), Podcast #858: The Affectionate, Ambiguous, and Surprisingly Ambivalent Relationship Between Siblings, How to Fight Entitlement and Develop Gratitude in Your Kids, How and Why to Hold a Weekly Marriage Meeting, You Dont Have to Be Your Dad: How to Become Your Familys Transitional Character, Podcast #810: How to Turn a Boy Into a Man, Sunday Firesides: Climb the Ladder of Love, Podcast #865: How to Win Friends and Influence People in the 21st Century, Podcast #863: Key Insights From the Longest Study on Happiness, Podcast #875: Authority Is More Important Than Social Skills, Podcast #874: Throw a 2-Hour Cocktail Party That Can Change Your Life, 9 Mental Distortions That Are Sabotaging Your Social Life, How to Make the Perfect Snowball: An Illustrated Guide, Podcast #869: The Survival Myths That Can Get You Killed, Skill of the Week: Survive Falling Through Ice, Podcast #848: The 5 Priorities of Short-Term Survival, we covered how to properly use a compass, how to shootyour bearings, and the best map for navigating: the topo map, Land Navigation Manual: How to Use the Military Grid Reference System, Land Navigation Manual: Finding Your Bearings & Topo Maps, More Than Just Finding North: Understanding the Compass, Podcast #534: How Navigation Makes Us Human. A lensatic compass is often referred to as a military compass, and is typically used by the U.S. Military. Whenever the luminous magnetic arrow lines up with the luminous short line, you're following your intended azimuth. Procedures. Point position. The lensatic compass must always be held level and firm when sighting on an object and reading an azimuth. 1. My 159-page, fully illustrated book is yours for the asking. Plus, as a web site visitor, you get a 50% discount off the regular price, meaning you get the whole course for $10. STEPS 1.Ensure the map is on a level surface, place the compass parallel to a north-south grid line with the cover side of the compass pointing towards the top of the map. There is some technical difference between the two, but for all practical civilian purposes, the words are interchangeable. durability, and its hyper-accuracy in land. North is always at the topof any map. Leave your orientating arrow in line with the index line and the direction of travel arrow, as it will already be primed to point magnetic north. Sight an azimuth to any visible terrain feature that appears on the map. Well, we can use our compass as a protractor to take a bearing from our map. When you have a line position, you know that youre on some identifiable line on the map (trail, ridge line, etc. 1. 3.30 MB. 3. Turn your declination-adjusted compass dial so due North is at the index pointer. Its not unheard of for hikers to accidentally read their map upside down and end up facing south, rather than north. Magnetic north would be around 14 degrees to your right, or east. It would be 204 (24+180) in this situation. Turn the little screw using a small screwdriver or the little metal piece that comes with your compass lanyard. Keep it in a case, or wrapped up in a thick cloth to prevent those damages. Here's an example from an older map of the Grand Canyon. Spatial awareness refers to having knowledge about where everything in the environment is located relative as well as understanding how objects relate with each other spatially. Map and compass skills are essential when navigating the great outdoors, Abrupt topography, like mountain peaks, should be easy to identify thanks to their contours on the map, Magnetic declination guidance on a standard topographical map, Having adjusted the compass housing to correspond with magnetic north, line your compass up with the map's gridlines, Red is in the shed: the compass needle is lined up with the orientating arrow, Ski towns are full: why we cant all just move to the mountains, Berghaus MTN Guide MW Hoody review: a performance mid-layer for the mountains, Rangers warn National Park graffiti could throw hikers off the trail. Battle tested - shock, water, sand proof, and. With the thumb loop all the way down under the compass, put the thumb of one hand all the way inside the loop, and place the index finger of that same hand along one side of the compass. The easiest way to orientate a map is to relate the features in front of you to the features on the map. If your map already has a line to show magnetic declination, you can take your compass and line its edges up along this. There is nothing better than being at the heart of your navigation as a prepper, and truly knowing where youre headed without the need for technological input. If you don't, visit the page just hyperlinked. Everything on your map will be reversed if youre looking south and holding the map right side up. Plot a line on the map using the mountains rear bearing. What is the preferred method of using a lensatic compass when reading magnetic azimuths. Holding the compass up to your face, angle the rear sight so that you can read the compass dial clearly through the lens while peering through the sighting slot and lining your distant target (the water tower, in this case) up with the sighting wire. Lay the compass down on your map. For instance, line up roads, mountains, water towersany terrain features that stand out enough to make orienting the map possible. Fog or dense forest may mean you cant see but a few feet around you in any direction. To do so accurately, however, we must first adjust our compass for magnetic declination so the reading taken from the compass arrow . But heres the catch: depending on where you are on the planet, the angle of declination varies. More or less, where the second line meets the first is where you are on the map. Step 2: Line up your lensatic compass with the North Star and make sure the index mark is on the star. You can also use this website to get up to date declinations. Once you are physically at your starting location, its time to put your compass to good use. The fundamentals of using a map and compass to find your way around. Lay the map out flat in front of you. Open the cover completely and pull back the rear sight. There are two ways of doing this. Though GPS and smartphonesare reliable, its still vital to carry a compass, and know how to use it, as a backup or lifesaving form of navigation. You can use this feature to set your compass in the dark. Determining a Bearing, or "Shooting an Azimuth", Using Your Compass Sights to "Shoot an Azimuth". Start with contour features, such as what the ground is doing in front of you and around you, what