Hand Signals in the woods

[Peter Remling]

Just as in current military operations, the need for both stealth and communication would also be mandatory while foraging, fighting or hunting in the world of the rangers. Hand signals can supply a quiet method of communication but only if all lunderstand the language signed.

I have attached a site for a chart of military hand signals, some of which would be unnessecary in the Tolkien universe such as the signs for handgun, rifle and shotgun, but the majority are usable.

www.lefande.com/hands.html

I think as a group we should come up with other signs to indicate various types of game and foes and how armed and armored they might be.

[Gareth]

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[hesinraca]

Just bought Dies the Fire at powells.... woot. Haven't started reading yet.

[Peter Remling]

Actually I read the series almost a year age. Read his Sea of Time series also, pretty good stuff except I think his technological advances in The Sea of Time are a bit to quick. It'd not just technolgy itself, it's also logistics , transportation and training. Teaching a bunch of todays' people in the rudaments of some technologies is difficult enough but to teach non-tech societies of the intricaies of magazine loaded firearms and their construction, have factories up and running and producing army suppling quantities in less than 10 years strains the imagination.

I liked So Dies the Fire better than the Sea of Time series. Both series, for those who havn't read them are centered around a single event that cuts through time, technology and the physical plane (world) as we know it.

Still think some specific hand signals should be crated for ranger use: game ahead, weapons and armor of foes, etc.

[Peter Remling]

Gareth,

I just looked up and was reminded of where you and Cedric are from. Let's see, your in the SCA or have been, Portland area, Okay who's side are you on?

For the rest of you it's an inside joke, read the books and you'll understand.

[Gareth]

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[Peter Remling]

I'd start with utilizing the military ones that work. I'll see if I can edit out the ones that don't and repost them but it will be a while. Then we'd need a short list of ones that are relevant to a ranger in the woods. After that it's a short trip to devising them and adding to the list.

[Andy M]

I've worked on this. The basic Army patrolling hand & arm signals is a good base. STOP, FREEZE, ENEMY, DANGER AREA, RALLY POINT are good starters. I can download them on pdf and post the pages of the manual itself and will try to get in kit and have some pics taken demonstrating them.
Things to keep in mind are stick to using bold easy to make out signals, make sure you don't give the signal with your hand in front of your body so that your hand blends in with it's background.
Also, if in a small group, two to three, it's often more practical for the 2nd and 3rd man to simply walk up to the lead (or the one who needs to pass on something) and to talk in low tones, not whispers.
Take a knee when stopped for more than a few seconds.
A few other things are;
When moving, key off of what the other Ranger does. While moving with Paul, if I stopped, he stopped, observing my demeanor. If I froze, then he froze and would obviously look toward where I was looking. If I immediately went to ground so did he. We worked out that if the lead looked back and made eye contact with the 2nd, then the second would move to the lead. If the lead moved back to the 2nd, the 2nd would remain in place.

Another good topic is what we call non-tech communications at work. That is signs and markings used to communicate while moving about. A simple example is making a standard technique of leaving a visible sign on the North West quadrant of intersections that tell a ranger that there is another sign in 100 meters. The Ranger knows to look 50 meters off the road/trail for the actual sign.

I'll go into more details and techniques tomorrow. Its fun going out and working on these.

Andy

[Peter Remling]

Andy:

As always, you give good practical advise. Being you are the person most familiar with all the aspects of this, I'd love to see what extra good stuff you'll come up with.

[Andy M]

Thanks Pete, really. I’m just sorry that I haven’t been able to do even half the things I want to do as far as how-to’s and making things for others. Soon I hope.

I’ve got a good bit worked out on Ranger signs/markings. I’d like to get some input and ideas from others.

Things to keep in mind:

The purpose is to communicate to Rangers without others being aware. It can be as simple as a stick leaning against the west side of a tree.

Signs can show that Rangers passed this way, when, how many, direction, etc.
They can show that it is safe or not to proceed to a meet location or to pass through a certain area.

There may be a certain cache site that rangers use but first pass by a sign that shows them whether it needs to be serviced or not.

It can go on and on.

Now that I’m State side it would be great to get several Rangers together and put some of these to use.

Andy