I've watched a dozen or more YT videos looking for the simplest guide for land navigation using a compass. Yours is the most straight forward and includes some gotchas that other don't mention. I like that you don't spend 30 minutes explaining magnetic declination but just simply adjust for declination based-on your map. It may have been worth mentioning the declination screw adjustment that comes on many compasses. The only other thing was that I really wanted to see how you go about finding your current coordinates on the map. I'll have to look to see if you have a video on triangulation to find your location on the map. It is also useful to line up your map and compass facing Grid North and look around in the real world for any landmarks that may appear on your map... that can give you a pretty good idea of where you are on the map.
My brain took me to another video to explain declination because I hoped she had explained what it was haha unfortunately that person just said "it's because north isn't true north"- in about 30 minutes 😆 And now I'm off to another video to explain why it isn't true north... sigh
I was in the Army 20 years when a map and compass were the only navigation aids. Your explanation was exactly correct. It is so refreshing to see that someone can actually navigate by using their God given talents. Great video.
Hi, All I want is a liquid free compass with global needle that shows me accurately/precisely the magnetic north, that lasts, preferably a lifetime, does what I want exist? If yes, can you recommend me some products(brands, product names)? Thank you
Nice job, Christina! Clearest explanation to date I've seen, and I really appreciated the tips of things to watch out for. Good job on the flipped direction, too. Keep it up!
Christina, great video of a subject that was and to some extent close to my heart. I'm ex British Army, where we used both the prismatic and Silva compasses. I presented this subject on training days in my regiment and to new recruits during basic training. I still carry a Silva compass and maps with me when my wife and I travel, but being 66 years old and what we call a grey nomad (towing our caravan), down here in Australia, we just stick to the roads, using map reading skills. It's so refreshing to see a young person like yourself using the older ways.
TIP: Don't eyeball trying to get the lines on the bottom of the dial parallel with the index lines on the map. Slide your compass back and forth along your course line until one of those lines is under the dial. Now you get it much more accurate. No guesswork needed.
Sliding the compass is going to be just as inaccurate as eyeballing since small movements off the original course are going to occur as you're moving the compass.
Thank you so much! I took a course and was totally baffled. I guess I am a visual learner because it FINALLY made sense watching you do the process from map to actually hiking it.
Six of the seven years that I spent long distance hiking on the National Scenic Trails and survival living in cold climate National Forests across the USA I used nothing more than my old Army compass and paper maps I acquired along my travels..... It wast til my seventh year that I purchased a phone with the Gut Hooks trail GPS map aps ... I never did buy or use one of the SPOT devices. I'm pleased to see a video showing the skills of land navigation explained so clearly.... Very well done young hiker 👍 ❤ 👣 The only information that would also help in this video would've been that every person wanting to learn this form of land navigation, would be to learn the types of land formations on a map and to be able to recognize said land formations by visual sight
In a recon platoon in vietnam we used the shoot a point and count steps method, often only a few yards between points.Two or three guys were counting steps, putting rocks from one pocket to another to keep track every hundred steps.we were able to hit small clearings after moving thousands of kilometers of dense brush and jungle.Important as these were assembly points for widely separated troops.
It's the best video I have ever seen on understanding compass, bearings, declination, elevation and use of compass for orienteering... Concept simplified to the core...👍 Thank you!
I love all my gadgets. But the battery never goes dead in a compass. I taught all of my sons and grandkids how to accomplish land navigation with a compass and map.
Excellent explanation, as others have commented. Great that you covered the piece about picking a landmark, like identifying a tree, putting the compass down, walk to the landmark, stop, pick another landmark etc. Indeed, it can be good fun! When navigating in difficult situations where you may be unable to see your final destination, it is important/critical that you identify and navigate to intermediate points on the bearing line. Examples being in woodland, in fog. I well recall an early experience of mine in fog on an almost featureless gently curving hilltop, where I had to negotiate difficult ground around boggy areas - in that instance I had to sight to tufts of grass 100ft or so ahead as my landmarks, walk to that, stop, sight a new tuft on the bearing, move on etc. It was important that I did not drift off to one side or the other. This go-stop-go was slow progress, but I was chuffed to arrive at the right final destination point about a mile across the hilltop.
Adding my voice to the many comments of praise. I’m an absolute newbie and have struggled understanding these concepts after watching so many videos. You are a great teacher. Direct and to the point. Clear explanations. No extra junk thrown in. Brava!
