Compass Navigation Tutorial

This navigation tutorial will explain how to use a topographic map with a compass.
Links:
So Far Blog - Navigation Tutorial: www.sofar.co.za/compass-naviga...
So Far Blog - How GPS Works: www.sofar.co.za/gps-formats-ex...
Sofar Blog: www.sofar.co.za
Magnetic Declination Calculator:
www.magnetic-declination.com/
geomag.nrcan.gc.ca/calc/mdcal-...
Jump to:
Compasses: • Compass Navigation Tut...
Magnetic Declination: • Compass Navigation Tut...
Maps: • Compass Navigation Tut...
Find Your Position: • Compass Navigation Tut...
Find Your Destination: • Compass Navigation Tut...

[@JamesPliny]

I am experienced and have read a couple of books on the subject and looked at a few videos on KZbin. This video is excellent and covers all the subjects I think are important. A beginner may have to watch the video a few times to get it all, but it is well worth it. Thanks for putting out such an awesome presentation.

[@PetroliumStation]

Very clean and straightforward video performed in a professional manner. Thank you!

[@mooseeygoosey]

One of the best tutorials I've seen. Well done. I especially like the last bit about purposely aiming to the side so that no matter the margin of error you can always know that you'd turn left ( in the case of the example) to reach the proper destination. Smart!

[@aaaaanton1]

Of all the hundreds of videos I have watched on this topic, this video is by far the best one. Excellent presentation!

[@foreverdrift]

Thanks a ton for uploading this; it's the clearest A-Z explanation of the process I've found!

[@djmorra3926]

Finally someone who can properly show how to orient a map for terrain navigation. Love your video.

[@maur2far]

Wow this was fantastic. You made it so easy to follow and I have NEVER used a compass before. I have always loved maps and now I see how a compass can really bring them to life for me. Thank you so much. You have a subscriber and a fan! Keep posting videos!

[@semco72057]

I like the way you explained how to use the compass and finding your destination using both the map and compass. While in the military we was taught about using the compass, but it was only once and I forgot that information. Thanks so much for sharing this information and I appreciate it so much.

[@leonkreel2817]

I have bookmarked this excellent video in case I should need a refresher. detailed, lucid and concise.

[@mikepeterson9362]

Hey brother, VERY well done video. There are literally thousands of orienteering videos on KZbin, and nearly all of them are terrible. You did a fantastic job with every part of this. You used effective visuals, both photographically and digitally in post. You wrote extremely concise copy, and stuck to it in your delivery (might want to slow your speaking speed down 15-20 percent). You picked the RIGHT topics for a beginner's "orientation to orienteering." And you did a great job editing. Bravo sir, seriously. This has already got some polish on it, and I can tell you're serious about trying to get this channel off to the right start, so I'm subscribing and liking just to support. Keep up the good work!

[@chiosmet]

The best compass-map navigation video on the web. Congarts!!!

[@Ryan-yf5ds]

This is one of the best videos on navigation I have seen really good

[@barra650]

It's been a long time since I used my navigation skills from the army and a brush up on skills is needed. Your presentation is uncluttered and to the point. Well done .

[@sofarhikingblog7262]

barra650 thanks. I found that once you understand it becomes second nature. I'm curious, did you remember most of it from back then?

[@brien0008]

Wow! This is a fantastic instructional video covering basic to very advanced techniques. Thank you.

[@sofarhikingblog7262]

Glad you like it!

[@radiowardenclyffe]

Clear, informative and no nonsense all you need to know, thanks bud that info is locked and loaded.

[@BruceLockland]

This is the best compass navigation tutorial I’ve found on KZbin!! Very well done!! Thank you 🙏🏻

[@richardpatrickbaxter8044]

An excellent explanation of compass, map and terrain reading. Will save this for reference. Thanks.

[@louiea.7343]

Thank you! This has answered so many questions I had. Great video.

