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Rebuilding civilization

Geometry and measurement

Distance by pacing

Turn paces into metres by calibrating your pace over a known distance.

How you know your pace

Length of the calibration stretch m

Paces counted over that stretch

Count them the same way as on the route (single or double). Walk the stretch several times and use the average.

Paces counted on the route

Result

Distance: — m
Distance in km: — km
Length of each counted pace: — cm

How it is calculated

Distance = paces counted × length of each pace. Calibrating over a stretch: length of each pace = stretch ÷ paces over the stretch.

Example: 64 double paces over 100 m → 1.5625 m per double pace; 500 double paces are 781 m.

Keep in mind

Counting double paces (every time the right foot lands) is less tiring and a miscount costs less. The Romans measured this way: 1000 double paces made a mile.
Your pace shortens uphill, on soft ground, when carrying a load or when tired: calibrate in similar conditions and expect a 2-5 % error on level ground.

See also

More tools in “Geometry and measurement”