That was good. You might have pointed out two things. The vertical lines on the map are longitude. I think most people would know that, but if they don’t it wouldn’t hurt to learn. The other is that most good compasses can be adjusted for declination so north points north without making a second calculation. Of course, it needs to be kept up to date, and if you go to a new area you’ll need to reset that adjustment, but google declination for whatever area you’re in and you’ll get the figure.
I finally understand compensation for magnetic declination. I have watched many videos on the subject, most from Grizzly Adams survivalist-types and none were as useful as this young lady in her back yard.
I love how you cover compensating for declination. Great for a newbie like myself! Even though your compass appears to be adjustable (the small internal red scale on the dial) you showed us in simple terms. Thank you!
I don't understand the point of a compass that has a built in declination, when it doesn't seem too hard to compensate using the Map. idk maybe I'm missing something 😅
As others have said, this is an excellent presentation with clear explanations. An alternate method of accounting for declination is to orient the map to the compass at the beginning, while offsetting for declination. Then, as long as you don’t move the map after it’s oriented, each bering that you take from that point on will be a magnetic bering that has already had declination accounted for. This cuts down on the possibility for errors. Also, all you have to focus on is putting red in the shed. It also helps with triangulation, if you don’t know where on the map you are located. The big thing is knowing the declination for the area you are operating in.
This is way I learned- oriented compass to msp allowing for true North - Red on shed shoot yo farthest point Go to that point then keep repeating till arrival destination - Knowing pace count is a plus- Triangle yo find your location us great skill as well- - If your trying to get lost just follow Infantry Lt Plt Leader-
Excellent video. The whole concept was explained clearly and was so easy to follow and understand. The “bras with underwire” comment, though very salient, absolutely cracked me up!
I've seen plenty of videos that purport to teach viewers map-and-compass navigations. Although I've seen a couple that did it correctly, not one of them was as clear and succinct as your excellent explanation here. Beautifully done. A happy coincidence for me is that I'll be hiking in the White Mountains over the next few days. Cheers!
I'm a middle school teacher introducing students to hiking and orientation.. this is by far the best video I've found... LOVE your content and hope you produce more! Great resource for my students!
Hi, All I want is a liquid free compass with global needle that shows me accurately/precisely the magnetic north, that lasts, preferably a lifetime, does what I want exist? If yes, can you recommend me some products(brands, product names)? Thank you
I love how you never re-orient the map itself and rely completely on orienting your compass. At first it was confusing but after your second example I started to get why you don't need it.
You did a fantastic job explaining this! And I love that the examples are in my backyard of NH! However, I have a question. So, I just bought a Natl Geographic topo map from EMS. It looks a lot like yours, but it has no declination information!! So after poking around, I discovered that NOAA has a magnetic declination calculator. When I plug-in the lat/long for Cranmore, which was in your example, and I lookup declination for Oct 2019 (furthest back it goes), the result is 14.87. So that's close to the 15 shown on your 2017 map. If I change the date to today, the declination is 14.44! So, have mapmakers stopped printing declination assuming that hikers will use NOAA's calculator?
Hi. Thank you for sharing this. I would like to suggest you make a video showing how one can update the declination value. Your map was released in 2017. We are in 2022 and the declination of 15 west does not apply anymore. Thank you for your time doing this excellent video.
Great vid! Very well explained and so easy to follow! My only suggestion would be to avoid mixing measuring systems because it can get confusing. It's easier to pair the inches on your compass with the miles scale on the map (statute system), or the centimeter ruler from the compass with Km scale on the map (metric system).
The best compass video I have seen on RU-vid. Land navigation is something I have always been interested in. From my stint in the Army, to hiking trails and bushwacking. Great video work showing the process and good verbal how to descriptions. Everything you need to know it 11 minutes.
Hi Christina, I enjoyed your video thoroughly and was very educative. Not that I don't appreciate the lesson you taught but suppose we only have our Cell Phone Compass to rely on which is not exactly the same as the one you're using in the video. Could you explain/teach this one too???
