Instructions on Making Land Navigation Pace-Count Beads

You will need: a 2 foot length of 550 cord and 13 “Pony” beads (6x9 mm). (See Fig. 1)

Fig. 1. 13 beads and 2 feet of 550 cord.

Pull the inner strands of nylon thread out of the 550 cord. DO NOT DISCARD THE INNER STRANDS! (See Fig. 2)

Fig. 2. Pull the inner threads out of the 550 Cord.

Fold the 550 Cord in half. (See Fig. 3)

Fig. 3. Folding the 550 Cord in half.

Grab both loose ends of the 550 cord and tie them in a knot approximately ½” to 1” from the bottom. Pull the knot as tight as you can. (See Fig. 4)

Fig. 4. Grab both loose ends and tie them in a knot.

Use your lighter to melt the loose ends to prevent them from fraying. WARNING: Nylon gets extremely hot when melted, and will retain its heat for up to a minute after you remove the flame. DO NOT TOUCH THE HOT NYLON! Be careful when melting the ends; it does not take long (no more than 15 seconds) to melt the tips of the cord.

Next, loop one of the inner threads you pulled out earlier through the loop in the 550 cord. Then slide 9 beads down the cord. (See Fig. 5)

Fig. 5. Loop one of the inner threads

through the larger 550 loop and slide 9 beads onto it.

After you slide all 9 beads to the bottom of the 550 cord, tie a knot in the cord approximately 1”-2” above the beads. (See Fig. 6)

Fig. 6. Slide the beads all the way down and tie a knot above them.

Loop one of the small inner nylon cords through the loop of the larger 550 Cord and use it to slide the remaining 4 beads onto the 550 Cord. (See Fig. 7)

Fig. 7. Loop the inner cord through the 550 Cord and

slide the remaining 4 beads onto it.

Tie a knot approximately 1” above the 4 top beads. The loop that remains at the top should be 1”-2” large. (See Fig. 8)

Fig. 8. Tie a knot above the top 4 beads.

To use the pace-count beads: Pull down one of the bottom 9 beads for each 100 meters you travel. When you reach 1,000 meters, pull all 9 of the bottom beads back up to the starting position and pull down one of the top 4 pace-count beads. This set of pace-count beads will help you count up to 4,900 meters.