The Joy of Surveying (A Beginners Guide) by Tig Pebblebank, Lead Measurer of The Measure Items needed: Rope: knotted, long enough to cover the distance measured. Pitons x 2: to mark the spot you want to measure from and the spot you want to measure to. Hammer: to drive the pitons into the ground. Parchment: to write down your measurements. Instrument of marking parchment: This can be charcoal or chalk as they are readily available. However, those who have taken apprenticeship within The Measure will be given their token of apprenticeship, a lead disk, which is much superior to charcoal or chalk as it lasts much longer than the prior instruments. How to measure length: Step 1: Find spot you want to measure from. Step 2: Hammer piton 1 into that spot. Step 3: Find spot you want to measure to. Step 4: Hammer piton 2 in that spot. Step 5: Take knotted rope and place rope on piton 1. Step 6: Pull the rope toward piton 2 and place rope on the piton once you get there. Step 7: Count the knots between piton 1 and piton 2. The sum of the knots is the length between the two pitons. Easy, isn't it? Notes from the Author: It is custom of the guild of The Measure to wrap bright green cloth to these pitons in order to be seen clearly from a distance. Creating a certified knotted rope is covered in the advanced manual “Advanced Rope Techniques”. Please see a Lead Measurer if a knotted rope is needed. The subject “The History of Length” is covered in the “Measurer’s Almanac”. There has been some debate among measurers as to whether the act of tying the rope to the piton would be in fact be more practical than just placing the rope on the piton. I assure you dear reader, the act of placing the rope near the piton with the rope held is the correct and cursory way to complete this task quickly.