Kjetil Kjernsmo ' s illustrated guide on How to use a compassUsing the compass in interaction with a mapThis is the important lesson , and you should learn it well . It ' s when you use both compass and map the compass is really good , and you will be able to navigate safely and accurately in terrain you ' ve never been before without following trails . But it ' ll take some training and experience , though . I am not covering map reading here , guess you would have to consult other sources for that , but the lesson will be useful if you have a sense of what a map says . First , a quick summary of what you will learn in this lesson : Align the edge of the compass with the starting and finishing point . Rotate the compass housing until the orienting arrow and lines point N on the map . Rotate the map and compass together until the red end of the compass needle points north . Follow the direction of travel arrow on the compass , keeping the needle aligned with the orienting arrow on the housing . Here is our compass again : The principles are much the same as in lesson 1 but this time , you are using the map to tell you which way is correct instead of your intuition . Take a map . In our first example , we look at a map made for orienteering , and it is very detailed . Well , not really . We look at a fictitious map I drew myself , but never mind . To the point . You want to go from the trail - crossing at A , to the rock at B . Of course , to use this method successfully , you ' ll have to know you really are at A . What you do , is that you put your compass on the map so that the edge of the compass is at A . The edge you must be using , is the edge that is parallel to the direction of travel arrow . And then , put B somewhere along the same edge , like it is on the drawing . Of course , you could use the direction arrow itself , or one of the parallel lines , but usually , it ' s more convenient to use the edge . At this point , some instructors say that you should use a pencil and draw a line along your course . I would recommend against it . First , it takes a lot of time , but offers no enhancement in accuracy of the method . Second , if you have wet weather , it may destroy your map , or if it is windy , you may loose it . You should keep your map ( preferably in a sealed ) transparent plastic bag , and if it is windy , tied up , so it can ' t blow away . But most important is that any drawings may hide important details on the map . Time to be careful again ! The edge of the compass , or rather the direction arrow , must point from A to B ! And again , if you do t his wrong , you ' ll walk off in the exact opposite direction of what you want . So take a second look . Beginners often make this mistake as well . Keep the compass steady on the map . What you are going to do next is that you are going to align the orienting lines and the orienting arrow with the meridian lines of the map . The lines on the map going north , that is . While you have the edge of the compass carefully aligned from A to B , turn the compass housing so that the orienting lines in the compass housing are aligned with the meridian lines on the map . During this process , you don ' t mind what happens to the compass needle . There are a number of serious mistakes that can be made here . Let ' s take the problem with going in the opposite direction first . Be absolutely certain that you know where north is on the map , and be sure that the orienting arrow is pointing towards the north on the map . Normally , north will be up on the map . The possible mistake is to let the orienting arrow point towards the south on the map . And then , keep an eye on the the edge of the compass . If the edge isn ' t going along the line from A to B when you have finished turning the compass housing , you will have an error in your direction , and it can take you off your course . When you are sure you have the compass housing right , you may take the compass away from the map . And now , you can in fact read the azimuth off the housing , from where the housing meets the direction arrow . Be sure that the housing doesn ' t turn , before you reach your target B ! The final step is similiar to what you did in lesson 1 . Hold the compass in your hand . And now you ' ll have to hold it quite flat , so that the compass needle can turn . Then turn yourself , your hand , the entire compass , just make sure the compass housing doesn ' t turn , and turn it until the compass needle is aligned with the lines inside the compass housing . The mistake is again to let the compass needle point towards the south . The red part of the compass needle must point at north in the compass housing , or you ' ll go in the opposite direction . It ' s time to walk off . But to do that with optimal accuracy , you ' ll have to do that in a special way as well . Hold the compass in your hand , with the needle well aligned with the orienting arrow . Then aim , as careful as you can , in the direction the direction of travel - arrow is pointing . Fix your eye on some special feature in the terrain as far as you can see in the direction . Then go there . Be sure as you go that the compass housing doesn ' t turn . If you ' re in a dense forest , you might need to aim several times . Hopefully , you will reach your target B when you do this . At this time , you may want to go out and do some training , so you could check out some suggested exercises . Unfortunately , sometimes , for some quite often , it is even more complicated . There is something called magnetic declination . And then , for hiking , you wouldn ' t use orienteering maps . And this is the issue for lesson 3 . Kjetil Kjernsmo © 1997 - 2000 kjetikj @ astro . uio . no 사업자 정보 표시 마루 프레스 | 백건우 | 경기도 양평군 서종면 정배리 중미산 로 851 번 길 14 | 사업자 등록 번호 : 132 - 92 - 57241 | TEL : 070 - 7787 - 5602 | Mail : marupress @ gmail . com | 통신 판매 신고 번호 : 제 2013 - 경기 양평 - 1033 호호 | 사이버 몰의 이용 약관 바로 가 기