Compass Reading

[Logical]

Today i bought a Highland Lensatic Compass due to its lox price tag (and because it looked cool) But realsised my knowledge of Map reading and navigating is fairly low.

<img src="http://www.warehousesalesoutlet.com/images/_products/moteng/JM15670.jpg" border="0" alt="" />

Someone say how if the pic dont work!

Wondered if anyone knows much about navigation and relating it to maps etc.

Also im new to the forum and nobodys said "Hi and welcome to the froum" :'(

 

[johnboy]

Logical,

Hi and welcome to the forum...

If you want to do an intro post to the forum there is a specific intro and welcome area you can post in...

On compass and navigation stuff in general.

OS produce some good information for a start..

http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/oswebsite/education/teachingresources/index.html

The 'map reading made easy peasey' PDF is good for a start...

http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/oswebsite/education/pdf/mapreadingmadeeasypeasy2.pdf


Hope this helps..

John

 

[Logical]

Thought you'd never say it
Does anyone use that as a primary way of navigating or do most people work of visible waypoints?

 

[rickyamos]

Hi and welcome to the forum. Sorry to say that you did not buy the best compass for the job. You bought a marching compass and thats ok if your Officer Commanding gives you a bearing to march on, but for good map and compass work you really need a protractor compass, Silva is a top brand and the basic one you can get for just over a tenner. A good book to read is Navigation by Peter Hawkins printed by Cicerone £7.99 ISBN 978 1 85284 490 5
Hope this helps

 

[bushwacker bob]

If you wish to go on a course,Will aka Jungle_re on this site runs bushcraft navigation courses.

Welcome to the forum. Did you introduce yourself?

 

[Bravo4]

click the "insert image" icon and paste link there.
You'll want a map protractor to go with your compass.

Terrain association most often, but sooner or later compass skills come into play.

 

[johnboy]

Hi,

Here you go a link to a free map protractor....

http://www.cap-es.net/zips/protract.PDF

 

[Logical]

Thanks for that some good info to look at.

Still need to learn the whole image thing.

Didnt get round to introducing myeself. Sorry.

 

[Leezo]

I know quite a bit on navigation and map reading but that will only help me to answer certain questions for you. The best thing you can do is get literature on it and get out and put it into practice. There are plenty of navigation courses out there which I would recommend or go out with someone who can show you.

:welcome1: to the forum

 

[Martyn]

Hiya mate and welcome to the forum.

The compass you have isn't very good to be honest (for map reading). Probably the best compasses for the beginner right through to advanced are the Silva baseplate type. If you want to learn map reading, do a google search on the "Silva 123 method". It's simple, easy to remember and reliable.

But ....

This might sound strange, but why do you need a compass?

Get yourself an Ordnance Survey map of your local area and go to a spot somewhere green. Leave your compass in your pocket and try and locate yourself on the map, using just landmarks and things you can see around you. Learn to read the land, the contours, rivers, railways, buildings etc and learn to identify them on your map. If the river is that way, and the church is the other way and the railway line is behind you and you can see it all on your map, you are not lost. You have triangulated your position using the mark-I eyeball.

Do you still need a compass?

Try this. Carry a compass with you, but at random points on your travels, stop and have a guess which way North is. You can do this anywhere, in towns or in the country. Look at the sun, your watch, trees, moss etc and have a go. Then check your guess against your compass. I bet in no time you'll start to get pretty good. If you know which way is North, then you can orientate yourself and your map.

Do you still need a compass?

Well, yes, you cant dispense with them entirely. There are things that just require one. But try to do without one and you'll be amazed how much can be done. remember, people were navigating perfectly well before the compass was invented.

 

[ged]

... Wondered if anyone knows much about navigation and relating it to maps etc.

Also im new to the forum and nobodys said "Hi and welcome to the froum" :'(

Hi and welcome to the froum! There, somebody finally said it.

There are probably thousands of navigation primers and tutorials on the Web, but to do any serious study I like to get buried in a book. The one that's already been recommended is here

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/1852844906

Also take a look at this one:

http://www.starpath.com/catalog/books/1830.htm

The title tells you that it's really only for sailors, and a lot of the content is about celestial navigation, but much of it is applicable anywhere on Earth and in all sorts of situations. I can't praise it highly enough. One of the things I like most about it is the simple, down-to-earth application of techniques that many other books tend to treat with such mathematical thoroughness that they lose the, er, plot. This book talks about approximations, and one of the keys to successful navigation, especially if you're under any pressure, is knowing how good your approximations need to be. Here are some little gems:

* Unlike the sun, Mintaka (one of the three stars of Orion's belt, the one on the right if he isn't standing on his head) always rises due east and sets due west.

* Find your latitude with a bit of string, or a stick, and a ruler.

* Estimate one degree with your finger.

* Make a pretty accurate protractor.

* If you can't see the horizon to take a sight, use a bucket of water.

* Birds tend to go home at night.

All right, that last one really is for sailors. But buy the book. If you don't like it, I'm sure we can come to some arrangement. I could do with another copy, mine is falling to bits. I've no connection at all with the author or the publishers, I just love the book.

