The catapillar happens to be one of the topics I was assigned to teach to the Patriots' Path contingent crews this past weekend...
The technique has been described, and there has been some discussion of the variable - how far each new lead hiker goes before stepping off the trail. I'd like to throw my two cents in on that.
Done properly, half the crew is moving at one time and half is resting, and the effort time should be the same as the break (if you have a hiker who is really struggling, that will get thrown off.)
So, how are ahead that new lead goes is the determining factor in both how long the break and the effort before a break is. The idea is to make the break long enough to catch your breath and the effort short enough that you don't get seriously out of breath.
We teach our crews to hike single file, with about 10 feet (or three to five paces) between hikers. There are a lot of reasons that a spacing in that range should be maintained - the crew does not get strung out along the trail, if someone stumbles they don't fall into the hiker in front and cause a line of dominoes to fall, you can see the ground and surroundings instead of just boots and an pack, etc.
And we teach to maintain that spacing while catapillaring. For most crews, that seems to provide a good interval of rest and effort. But certainly the distance can be adjusted. I would be concerned about increasing it to distances of 75 to 100 feet, though. With a crew of 12, that would string a crew out 450 to 600 feet (two football fields) and the end of the line would be out of (direct) contact with the front.
-- Al Thomson, Troop 236, Schooley's Mountain, NJ Treks 1999, 2001, 2003 Autumn Adventures 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006 ------------------------------------------------------- Scouting E-mail Discussion Lists @ usscouts.org Subscribe/Unsubscribe at http://usscouts.org/lists/ Listserv Commands at http://usscouts.org/lists/lc.asp ------------------------------------------------------- Send listserv commands to: listserv@troop47.com Send postings to: philmont@troop47.com List FAQ found at: http://usscouts.org/lists/faq.asp List Administrator: philmont_owner@troop47.com ------------------------------------------------------- As you gather around this virtual campfire with fellow Scouts and Scouters, do your best to be trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent. -------------------------------------------------------Received on Mon May 2 10:55:23 2005
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