[@chrismoon7758]

Probably seen a dozen compass navigation videos on KZbin and this one is by far the most informative and useful. Thank you for taking the time to make this :)

[@TyJee28]

Excellent clear ＆ thorough explanations of several useful techniques. I think one need not always know epreciesly where they are at all times, ( if you're being a slave to your map & compass you're doing it wrong ) only know approximately where they are. The greatest utility of a compass is in being able to determine where you are when you're ready to call it a day and want to find the correct direction to head back to your stating location or to a place of safety if needed. Some of the techniques demonstrated covered that, nicely. The only thing missing was an alternate way to account for mag declination with a compass that only has a fixed mag declination scale or with a compass that even lacks that feature. Which is quite simple but seldom explained. If mag declination is 8 degrees west, turn your compass bezel an extra 8 degrees CCW. (so that the N on the bezel moves to the west by 8 degrees) For mag declination of 7 degrees east, turn the bezel an extra 7 degrees CW. [when taking a map measured azimuth to the magnetic azimuth to be set on the compass]. The same idea is done a little differently on a lensatic compass such as the Cammenga compass. On which the N is always at the tip of the north pointing arrow because it has a rotating compass card. But you still turn the compass bezel in the same direction. So that the short luminous line moves to where the N on the compass card should point. Anyway, overall one of the best and most complete compass navigation videos I've seen on KZbin. A good first video for beginners or for those whose compass skills haven't been used for awhile, and could use a quick review.

[@LeSadW666]

Great video and great links too! Glad I found this!

[@deathb4digital]

It took a while to find a concise and well done video. "Angle of a linear terrain feature" was enlightening. Thank you.

[@sofarhikingblog7262]

Glad you found it helpful :)

[@auswalker7865]

Well presented. Concise, accurate information.

[@juice2090]

Excellent video! I'm just getting started with orienteering and this was to the point, informative and very well made. Subbed!

[@duxklr]

Well made video. I have been browsing many others and stop half way through because of the poor quality. Yours is spot on. Thank you for taking the time to make this.

[@sofarhikingblog7262]

Thanks Jason!

[@donaldruttan5103]

Thanks mate. I learned a lot from your explanations. Just have to get out and practice. Cheers

[@getsmart3701]

Excellent video mate, your blog is excellent. Thank you very much for the information.

[@octavioschultz3752]

Great work on the video, very detailed and helpful.

[@rorykirkpatrick8070]

Very concise and informative tutorial.

[@WizardTerence]

FANTASTIC VIDEO FOR NAVIGATION ! THANK YOU

[@2tpilot]

Very helpful! Thanks for this video!

[@tylerarrigoni7700]

Excellent video! Thank you! Subscribed!

[@autoscanremaps]

Great vid, thank you for sharing your knowledge 👍

[@zr1daddy14]

Perfect! Thank you for the tutorial.

[@MeyersCTR]

Best ever! Thanks from Alabama

[@Fellmandave1]

Excellent information and a lot crammed in there. Thanks

[@markdale8301]

Good work. Packed with info. 👍🏻

[@lauraa.6884]

Very useful video, Thanks a lot !

[@teamdawkinsmo6095]

Awesome job! Thank you!

[@Ali-7676]

I'm a complete beginner to orienteering and navigation. I must say, this is one of the better, if not the best basic compass tutorial I've seen on KZbin. Would it be more complete if the method of setting the declination directly from the map was also included, in case one cannot go online for it for whatever reason, but has a current map with them? Thank you so much.

[@davistruk]

Very clear, thank you

[@dorkflassbury1164]

Excellent ! Thank you.

[@luisavelar8856]

Very good tutorial, congratulations

[@beatbasher]

Very helpful, well shot and clearly explained. Top job buddy

[@rauliodelima8095]

Thank you for your compass lectural guide..

[@Mexx101]

Very well made video! Congrats!

[@erasgous]

CASoltendieck thanks for the comment :)

[@jcurriecroy]

Eras Gous q

[@trevorgwelch7412]

Every School child should learn this important lesson in class , it may save their life one day .

[@retiredinthephilippines]

An old video but well informative. Having been a city person and then deciding to wander the vast gold fields of western Australia. gold detecting. we took both GPS and maps with compass. At first it was a bit unnerving as you are walking with your head down and due to the flat low bushes non landmark country it's easy to get disoriented..BTW. don't put your map on a METAL bonnet of a vehicle. The compass will be rather confused..We BOTH (including my wife) carried a GPS with always spare batteries. CHEERS.