 

[Kerne]

I usually take a compass out with me but often never refer to it as the map contains enough information to get me where I want to go. However, I find it useful - if not essential - in two distinct circumstances - fog and woodland. Both can be disorienting and it is well worth getting the skills of walking on a bearing while counting paces in both circumstances (counting paces is MUCH more difficult in the woods!) In fact, I often use woodland as "practice fog" to hone my skills for when I am next on a mountain in thick mist. Much better to learn how to use it and never need the skill in earnest than to realise that you need to learn fast when the cloud descends.

 

[Logical]

This might sound strange, but why do you need a compass?

One experiance that made me want to get a compass is that i was climbing mount Morven up in the Highlands. The group i was with was quite varied in terms of sterength and speed so we were all spread out and had taken varying paths. When we were all at the top we stayed there a while then had to head back. We had all spread in different directions, some people going to the toilet some people haveing one last look around etc...

(Oh yeah and it was fairly fogggy)

anyway

In the end we were all so far spread apart that i ended up going down the wrong side of the mountain. Got a good bit down when i was starting to wonder why i couldnt see anyone. Fortunatly i realsied before i got too far down but still added a good bit of walking unnecessarily to the trip.

Compass would have been handy then so i would know which direction home is! So yes i still "need a compass"

As for the "Silva Method" its all about self hypnotism and developing a sixth sense. To be honest i really dont want much to do with that. Sorry. Dont mean to get involved in a religious debate but thats just me.

Next time im out and about will try all the tips mentioned. Thanks a lot guys:You_Rock_

 

[Martyn]

As for the "Silva Method" its all about self hypnotism and developing a sixth sense. To be honest i really dont want much to do with that. Sorry. Dont mean to get involved in a religious debate but thats just me.

Wrong Silva method mate. My fault, I think it's actually called the "Silva 123 system".

See here...

http://www.silva.se/upload/Catalogues/123_eng.pdf

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Mh5NB0KuEg

 

[Martyn]

One experiance that made me want to get a compass is that i was climbing mount Morven up in the Highlands. The group i was with was quite varied in terms of sterength and speed so we were all spread out and had taken varying paths. When we were all at the top we stayed there a while then had to head back. We had all spread in different directions, some people going to the toilet some people haveing one last look around etc...

(Oh yeah and it was fairly fogggy)

anyway

In the end we were all so far spread apart that i ended up going down the wrong side of the mountain. Got a good bit down when i was starting to wonder why i couldnt see anyone. Fortunatly i realsied before i got too far down but still added a good bit of walking unnecessarily to the trip.

Compass would have been handy then so i would know which direction home is! So yes i still "need a compass"

Actually, what you needed was a map.

It was a rhetorical question really, yes there are times when a compass is essential, but they are times when visibility is nil, or it's dark, or the landscape is totally featureless, such as miles of moorland or desert, or there is too much "noise" such as dense woodland or heavy vegetation.

The reason I asked "why do you need a compass?" was to prompt you to think of what you really need one for. In almost all cases, a compass is just used for quickly orientating yourself and your map, but so long as you have good visibility and features in the landscape, you dont really need a compass. The trick with map reading is to relate yourself to the landscape you are in, so you can place yourself on the map. You do that with your eyes. If you learn to do this well, you can navigate almost anything with just a map.

There are quite a few different methods of navigation and map reading, such as the silva method, or using a marching compass (such as yours) with protractor and ruler, counting paces, sighting landmarks, triangulation, back bearings etc. All of these methods have pros and cons and many are specific to certain situations, but all of them work much better if they are built upon a sound ability to place yourself in the landscape.

 

[Logical]

Wrong Silva method mate. My fault, I think it's actually called the "Silva 123 system".

Sorry about that. The two methods are pretty diffrent. Silly me.

The Silva 123 method looks easy and simple to follow. Will give it a shot.

The youtube video was good. Very simple and instructive.

Fog is a real pain. As well as spoiling an amazing view from the top of a mountain, it can really confuse your sense of direction.

I know a compass isnt allways necessary but when you need one, its generally a good idea to know how to use one.

 

[ged]

Fog is a real pain. As well as spoiling an amazing view from the top of a mountain, it can really confuse your sense of direction.

There are a few golden rules in navigation. One of them is very relevant to your problem there:

Always know where you are, and your bearings, at all times.

Then, when the fog comes down unexpectedly and very quickly, instead of rushing around trying to find out where you are by looking for landmarks that you can't see, you can say to your mates "It's a good job I'm here, because you lot wouldn't know where the hell you were if I wasn't!" and sit down with a smug smile to make a brew.

 

[Logical]

"It's a good job I'm here, because you lot wouldn't know where the hell you were if I wasn't!" and sit down with a smug smile to make a brew.

Well said!

 

[Bravo4]

As for the "Silva Method" its all about self hypnotism and developing a sixth sense. To be honest i really dont want much to do with that. Sorry. Dont mean to get involved in a religious debate but thats just me.

That's the funniest bit of miscommunication I've possibly ever read. Thank you gentlemen, that made my day.

 

[Logical]

That's the funniest bit of miscommunication I've possibly ever read. Thank you gentlemen, that made my day.

Glad to entertain. As much as it looks like im a fool, the "silva" method was to do with relating to nature aswell. Im not toooo stupid.