Traditional Muzzleloading Association
The Center of Camp => People of the Times => Topic started by: Ohio Joe on November 23, 2020, 11:21:25 AM
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Thought this might interest some if you wanted to draw from how "distances" were really measured back before our "modern" way of measuring distance. This chart is just a base line to draw from. Do your own Math. :shake
NOTE: The chart below is based on a 30" Pace
One needs to keep in mind that you can not repeat a 30 inch pace perfectly with each stride.
My "tests" (for me only) have shown some paces will vary from 28 to 29 inches - therefore and average "Pace" IMHO (for me only) would be more like 29 inches for someone that is 5'8" / 5'9" tall...
Conversion chart - paces to yards
Based On A 30 Inch Stride
1 pace to yards = 0.83 yd
2 paces to yards = 1.67 yd
3 paces to yards = 2.50 yd
4 paces to yards = 3.33 yd
5 paces to yards = 4.17 yd
6 paces to yards = 5.00 yd
7 paces to yards = 5.83 yd
8 paces to yards = 6.67 yd
9 paces to yards = 7.50 yd
10 paces to yards = 8.33 yd
11 paces to yards = 9.17 yd
12 paces to yards = 10.00 yd
13 paces to yards = 10.83 yd
14 paces to yards = 11.67 yd
15 paces to yards = 12.50 yd
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If the "old surveyor" may add to this, I learned w-a-y back an easy way to pace. First off you need to measure off 100 feet with a tape on a sidewalk or other flat surface. Grass is fine, put a stake in the ground at the beginning and end of your 100'. Just measure it as close as you can. Then, with you toes at one mark, start walking towards the other with you normal stride! The tendency is to exaggerate the length of stride, but you can't keep that up for any long distance. if you start off bringing the left foot forward, when it hits the ground say "and". The next step, when your right foot hits the ground, say "five". again, when the left foot hits the ground say "and", and when the right foot hits the ground say "ten". Keep increasing in increments of five when the right foot hits the ground until you get to the end of your 100 foot distance.
Most people will be at 95, or the "and" before or after it when they get to the 100' mark. Now turn around and do it again, starting from scratch. The final pace should be pretty close to what you ended up with the first time. And that's it. You have "calibrated" your pacing. The beauty of it is that if you need to go, say 225 feet, you go from your starting point with "and five, and ten, and fifteen.... and 95" (or whatever your 100' pace was), at which point you start over. After you hit the second 95, which is about 200' from where you started, you do it again but stop when your foot hits the ground at 25 and you are darned close to 225 feet from where you started. Do remember that when going up or down hill your stride will be shorter, so throw in a fudge factor for that and add one or two steps to your "and ninety-fives" (depending on how steep it is) until the ground levels out again.
The only problem I have had with this has been keeping track of the 100' lengths. I was doing it on my fingers but would lose count when I paced a long distance needing many "and ninety fives". The answer to this came in the form of "Ranger Beads". Google the term if you're not familiar with them and you will find where to buy them and how to make them. I regularly check my pacing on the local Rails-to-Trails bicycle path which has posts every 1/2 mile, and am usually within 100' of the 2640' half mile distance.
In fact, my usual walk with the dogs here in Chauncey paced out at around 6000', so a little over a mile. I borrowed the measuring wheel from work one day and used that to check the distance, starting at the bottom step of my porch. It clicked over 6000' exactly when I bumped the wheel against that step. But then again, I've been pacing like this for 50 years now so I would expect to get pretty fair accuracy.
I hope this makes sense and is useful to folks. Just remember not to exaggerate your steps and you too can amaze people with your pacing skills. And thanks to Doc Mendenhall at the University of Alaska for teaching us this!
~Kees~
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I know I've read somewhere, where this term was used by someone, "he paced off 40 yards..."
I expect this would lead to some not understanding what was done, (if in fact it was done at all), but did the person actually take "48 paces" according to the chart (which I'm not even sure a chart would have even existed in the backwoods or on the plains in the day of Crockett and Boone???
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Did he take "40 paces" which would equal (and of course all things being equal in their stride) - he would have only been at, 33.32 yards...
Granted, we're only talking a 6.68 yard difference - but a lot can happen with wind in that distance, and even "sight establishment" depending on your eyesight...
This leads me to believe that not all shooting matches, where some folks became known for their shooting ability were actually at the distance we perceive them to be in today's world, but rather a lesser distance?
There truly are lots of possibilities here with the above chart. Something to think about during your readings of factual accounts of yesterday's noted folks in history, and their shooting ability.
