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© C opyright Julian Knight, March 2012 A ll rights reserved.

Quick Reference Navigation Tables and Walking TimesSITE MAP | SITE SEARCH

Navigation Aids

These tables are an aid to navigation. They particularly help when working out the time it takes to get

from one point to another. They are also a memory aid to some of the features of the British Ordnance

Survey 1:25,000 scale maps.

I hope that these tables may be of use, I have certainly found them useful over the years and always

carry a copy with me when I'm in the mountains. Have fun and be safe. Want somewhere to use these

tables? Have a look at my walking page for a few recommendations.

I suggest that you print these tables off onto 6"x4" sized card & slip it into your map case. Microsoft Excel

or similar will do this very well (Excel was used to originally create this page!).

WARNING: Although these tables are based on information from respected references, I can take no

responsibility for the accuracy of the information on this page! You MUST try out the entries for

yourself in a controlled and safe environment before trusting them on a Scottish mountain in the

depths of winter! I give them here for your interest only.

Take care in ALL mountain and hill walking, Be safe.

Table 1 - Time for a Given Distance at a Given Speed

Use this table to work out how long it takes to walk from one waypoint to another at various speeds.

Time in h:mm:ss for given distance at given speed Approx. speed for given terrain

62/100m Speed (KPH) 5 kph Hard, Level Surface

Dist(m)

Paces (flat ground)

5 4 3 2 1 4 kph Variable, Rough Surface

50 31 0:00:36 0:00:45 0:01:00 0:01:30 0:03:00 3 kph Soft Snow/Strong HeadWind

100 62 0:01:12 0:01:30 0:02:00 0:03:00 0:06:00 2 kph Deep Snowdrift/SevereHead Wind

200 124 0:02:24 0:03:00 0:04:00 0:06:00 0:12:00 Time to add for given ascent/descent

300 186 0:03:36 0:04:30 0:06:00 0:09:00 0:18:00 10 min per 100 m Ascent

400 248 0:04:48 0:06:00 0:08:00 0:12:00 0:24:00 5 min per 100 m Descent

500 310 0:06:00 0:07:30 0:10:00 0:15:00 0:30:00 Time to add for other conditions

600 372 0:07:12 0:09:00 0:12:00 0:18:00 0:36:00 Night - 1/2 day-time speed

700 434 0:08:24 0:10:30 0:14:00 0:21:00 0:42:00 Heavy Load - 1 kph less

800 496 0:09:36 0:12:00 0:16:00 0:24:00 0:48:00 >20 kg - 1/2 normal speed

900 558 0:10:48 0:13:30 0:18:00 0:27:00 0:54:00 Speed and distance conversions

1000 620 0:12:00 0:15:00 0:20:00 0:30:00 1:00:00 1 mi = 1.6 km, 1 km = 0.6 mi

2000 1,240 0:24:00 0:30:00 0:40:00 1:00:00 2:00:00 1 mph = 0.4 m/s

3000 1,860 0:36:00 0:45:00 1:00:00 1:30:00 3:00:00 = 1.5 ft/s

5000 3,100 1:00:00 1:15:00 1:40:00 2:30:00 5:00:00 1,000ft

= 305 m, 1,000 m = 3,281 ft

Page: Updated 2012-03-06 23:23:06, A uthor Julian Knight

Notes:

1. You should note that the pac ing information on this table corresponds to my legs ! Your pac ing will need to be adjus ted accordingly.

Simply mark out 50 or 100m and count every left foot fall (or every right one if you lead with your left foot). P ac ing will then need to

be adjus ted dependent on the terrain, only prac tice will enable you to use pac ing reliably for mic ro-navigation but once mastered it

is surpris ingly accurate. When us ing pac ing to navigate, walk with an even s tride and mentally compensate for uneven ground.

2 . You should not try to "blind" navigate more than about a kilometer in fog or c loud without an external reference. The bes t error

rates you can achieve are about 10% and even that is with careful prac tice.

Table 2 - Angle of Slope Adjustments for a 1:25,000 scale UKOrdnance Survey Map

Use this table with an Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 scale map. It will enable you to judge more easily the

actual angle of a slope from the map and allow for it in your navigation. It especially helps to understand

the additional time required to add to map distance/timings to account for a slope.

Slope angles and timing adjustments for 1:25000 maps

# ThickContours/cm

Dist. Betweenthick contour

lines

Grad. Grad.%

Angle(o)

Height(m)

Extradist.

Travelled

TimeAdj. Per300mAscent(min)

TimeAdj. Per300m

Descent(min)

Description

(1 thin) 10 30 -10

1:11 9% 5 30 -10 Gentleslope-Normal

walk-Fairlysteep road

1.0 10 mm 1:5 20% 11 50 1.50% 30 -10 Walkstraight up-Very steeproad-Easy

ski

1.5 6.7 mm 1:3.3 30% 17 30 10 Good skiing- Limit of

roads

2.0 5 mm 1:2.5 40% 22 100 6% 30 10 Selectroute-Placefeet-Careneeded

with hardsnow/ice

2.5 4 mm 1:2 50% 27 30 10 Start zigzag-Steepski slope(Contoursfade on

1:50000)

3.0 3.3 mm 1:1.7 59% 31 30 10 Zig zag up -Straight

down - Intoavalanche

country

1:1.4 71% 35 30 10 Pick way up& down -

Rockscrambling

4.0 2.5 mm 1:1.25 80% 39 200 31% 30 10 Care in

descent -Near max.angle for

scree

5.0 2 mm 1:1 100% 45 41% 30 10 Gradedsnow/ice -Ice climbing

6.0 1.7 mm 1:0.8 125% 50 300 56% 30 10 Near limit offriction onrock-Scarp

slopebelowcornice

7.0 1.4 mm 1:0.7 143% 54 30 10 Steepsnow/ice

pitch

8.0 1.25 mm 1:0.6 167% 58 400 30 10

9.0 1.1 mm 1:0.6 167% 61 100% 30 10 Extremelysteep climbon rock &

ice

10.0 1 mm 1:0.5 200% 63 500 30 10

1:0.4 250% 70 30 10 Handstouch

rock/icewhen heldout in front

Magnetic Deviation (UK Only) Contour Intervals

1991 6.5 Deg. West 1:50000 1st Series - 50ft,250ft for thick

1998 6.0 Deg. West (anti-clockwise) 2nd Series - 10m,50m for thick

1/2 Deg. Per 5 years 1:25000 10m (5m for lowground), 50m for

thick

Add mag. Variation to map bearing to get true bearing NB 2nd series mapshave continuous lineat TOP of cliffs & atbottom for outcrops

WARNING: The mag. variation given is APPROXIMATE and for the UKonly, check your map for the actual variation as it is very different in

different parts of the country.

1st series maps haveline at top for both

cliffs & outcrops

Notes:

1. The magnetic deviation shown at the bottom of the table is an average one, the ac tual deviation changes a lot over the UK so you

always need to check your map for the ac tual deviation. I 've inc luded it here as an aid to moving from map to compass bearings

and visa versa.

2 . The highlighted line is the point at which walking becomes sc rambling or c limbing at around 70%.

3. The T ime A djus tment values are for 300m of c limb/descent at the particular ground angle. Note that the firs t three Descent values

are negative, all others A DD to your timings .