How to Use a Baseplate Compass

[@CainIsAbleProductions]

Let's get a like for Mr. STOKERMATIC walking back and forth through the woods to capture his camera shots for us... dedication...

[@STOKERMATIC]

Here’s a like for you sharing a few minutes on the channel. I appreciate it Karl!

[@dmmartindale]

Notes on a couple of minor things: At 4:00, narration claims that a 10 degree error in heading is a 100 m position error in 1000 m of travel. In fact, it is 176 m error since tan(10 degrees) = 0.176. An error of 100 m every 1000 m happens with only a 5.7 degree heading error. When setting declination/variation on this compass, there is a red index line at the S end of the arrow marking in the capsule and a +-90 degree declination scale on the rotating azimuth ring that allow setting declination precisely. These are both visible in the closeup at 7:45. The closeup shows the declination actually set to 20 degrees east, not 17 degrees.

[@STOKERMATIC]

Dave, thought I replied to this one already. Man, you bring out a great point in my math errors and illuminate the point of what I attempted to say - that it's very important to have the right azimuth.

[@terryburket5156]

I learn something new about compass use in each of your videos. Keep them coming. Thanks

[@STOKERMATIC]

You got it Terry!

[@victorbell1378]

Everyone needs instructions on using a moral compass

[@STOKERMATIC]

Couldn’t agree more Victor! Hope you get a lot of likes on your comment!

[@dwaynerobertson383]

Ain't that the truth...

[@mikeypotts4732]

Amen brother. It blows my mind how many people today are lacking these fundamental characteristics. So many today are sociopathic shells of a human being.

[@squirelova1815]

@@mikeypotts4732 The Apostle Paul predicted the psychopathic condition man would devolve into in the last days but thankfully it's not all of us but those that have not and resist the Holy Spirit: "But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come. For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving,]unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!" (2Timothy:3)

[@ssbfmcw]

I purchased the same model compass, a difference being that my TruArc 10 has an opaque bottom of the vial while yours is transparent. I found as you did (2:14) that it does not click when the housing is rotated and I don't see any mechanism to produce a click, so I don't think your compass is defective, that's the way it works. I do feel a slight resistance when rotating the dial at 113 degrees relative to the direction of travel arrow. I have found it hard set my declination (3 degrees east near Dallas, TX) as the vial is difficult to rotate relative to the dial 7:19). Your technique of setting the outer scale to zero and then aligning the declination offset is more practical for me than the Brunton instruction using the interior declination offset scale (I did confirm east declination after using your technique to set it). I do like the roamer scale on the baseplate as well as the reversible inch/metric scale on its right side, I grew up with 1:24,000 scale maps, where 1"=2,000' and 1:63,360 or 1"=1 mile, so I still think in terms of feet, yards and miles. I'm slowly coming around to UTM and USNG metric measurements! Thanks for your well thought out and presented videos.

[@STOKERMATIC]

Appreciate that Bill!

[@outdoorenthusiastenl4907]

Great video!!! Thanks for posting. I just actually received my truarc 10 in the mail today. Can’t wait to put it to the test.

[@STOKERMATIC]

That's awesome!

[@louiemorris9598]

nice base plate compass. I was just wondering if you tried what I do to the maps I get. I draw my magnetic north lines on it. That way when I was in the field with little or no sleep it cut down on my figuring out or orientating the map magnetic north.

[@STOKERMATIC]

Not bad Louie! I haven’t though I could see the advantage . I figure when it comes to orientation I can figure that out without a compass.

[@louiemorris9598]

@@STOKERMATIC how I do it I set my compass to zero turn my map on the ground with the lies that I put on there to magnetic North and now I can put the corner of my compass on my location swing it to my destination to get my asthma so I have to do any figure. Trying to convert grid North to magnetic north

[@dmmartindale]

One nice thing about any compass with declination/variation compensation (including the Brunton shown) is that, once declination is set, the capsule black lines point true north-south. So you can use the compass to orient most maps without drawing any new lines on them. (Also, declination has been changing pretty fast recently, so magnetic north lines get out of date).

[@Timberwolf191]

Good video bud. Just got the same compass for Christmas. Note the white mm ruler slides off for use. Thought that was pretty cool!

[@thomasbartlett3409]

Great video as usual and thanks...Tip, when you want to return to the start destination, tell folks to flip the compass 180 degrees and navigate off the back of the compass plate without ever changing the azimuth always keeping the red in the shed. This will eliminate any confusion about the initial azimuth setting.

[@STOKERMATIC]

Thomas! Thanks brother, I appreciate it, and that's a great tip on using a reverse azimuth!

[@thomasbartlett3409]

@@STOKERMATIC Many years ago, I read the Bjorn Kjellstrom book "Be Expert With Map and Compass" and that's what he recommended in his book. BTW, I recently bought a Cammenga 3H and love it. Once a baseplate type compass is fully understood, the Lensatic can easily be learned. I now prefer the Cammenga, although the baseplate is also an excellent compass. They both have strongpoints. Thank you for your excellent videos!!