happens to the terrain in the middle distance and then whats going on in terms of distant mountain peaks, ridges, hills and escarpments. This webpage may also be used to get current declinations. Turn the map and compass together until the red needle is pointing north. Note that we will be moving and adjusting the compass on the map. NB. Orient your map so that its lined up with magnetic north (see above). B. Brunton TruArc 8010 Classic Map Luminous Compass Brunton TruArc 8010 Classic Map Luminous Compass Item # WX2- 715075 / Mfg. Sounds like a lot more than a regular compass, doesnt it? Declination is the angle formed by true north and magnetic north. Throughout this procedure, were not utilizing it at all.). Hold the compass steady and level, and up to your face. Rotate the compass dial until north on the compass ring lines up with north on the map. When it comes to how to orientate a map, there are two main ways to do it. 3. Hold it square and straight in front of you like you mean business. He has climbed a handful of 6000ers in the Himalayas, 4000ers in the Alps, 14ers in the US, and loves nothing more than a good long-distance wander in the wilderness. A lightweight, well-engineered orienteering compass from the Finnish company that helped set the gold standard in navigation. Holding any compass in a slack and half-a**ed (that's an old military term. Easy-to-Read Thermometer - Cushion-mounted thermometer provides an "at-a-glance . The how to orient a map using a compass is a skill that can be used in the outdoors. {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"How do you orient and read a map? No declination exists and you dont have to adjust your compass. This is because technology is fallible, batteries run out, cold kills gadgets and theres always the possibility of dropping a device down a steep slope or into a rushing river. Ensure that the compass bezel is set to 0 degrees i.e. This is commonly known as puttingthe red in the shed. 2. How to Determine the Bearingof a Distant Object. The variation between magnetic north and true north is currently so minor that this can generally be ignored. Improve your reading skills with the KWL Method Compass 101 - How to Use a Baseplate Compass Buying a Compass for Land Naviga-tion Basic Navigation with a Compass and a Map How to orient a map and take a . Alex is a qualified Mountain Leader, adventure writer and content creator with an insatiable passion for the mountains. (They are oriented to Grid North, which is not necessarily the same as . Your lens piece will appear just above your thumb loop. Check to see if the north directional arrow is inline with the arrow/line of the compass. ), but youre not sure where. Remember how we spoke about declination in Part 1? If you want to learn Land Navigation in detail, either buy a book; or get someone, who has the knowledge and skills, to teach you in person. One advantage is it's probably more accurate when it comes to "shooting azimuths," meaning the act of determining the specific compass direction to a spot on the earth. It will make it easier to understand why we adjust for declination in the first place. So, don't sweat too much the minute details of getting your map finely oriented to the last degree with your compass. Your cheek should be resting on the base of your thumb. They could be your saving grace during a SHTF situation. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); MyOpenCountry is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. Bear in mind that an east declination value will be a positive number, and a west declination value will be a negative number. Look at the red needle to see which direction it is pointing. Step 2 Lay the map in a horizontal position. Turn the compass and the map as a unit until the luminous magnetic arrow is directly under the fixed black line. What if you dont have access to a compass that can compensate for declination? Youll see that it shows two arrows when you turn your headset or controllers around to show the new orientation of a map. Remember, human features are the last port of call and, whats king again? Its a bit tricky, but once you get the hang of it, youre solid. At that point, leave it out in a spot where it can really dry overnight until you know the internal components are no longer moist. Lets break down the individual parts of a lensatic compass so you can understand every element behind how it works. Spread out your map. The lensatic compass is comprised of different parts compared to a baseplate compass. navigation and combat. In my online video land-navigation course, I explain in lecture 20, how to orient a map. Using the rotating bezel, turn it until the direction of travel arrow lines up with the north arrow. Map Reading and Land Navigation: FM 3-25.26. A visualization depicting the Soldiers Manual of Common Tasks (STP 21-1-SMCT) task Orient a Map Using a Lensatic Compass (071-COM-1011). 1. ), Set Your Compass for Your Intended Azimuth. Youll want to stick to areas that are cool and dry, and dont offer any immediate threats to technological devices. That has the potential to make a significant impact! We only recommend products we genuinely like, and purchases made through our links support our mission and the free content we publish here on AoM. A compass is a device used for navigation and orientation. The two basic techniques for using the lensatic compass . You want to go cross country directly to Devil's Wash Basin, a deep and beautiful lake you've heard a lot about. Related Tags. Line up the meridian lines (the parallel lines inside the bezel) with a north/south grid line on the map. When this happens, its time to orientate using a compass. Set your compass dial to 000 degrees. Have you noticed the agonic line? Thankfully, its notwhether orienting your map with a compass or without, this is a skill that can be learned in minutes and which can be done in a matter of seconds out in the field. Once you've got the bearing you can transfer it to the map. Youll want to turn it until that black arrow outline is lined up with the 4E hash mark. To orientate the map, rotate both the map and compass together until the red compass needle and the red orientating arrow match up. The term "lensatic" comes from the fact that there is a lens on the rear side of the compass that aids in the orienteering process. To prevent this issue, well tweak our compass to account for declination. At this point, your map is almost oriented.
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