I’ve always had a love and hate relationship with all-in-one kits geared toward survival. One the one hand, I love the convenience of having a curated collection of gear assembled in one place for one easy purchase, but on the other hand, I’m really particular about exactly what it is that I like to carry […]
land navigation
The GORUCK Challenge is a Fun, Interesting Event While Prepping For Selection
While preparing to go to Selection, there is a lot of individual work that must be put in. Finding and breaking in the best boots for your feet and prepping your feet for the long road ahead. Then there is the Land Navigation training and map reading which, if you aren’t ready for can be […]
Finding the “Lost” Land Navigation Point At Camp Mackall
Many of the training pieces that deal with either the Selection course or the SFQC (Special Forces Qualification Course) we write from a perspective of one of the cadre members, which I was for a time during the early days of Selection. Passing Selection and the SFQC was/is no easy task and many of the […]
Technological dependence and the need for primitive skills
This may be a bit presumptuous of me, but our dependence on technology has made us weaker militarily, in my humble opinion. That’s not to say we shouldn’t be incorporating technology where we can to make us more effective, just that if there are more primitive methods available we should not forget them. Sure, there […]
Searching For the Perfect Rucking Boot? Look No Further
Recommending gear is always a difficult proposition. Why? Because everyone is different, has different tastes, is built differently and certain gear that may work perfectly for one guy, won’t work a bit for someone else. Caveat aside, one thing that we’ve harped on is having comfortable, tough, versatile boots on your feet. In Special Forces, your boots and your […]
Wallet sized Escape and Evasion Kit
ESEE Knives, and Randall’s Adventure Training teamed up to form a line of products with survival in mind. They offer a variety of blades (depending on your need), survival gear, Escape and Evasion gear, and training. The training (for civilians) includes such courses as: land navigation, field survival, advanced bushcraft, rope rescue, defensive handgun (1), […]
Selection Land Navigation Refresher: Planning Your Route
We’ve been going over some of the basics that candidates should know before taking on the Selection Course, and with a lot of prospective Special Operations guys coming into the pipeline via the 18X program for Special Forces, most don’t have any experience in Land Navigation. So, many of the questions we get are centered […]
Selection Land Nav Basics, Pinpoint Your Location, Orient the Map
We’ve been going back over some of the basics in recent weeks as the winter months means an entirely new batch of Selection classes and candidates. And many of the new candidates have questions, just like the last group of prospective Special Operations troops did and we’ll do our best to answer every one of […]
Revisiting the SFAS Night Land Navigation Course
In previous articles, we’ve touched on the different aspects of land navigation. We’ve gotten a few questions and comments about night navigation which is the hardest part of land navigation because all your skills will be tested to the max in the hours of darkness. Rather than re-hashing the entire Land Navigation series of articles, […]
Don’t Get Lost! Practical Exercise With Modified Resection
In our previous Land Navigation article, we talked about Resection, which is invaluable at finding your exact location if you’re unsure of where you are but can see and identify points in the distance. As you’ll remember Resection is the method for finding your exact location on a map by determining the grid azimuth to […]