[@MarcDayton]

Well Done!

[@ronanrogers4127]

Legendary video

[@davidcrespomatos2651]

awesome video. thanks

[@sofarhikingblog7262]

David Crespo Matos glad you found it helpful

[@lewiswolff3703]

Thank you.

[@HammockerSam]

I was sent here by a comment in a different, much worse, compass navigation video. Somebody liked your video, and now, so do I

[@scythian6254]

very well done sir

[@johngo6283]

Very nice video. One suggestion: To instantly find the correct magnetic declination for any point on earth, just go to magnetic-declination.com. One click on the Google map and you have a nice pop up box that gives you the correct value. No reason to try to do the math with what may or may not be visible on the map margin.

[@sofarhikingblog7262]

Vert helpful! Thanks so much. I've added it to the links section

[@officerwebb620]

you should align the map to true north on the compass after calibrating for magnetic declination ...

[@josephcampbell1693]

Paint the bottom of the base plate with clear nail polish to keep the scales from wearing away.

[@Peter-ue6mn]

Great video. I'm brand new to this. So please forgive me if this is a stupid question. At one point (6:30), when you were showing us how to find where we were on the map by using a siting. You said the reservoir was diagonally to your left and in ahead of you in real life. Then you said that this meant that you were diagonally below it and to your right on the map. This made sense to me. Then you sited the place where the river forked. That made sense also. Where I got lost was on your conclusion. Your conclusion was that you were SE of the reservoir. That would make us left of the reservoir on the map [when you said we'd be on the right of it on the map previously]. Can you please help me understand this? Thank you. And than you for putting this video together.

[@rlponce844]

I've trying to do compass and map reading but it just won't sink in. You're video is very much helpful. But still I didn't get, worst of me. But, thank you for sharing this.

[@theviron6]

Great video, i just wish it were a little slower so i had time to understand one aspect before moving to the next.

[@sofarhikingblog7262]

theviron6 thanks, will keep it in mind for the next video. I wanted to make it comprehensive and it's probably too much for a single video

[@DeShark88]

I personally found it perfect. There's a pause button for those who can't keep up and KZbin lets you play back at slower speed too. I think you said there was a blog with all this information too?

[@rlponce844]

I actually have lots of questions, but because it quite plenty, I can't sort even one. Huhu thanks for the video.

[@sofarhikingblog7262]

Drop me a mail and I can answer any questions you have! I'd be happy to help :)

[@rlponce844]

I dunno where am going to send my questions, so I'd rather comment in here. 1. I don't get on how to position the compass on the map. 2. I don't understand the 2-north, that's why I get confuse on how to read the grid. 3. Is it always needed to follow the position of the sun? I think this are my top basic questions that I can't understand. Thank you.

[@pay9011]

This was a little confusing until I realized the Declination Scales were located at the South end of the bezel. Most I've seen are located at the North end. 1:00

[@abhashtripathi007]

Sir the article of How Gps work is not opening, it shows error 522 while opening that web page. So It is possible to send it through email to me.

[@gmanpublications]

Went to go to the blog but it kept taking me to some sort of pdf.

[@allenheart582]

Because of the coming micronova, declination is moving much farther, and much faster and so declination information is likely incorrect My up-to-date declination is 30 degrees, 15 degrees off from the official declination for my area. but there is still a way to recalibrate magnetic declination using the shadow of sticks recording the path of the sun---rotation of the earth has not yet changed. First stick will show East. Mark it with a sharp stick pushed in. After a few minutes you can mark sun shadow travel where the shadow has moved - Push another stick in to mark West. Lay a straight stick from the E mark to the W mark. Geographic north or True North is 90 degrees from the E-W line. With your compass pointing toward True North, note how far off your compass is now. That is your true up-to-date declination. More on micronova in my 2nd book, Surviving the Micronova: This Train Is on the Tracks is available now.

[@monfatouo]

Aquí en mexico, este tipos de brújulas presentan un fallo después de comprarla aproximadamente en 3 meses se presenta una burbuja en la capsula no permitiendo el movimiento de la ajuga o impidiendo el movimiento de esta fui al servicio técnico de aquí en mexico suunto mexico la cual no se hace responsable de este fallo y te alienta que compres otra bujula de otra marca mejor. triste pero cierto no te dejes estafar por esta marca.