[@williepete4176]

Never been a fan of those compasses more of a government compass but yeah man you know you wanna give ya boy that giveaway

[@STOKERMATIC]

Wayne, I’m a fan of lensatic too! Now you just gotta get folks to like your comment! Good luck!!

[@williepete4176]

@@STOKERMATIC ill do my best man keep up the good work though

[@STOKERMATIC]

Wayne, great job brother! Shoot me an email to [e-mail] and I’ll get the package out to ya!

[@williepete4176]

@@STOKERMATIC I sent ya the email man i didnt even realize you had commented to be honest lol but this is awesome man seriously

[@TriadAgone]

Why is land NAV typically done off of true/grid north alignments as opposed to magnetic like in aviation?

[@STOKERMATIC]

Great question! Probably answered best in a recent upload about declination - but short story: maps use grid north, so if I'm using a map, I need to convert. If your not using a map and you're "flying" solo on the ground with just a compass, you would use magnetic north.

[@dalecrabtree2382]

Great video! Hey, doesn't the bubble in the compass capsule hinder navigation? Thanks!

[@STOKERMATIC]

Dale, bubbles will effect the speed of the compass being able to dial in a specific azimuth, but it’s not going to make the compass miscalculate 15 degrees for 45.

[@tomconway8881]

Enjoyable video. Thanks

[@jimf671]

The Silva 4 is a bit of a staple around here and military and ex-military folks like it because it is available in mils as well as degrees. It has the right roamer scales for British mapping. One of my personal favourites though is the Suunto M-3: sturdy, good bezel grip, good luminosity and declination adjustment. Another star of the Suunto stable is the A-30 which has very good luminosity and also has a very large magnifier that is useful for those who are getting a bit long-sighted. I also quite fancy trying the Suunto MB-6 matchbox mirror compass (previously Recta DP-6). All of these have a tendency to end up with bubbles and that will be sooner rather than later if they are treated roughly or subjected to many variations in altitude. The bubble problem appears to be mainly a function of the material that all these capsules are made from. Acrylic/Perspex/PMMA is a very brittle polymer and famed for its micro-cracking. K&R made a compass capsule from an elastomer in an attempt to solve this problem but unfortunately when I bought one it soon deteriorated with brown deposits appearing in the capsule fluid. The bubble problem is solvable but then they won't sell as many compasses!

[@STOKERMATIC]

Appreciate your insight!

[@Gillespie91]

Wow there is alot of cameras out there in them woods that caught you walking all the way to the mountain!! 😂 All jokes aside though, man you worked you butt off in this video to get all the shots that you made having to set the camera up ahead of you and going back to get it!! It was a good video though for sure. I've had the same base plate silva compass since I was 7 my grandpa gave me. It goes everywhere I do when Im going outdoors.

[@STOKERMATIC]

Bradley, man I bet that Silva has some stories it could tell. That's a great story to continue to be a part of. Best to you, and thanks for your kind words!

[@CRosa-tt6tl]

Great video I needed a refreshing on my compass skills thanks to your videos starting to come back..👍👍

[@STOKERMATIC]

Glad they are helping!

[@angeloandverny]

Please do a review of the cammenga destinate baseplate compass, to me it seems like the love child of the army and civilian nav world. I would greatly appreciate the review

[@dannyseiter1301]

Great vid, but did anyone else feel like Bruce Willis was teaching you land nav?😆

[@STOKERMATIC]

Or do you feel like when you watch Die Hard you're watching a Stoker movie?

[@dannyseiter1301]

Touché

[@trrific1]

Thanks for your great vids! Have you tested the new Brunton 5010 yet!

[@daveg8841]

Hey buddy, I just bought a Suunto baseplate compass. Ive looked all over the web, wth is that lil skinny black arrow for???

[@STOKERMATIC]

Many models have an extra line used to measure angles.

[@daveg8841]

@@STOKERMATIC Thank you sir...carry on. haha

[@danielbelcher9011]

Hey Stoker, if you're in the East, shouldn't you subtract your declination ? It looks like you added

[@STOKERMATIC]

For the East you would To convert Grid to Magnetic: Add To convert Magnetic to Grid: Subtract kzbin.info/www/bejne/hYCpe4pqptJlh9k

[@fre3radic4l]

Set it and forget it, BOOMER! Edit: Also, this was THE BEST video explanation I have found, thus far. Thank you, Sir.

[@STOKERMATIC]

BOOM!

[@fre3radic4l]

@@STOKERMATIC Still 5 EZ payments of 19.99?

[@berniestraight126]

Dumb question how often do you check your red in the shed as you go

[@westonweigand1228]

He said about every 100 meters

[@ronaldquint2644]

I see the brunton compass has a big air bubble. I wanted a base plate compass that is not liquid filled. So, I bought a commenga D3-T

[@STOKERMATIC]

It has one, but worked well till it broke. LOL. Have a Silva - I wanted to get the D3-T but wish it was an actual baseplate.

