h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

orienteering is a lot of fun...i do a lot of it in my work as i am a field forester. now, geocaching is the next step...

www.geocaching.com (i think thats it, maybe www.geocache.com)

one of those...they use gps way points...coool stuff. thanks for the infor

42, a girl in the US

Thanks for the info. Indeed, while orienteering only uses a map and compass, there are any number of different navigation games and sports that use other equipment. I had heard vaguely of geocaching (but I didn't know the name), and it sounds like something fun. I might try it in the future, if and when I purchase a GPS. Aside from this, there is also a competitive sport called ARDF (Ameteur Radio Direction Finding), or Radio Fox Hunting, which uses radio transmitters for the controls. Instead of having the locations pre-marked, however, ARDF competitors are equipped with a hand-held reciever antenna and a blank orienteering map. They then must triangulate each signal - there can be several controls, and each take turns transmitting separated by one-minute intervals - to find the location of the control. I tried it once - it is very difficult. There was actually a world championship in China last October. Then there's adventure racing, which often includes orienteering, among other skills. So right there, you have a navigation sport for your GPS buffs, one for your ameteur radio heads, and one for your massichists. If you are a buff of something else, you can bet there's a navigation sport including it. If not... make your own!