2 Star Fieldcraft Judging Distance

There are 2 methods of judging distance: The Appearance Method The Unit of Measure Method

The Appearance Method

The Appearance Method At 100m = clear in all detail This method is used to view how a person or their surroundings look at various distances away from you, the observer. For example… At 100m = clear in all detail At 200m = clear in all detail, skin colour and equipment identifiable. At 300m = clear body outline, face colour good, remaining detail blurred At 400m = only body outline clear At 500m = body begins to taper, head becomes indistinct. At 600m = body now wedge shaped, no head apparent.

The Unit Of Measure Method This method uses an object which you the cadet knows quite well, such as the length of a football pitch (100metres) or the length of your street. All you need to do is insert your chosen unit (eg a football pitch) between you and your target as many times as you can. If you think that a football pitch would fit 3.1/2 times then the distance is around 350 metres. The following slide shows an example of this.

Your position 350 metres The Enemy

There are also 3 aids to Judging Distance... These are: Halving Bracketing Key Ranges

Halving Choose a point that you think is halfway to your target; estimate the distance to that point and then double it. Bracketing Say to yourself “The target is not more than 400m away, but is certainly more than 200m from me, so it must be about 300m away.” Key Ranges If you already know the range to any point in your arc of observation, you can estimate the distance to other objects from it.