[@ronaldquint2644]

@@STOKERMATIC check cammengas website

[@STOKERMATIC]

I dig it - just wish you could adjust declination and see through the faceplate like every other baseplate.

[@tbrown1352002]

Do you think you could do a video sometime on plotting points and route planning on a map using the built in protractors on the Tru Arc 10 using the various scales on it? Thanks, love your content!!!

[@STOKERMATIC]

Sadly it broke on me…

[@tbrown1352002]

@STOKERMATIC oh man! Well, I hope the one I just bought doesn't do the same...lol. Thanks for what you do!

[@meatballsguch]

I just started using a suunto a30 only thing I’m disappointed with is it doesn’t have the adjustable decl. It does have the scale for it I just have to remember to factor it in every time. Only good thing of where I’m at it’s 10 degrees west so Easy to remember.

[@STOKERMATIC]

10 degrees does make for easy math!

[@tearfree1600]

Leaving a comment ..........you got to get up get up to get down

[@STOKERMATIC]

Good luck! Get some more likes on your comment! Lol

[@stacywilliams1710]

Good job Sir

[@ericdee6802]

Great demo. Isn't Brunton a top end compass manufacturer?. Good job on the lesson, trying to understand the lesson, watched this four times, gonna watch again. 🇺🇸✌️

[@STOKERMATIC]

Brunton, Silva, and Suunto have the best reputation.

[@ericdee6802]

@@STOKERMATIC I see, I've seen the "Suunto" base plate compasses advertising pop up when I searched for Brunton base plate compasses, but didn't know much about their reputation. Regarding Declination. What is your opinion on compasses that require a tool to set the Declination and the compasses that you can set without the tool. I noticed the Brunton tru arc 10 (not sure of the model) didn't require the tool. I've been reading about the Compasses that you set without the tool, and people have alot of gripes about those. Thanks for the reply.🇺🇸✌️

[@adventureguy4119]

Nice! Jesus willing I will master navigation

[@STOKERMATIC]

You got this!

[@plowboy006]

Awesome

[@seanm1054]

I’m starting to do my research to purchase a baseplate compass and wanted to ask 1. Have you reviewed the Cammenga Destinate Tritium Protractor Compass D3-T, if so what are your thoughts? 2. What baseplate compass do you recommend?

[@STOKERMATIC]

I haven't had it in my hands. I'd like to, but the issue with it is that you still need a protractor. Silva makes some good ones. This brunton was ok, but it did end up breaking on me.

[@seanm1054]

@@STOKERMATIC that was I was curious about. I ordered the Cammenga tritium 3h, as I'm somewhat familiar (it's been over 2 decades since I've used one...lol), but I also would like to get a baseplate so I can use either one. I can see the issue also that the entire plate is not see through like other baseplate models. The Suunto MC-2 seems to get pretty good reviews, so i will do a little more research into their product. Great video, keep'em coming!!

[@gregmullins1296]

Nice video. Thank you!

[@STOKERMATIC]

Thanks Greg!

[@berniestraight126]

Should have waited for the answer sorry you answered my question 100 meters + -

[@Stacker_Actual]

Am I fucking stupid ? I want to buy this compass BECAUSE of your video because it’s got the protractor scales on it but aren’t they backwards ? Reference point is you start at the bottom left corner of the grid square ? To use the protractor scales on this compass you’d have to place it face down on the map? And the numbers would be backwards ? Please explain this to me lol

[@stuartward9208]

Yeah he's using the markers for taking a grid reference... they are not for what he said at all... there's a very clear white ruler on the straight edge that is far more useful for that...! I was also disturbed at his VERY incorrect way of setting the bearing... again, use the straight edge! NEVER put the compass pin on top of your location, the straight edge is literally FOR setting a bearing! If you put the compass on top of your location and destination you are very unlikely to get a perfect bearing...!

[@PastorPeewee20]

Nowadays the young guys are just hoping the electronics never go completely out or they'll be screwed without gps! Lol

[@STOKERMATIC]

That's very true I believe. But part of the reason I do what I do here. Thanks man!

[@Ohnyet]

Keep compass from steel I.e. guns and gear!.

[@STOKERMATIC]

Truth!

[@victorbell1378]

If at least one person thinks about that I am good

[@brianlouks4875]

What's a compass?😂

[@dallie7789]

Get your head off my pillow Stoker!!

[@reverendsaltine6852]

From the blowsy rambling opening, i believe that listening to this one can only confuse me.

[@STOKERMATIC]

Rev, which ones that I’ve done have you liked? I know there’s a bit of diversity, so just looking for a bit of ‘hey I liked this one or this approach and this one doesn’t do it for me’.

[@modestadventurers]

Vote Democrat 😉

[@STOKERMATIC]

Good luck on the give away!

[@danielbelcher9011]

VOTE RED

[@modestadventurers]

@@danielbelcher9011 I think you may have missed the election by a couple of years but whomsoever you vote for. Vote.