[@beowoulf355]

Great info but I wish you didn't talk so fast. Make it hard for a novice to understand when they are not familiar with the terminology. Thanks for posting.

[@sofarhikingblog7262]

Thanks for the feedback :) I will take it into account when I do my next post. I appreciate it

[@clarkeugene5727]

Very kind of you to accept the request for slower speech. All that you say makes sense, but we need time to digest it.

[@DeShark88]

For those struggling with the speed of speech, KZbin has an option to play back at slower speeds. He sounds a bit drunk, but at 0.75 speed it's a good pace for a beginner. I wanted a quick summary of different methods, so watched it at 1.5 speed to go through it quickly. The video is fantastically well produced by the way, perfect summary and quick recap of things I already knew, but I also learnt a lot too!

[@clarkeugene5727]

DEShark88. . . . I was not aware of that option about the speed. And you are right to point out that the video was well produced. Speed or not, it gave me valuable information.

[@sofarhikingblog7262]

I actually recorded it drunk and sped it up :)

[@jonathandigal9711]

I am the one of your avid fan.

[@jimf1964]

Awesome, super information. But slow down a little! You speak a little like a machine, with no pauses in between points. I need to look at my compass and think a little. I'll watch again, and pause it when appropriate, but it stressed me trying to follow.

[@sofarhikingblog7262]

Jim F thanks for the feedback. Noted and taken to heart. I’ll try and slow the next ones down a bit 👍🏼

[@spyder8602]

Go slow the playback speed down slow poke

[@CristiNeagu]

1:05 You are missing at least two types of compasses commonly used for hiking and trekking.

[@sofarhikingblog7262]

Cristi Neagu hi Cristi. Thanks for pointing that out. I presume you’re referring to lensatic compasses as the one type. What is the other one that I have missed?

[@CristiNeagu]

@@sofarhikingblog7262 Prismatic would be the other one. They're still used, but lensatics are definitely more popular.

[@peterevans8194]

I would disagree about one point..At the 2.40 mark when talking about declination, he states that the North on the map and the grids line face True North...This is incorrect, they face Grid North and there is a difference between True North and Grid North which varies where you are in the world, and is usually marked in the legend of the map...For land navigation as being discussed here, it is usual to just use Magnetic and Grid North....Otherwise a good video....

[@qolindzalamangoveni7650]

I am never ever going to get lost again

[@allanlarmour7460]

I'm lost!

[@prospexican]

you speak kind a fast, little hard to catch since english not my main language.

[@jamesedwards1588]

Algorithm 4u 🥇

[@altexlan415]

look at moscow compass, said to be better than Sweden n USA made.

[@estiennelewies3843]

Are you South African?

[@estiennelewies3843]

Oh yes you are, only a Saffa would pull out a Drakensberg topo

[@sofarhikingblog7262]

yep :)

[@PiranhaJaw22]

I'll just stay in the city

[@johncourtney8203]

Have u ever thou of slowing down your pace of talk try it

[@sprungjitsu8465]

Too fast for me

[@luisavelar8856]

FIVE STARS : ).

[@giuliom8520]

You go too fast and use too many still shots in your video. I felt it was a little bit difficult to understand what you are saying by just looking at your pictures, but maybe that's just me.

[@georgemobley4272]

.

[@elgus1147]

I would have to sell my soul to satan to buy a suunto in the shity country where i live, sun and stars nav is my option...nice video, at least i'll grab some theory :(((

[@bigbone88]

Im lost,slow down,you are on mets

[@drpeemac]

too much info mate..scratching my head

[@Mirahverl]

Talking way to fast

[@philvogel6187]

You pronounce the Afrikaans name like you speak Afrikaans!

[@stuartknight2174]

Sorry mate .... you lost me, you speech was to fast for me ! .. But hey .. thats just me ... everyone else got it ! lol

[@michelebouvet8074]

You talk waaaayyy too darned fast. How are we supposed get all this with rapid fire slurry speech and wind noise. Arrrrggghh!

[@donz8501]

Fantastic!