Did the British Line actually stop and fire from 70 yards -or- 70 paces = 58.31 yards)? :shake
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And to add to the confusion , a Roman pace is 2 steps!! :scared:
:bigsmile: :bigsmile: :bigsmile: :bigsmile:
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I thought that was Texas :bigsmile: :bigsmile: :bigsmile: :bigsmile:
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Just to confuse the issue a smidgen, when I had 2 good pins under me and having a 34" inseam, my long stride was a full yard...
I couldn't do that now with a cane lest I do a face-plant in the dirt
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Andy to add to the confusion , a Roman pace is 2 steps!!
What!!? Heck... I ain’t never even been to Rome ::
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:I've been to Rome, N.Y.! :scared:
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Just to confuse the issue a smidgen, when I had 2 good pins under me and having a 34" inseam, my long stride was a full yard...
I couldn't do that now with a cane lest I do a face-plant in the dirt
And that's a good point, however - can a person keep up the same "Pace distance" with each stride over a certain distance?
I've tried it over and over in my yard and seldom (if ever) have I ended up at the same distance after over a certain number of Paces, be it; (10, 15, 20, 25, or 30 Paces) over and over - there's always some repeated variances with each individual distance.
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Just to confuse the issue a smidgen, when I had 2 good pins under me and having a 34" inseam, my long stride was a full yard...
I couldn't do that now with a cane lest I do a face-plant in the dirt
And that's a good point, however - can a person keep up the same "Pace distance" with each stride over a certain distance?
I've tried it over and over in my yard and seldom (if ever) have I ended up at the same distance after over a certain number of Paces, be it; (10, 15, 20, 25, or 30 Paces) over and over - there's always some repeated variances with each individual distance.
No desire to create rancor, but I checked mine repeatedly for 25 and it was spot on... albeit not a comfortable stride (which is why I couldn't do it now), I never pushed my luck to longer distances...
Did you ever check out the ACTUAL distances at you local gun range?
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And that's a good point, however - can a person keep up the same "Pace distance" with each stride over a certain distance?
I've tried it over and over in my yard and seldom (if ever) have I ended up at the same distance after over a certain number of Paces, be it; (10, 15, 20, 25, or 30 Paces) over and over - there's always some repeated variances with each individual distance.
Which is why, in my post above, I said that the tendency is to start out with a long stride but you need to use your normal stride.
~Kees~[/size]
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Just to confuse the issue a smidgen, when I had 2 good pins under me and having a 34" inseam, my long stride was a full yard...
I couldn't do that now with a cane lest I do a face-plant in the dirt
And that's a good point, however - can a person keep up the same "Pace distance" with each stride over a certain distance?
I've tried it over and over in my yard and seldom (if ever) have I ended up at the same distance after over a certain number of Paces, be it; (10, 15, 20, 25, or 30 Paces) over and over - there's always some repeated variances with each individual distance.
No desire to create rancor, but I checked mine repeatedly for 25 and it was spot on... albeit not a comfortable stride (which is why I couldn't do it now), I never pushed my luck to longer distances...
Did you ever check out the ACTUAL distances at you local gun range?
Yes, and they set all the Range Markers and Target Holders - measured from where a person sets at the shooting benches (25, 50, 100, 200, 300 yards...)
So in reality when we shoot offhand standing either side of the bench(s), we're probably shooting 24.5, 49.5, 99.5, 199.5, and 299.5 (not that we shoot Offhand beyond 100 yards or further very often) - but on occasions we will go longer off hand just having some fun with a day at the Range...
I kind of think that's why certain Ranges (at the more fancy Ranges) have (for example) Offhand Range (where setting, kneeling, & prone, is shot as well) - then there's the (Bench Range) - but our Range Line is all rolled in together as one "firing line" and I've noticed most folks when shooting; Offhand / Prone / Setting / Kneeling, will use the front edge of the Bench as their "toeing the line" mark. :shake
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And that's a good point, however - can a person keep up the same "Pace distance" with each stride over a certain distance?
I've tried it over and over in my yard and seldom (if ever) have I ended up at the same distance after over a certain number of Paces, be it; (10, 15, 20, 25, or 30 Paces) over and over - there's always some repeated variances with each individual distance.
Which is why, in my post above, I said that the tendency is to start out with a long stride but you need to use your normal stride.
~Kees~[/size]
And that makes sense to me, and it still comes down to a person's long stride -vs- their normal pace distance - and if that pace distance can remain the same over different distances, say (25 to 100 yards, and perhaps further)... Fatigue in one's stride will surely show itself over distance - thereby cutting the goal of the distance one set out for.
Now I could see the following happening;
Two folks (each at one end of an end only knotted 5 yard rope) "pacing off" (say 40 yards) with that rope as they moved forward with a walking rotation of that rope. This to me makes sense for a more "known" distance shooting match back in the old days.
:shake