View Full Version : Where to mount pace count beads?
AspiringWarrior
09-25-2014, 00:19
I'm an active duty AF officer prepping for a Guard SF tryout, so I don't have seasoned NCOs to ask about this stuff. I have some basic land nav training, but I've never used pace count beads before. Where do you mount them? Do you wear them like a bracelet, attach them to your pack, put them on your belt...? What seems to work best? Or (and perhaps I should have led with this) are they not worth using at all?
Team Sergeant
09-25-2014, 07:06
I wore mine somewhere in the temporal lobe region......
City boy? ;)
Trappertod
09-25-2014, 07:24
Ditto, I remeber however when I went to Basic we wore them on our LBE. The beads tended to always find a way to work down the cord and your count was off. The temp lobe works best or as I saw a senior NCO one time do, he made lots of tick marks.
I wore mine somewhere in the temporal lobe region......
City boy? ;)
AspiringWarrior
09-25-2014, 12:21
Copy superfluous and ineffective. As to my urban-dwelling tendencies...yeah, I'd say that's a pretty accurate description. ;)
http://www.professionalsoldiers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=446
An old thread but a good one.
Especially, see post number 10...
... that Pathfinder really knows a lot about land navigation ...:D
AspiringWarrior
09-25-2014, 13:35
I just read through the wise old pathfinder's post. ;) The knots would seem to solve the bead slippage problem. I'm going to go get a new base pace count today after work. I've only ever done a single measurement over a 100m track in training, but the scientist in me really likes the idea of taking a larger sample and averaging. I've also never kept DOPE on my body before. That seems like a solid idea, too. Thanks for the advice!!!
I just read through the wise old pathfinder's post. ;) The knots would seem to solve the bead slippage problem. I'm going to go get a new base pace count today after work. I've only ever done a single measurement over a 100m track in training, but the scientist in me really likes the idea of taking a larger sample and averaging. I've also never kept DOPE on my body before. That seems like a solid idea, too. Thanks for the advice!!!
Best pace count system I've seen used rubber grommets for the beads. They did not slip around and did not rattle or shine.
I use a piece of para cord with 5 spring loaded/locking round beads, like these:
http://i00.i.aliimg.com/wsphoto/v0/1682985556_1/10-PCS-Black-Plastic-font-b-Spring-b-font-Stop-font-b-Toggle-b-font-Round.jpg
...mounted on my webbing/carrier, easy to reach with my non-master hand.
5 up, 5 down for 1000m
The link on the earlier post to another thread on knowing your pace counts for load carried, dark, up/down hill, close country, etc is solid.