have been more realistic if you had been blindfolded and wore ear plugs then lead by someone else in a circuitous route and told to find your way back
Might have been more realistic if you had been blindfolded and wore ear plugs then lead by someone else in a circuitous route and told to find your way back
I'm in the skill camp. I can see a place once, and then recognise it again even when approaching it from a completely different direction.
People talk about a sense of direction, but for me I find I have more of a sense of position - I know more or less where I am in relation to where I have been previously, so I can use 'aiming off' as a way of getting back to familiar territory.
People talk about a sense of direction, but for me I find I have more of a sense of position - I know more or less where I am in relation to where I have been previously, so I can use 'aiming off' as a way of getting back to familiar territory.
I have rarely got lost when going somewhere I have been before but I put this down to unconciously picking up subtle clues from the goegraphy/environment/sun/stars/wind/smells etc that are all around, rather than a sense of direction....
I also tend to think pictorialy in 3D when problem solving...
I also tend to think pictorialy in 3D when problem solving...
As has been said I believe that you aren't born with instinctive navigation but a certain amount of ability for recognition. I for one conciously take in what i believe to be "landmarks" or terrain fetaures as I'm hiking off trail and keep them in memory should I ever come across them again.
I believe it just takes practice in order for someone to become better at navigation even in the simplest of terrains.
I believe it just takes practice in order for someone to become better at navigation even in the simplest of terrains.
On a weekend backpacking trip last year I tried a similar experiment. (I had map, compass, route card, GPS etc in pack) I set off away from the main road then used no artificial means to determine my route. Just worked from memory (of the map, 2 days previously) and the ground in front of me.
I ended up going along the wrong valley. I was about 2km out at the head of the valley.
The trip was a practice(excuse) trip before a week long solo trip to the the Picos De Europa.
WHen I was out in Spain I followed my route cards that I'd prepared and regularly checked the map. I was never more than 20m off planned route.
One day I went out to climb up Jultayu (1600m ish) and it was thick mist. All of my internal navigation senses thought I was walking the wrong way across a limestone/pothole area. I couldn't see 10m ahead. It just felt like I was heading away from my target.
The compass always told me I was on route. It just didn't feel like it.
In short, I reckon I have little natural ability to navigate. I am quite well trained though so as long as I actively navigate I should be fine. Its the assumptions that cock it up for me!
Jay
I ended up going along the wrong valley. I was about 2km out at the head of the valley.
The trip was a practice(excuse) trip before a week long solo trip to the the Picos De Europa.
WHen I was out in Spain I followed my route cards that I'd prepared and regularly checked the map. I was never more than 20m off planned route.
One day I went out to climb up Jultayu (1600m ish) and it was thick mist. All of my internal navigation senses thought I was walking the wrong way across a limestone/pothole area. I couldn't see 10m ahead. It just felt like I was heading away from my target.
The compass always told me I was on route. It just didn't feel like it.
In short, I reckon I have little natural ability to navigate. I am quite well trained though so as long as I actively navigate I should be fine. Its the assumptions that cock it up for me!
Jay
This is something I've wondered for years if everyone could do it or whether I had the lamest super power ever! Seriously though, I can always tell the direction I need to head back to where I started but not neccessarily the route or distance! Possibly something more of a human compass that youre brain subconciously remembers how much you have turned and in what direction so you can always find youre way back (I can also always seem to point north even in entirely new locations but I guess its something to do with sub-conciously picking up on things in the environment such as sun position). I accidentally put this to the test the other week when I went for a walk in my local forest and did the stupid thing of trying out a new route without map or compass! None the less found my way back to the start, with only a few points of wondering whether I was in fact lost!
I'm exactly the same
what i,ve figured is that i can "see" in my mind the route i've taken from above, just like looking at a map and always get back to where i started.......i thought it was just me.A mate of mine, if you turned him round 3 times in his kitchen, he couldn't find the door ! i just don't understand that at all.
I guess it varies person to person. I've lived in the countryside all my life and started off early and been a beaver, cub, scout etc so perhaps its just an in-built skills we learn sub-conciously
I definitely do not have an inbuilt navigation facility. I can remember once trying to cross a field in a pea souper of a fog, I ended up where I started from. Navigating through woods I have a familiarity with is a matter of memory not any inherent sense of direction.
Similar threads