Great video, and I envy you living in NH. All your explanations were so clear. Couple of quick clarifications: first, if you are accounting for declination without adjusting it on your compass, it matters if your declination is West or East. Either way, you start with this rule of thumb: if you are transferring a bearing taken in the field to the map, you add the declination value to your bearing. If you are transferring a bearing taken from the map to the field, you subtract your declination value from your bearing. Importantly, if your declination is West, you have a negative number, and if it is East, your number is positive. So, if you are transferring your bearing from the field to the map and your declination is West, you add the negative declination value to your bearing--which, of course, means that you're subtracting it because you are adding a negative. If you are transferring your bearing from the map to the field, you are adding your negative declination value from your bearing, because you are subtracting a negative number. The solution to all this field math is to use a compass on which you can make the appropriate adjustment. Then, once you set the declination, you don't have to worry about it when you take your bearings, either in the field or from the map.
What really matters with declination is if you are east or west of the agonic line (zero declination) and if you are converting a true bearing or a magnetic bearing. If you are east of the agonic line, you will have a westerly declination. If you are west of the agonic line, you will have a easterly declination. I was taught a saying...."Declination west, compass best (meaning add because you're east of the agonic line); Declination east, compass least (meaning deduct because you are west of the agonic line)". This is true except for when triangulating your position on a map. Because in triangulation you are going from a magnetic bearing (on your compass) to a true bearing (on the map). Therefore, you reverse the quote above..."Declination west, compass least (meaning deduct); Declination east compass best (meaning add)". Another way to easily adjust for declination is to orient your map with the declination already set on your compass. Then, as long as you don't move the map, all your bearings taken from the map will already be adjusted for declination.
To me it as always been easier. You can even avoid using maps or compass, but let's say: Check north, align the map with it, check your position, find visual reference in the direction you need to go, and start walking. If you can't go straight, go from sides. Check again Check every time you need. Take reference/s, start walking. If you are not sure, keep checking until your personal inside compass is aligned ( you are sure where you are going)
Just to add on, the best video we've found. Clear, concise, can't wait to get out and start picking landmarks. We're hiking the back country of Scotland in a few weeks and I now feel like we can actually use a compass and map if necessary! Thank you!
Great explanation of map & compass basics. I picked a deer on the horizon as my landmark to walk to, didn't work out well! Selecting a stationary object will most likely work out better!
I had to take the time to comment. What a very good video talk about not only the detail was excellent. The description was excellent. You demoed what you were talking about which was very clear. I mean, this was a very impressive, detailed understanding. You should definitely do a lot more content. Thanks for the great video.
My question is that people don’t shoot two azimuths instead of just one, do to drift when walking. I am a former military person and as the comment below me…but why doesn’t any one describe a two prong barring. Hikers get lost especially people that don’t really know how to use a compass when drift occurs that take you off your baring. By shooting front azimuth, and shooting a second azimuth between a forty five degree angel of another land mark. So if drift happens you still have a baring reference to look back at or on. This helps with elevational change. When drift occurs you could still be pointing the directional compass reading but be off the initial baring by several miles taking you further away from your objective. This is something that should be taught with every basic course and is not. I learned this in Boy Scouts, explorers club (Army reserves. It’s one step higher than Eagle Scouts), J.R.O.T.C. , Sea cadets and active duty Marines. The reliance on tech has lost this trait in the learning courses, but should be part of even the most basic teaching skills. YOU DID A GREAT JOB WITH THIS VIDEO. But for every person who teaches basic map and compass reading…traversing the course is a different thing. That’s why you shoot two azimuths. One for directional and other for land mark. It will help if drift occurs. SEMPER FI
Thank you for creating this video. I found it really helpful, especially the difference between Map north and Magnetic north and the adjustment required. Make so much more sense with a visual and verbal instruction. Just started an outdoor leadership course to work in Australian tourism. Really don't want to get lost in remote Australia :-) Thank you!
Great job. I was a timber cruiser, measuring remote tracts of timber, as well as a fire fighter. 30 years. Declination is important. Sighting and waling to a landmark, such as a tree. Pacing. Very important. I had a pace of 12 paces, per chain.
Many thanks for a very informative and clearly presented video. Your teaching ability is exceptional, clear and concise explanation of subject material and clear enunciation. Cheers.
Hi! Just wondering why didn't you first set the declination by adjusting the compass with a tool provided? Your method seems very easy to follow though. Another question -do I first set the declination on my compass before or after orienting the map with a compass and do I have to reset it each time when i reach a predeterminded point as your video seems to indicate? I am just learning how to use the navigation tools
Very nice thanks. Question.. if you're bushwhacking, the chances that you can stay perfectly on the same line to your destination is slim, there could be all kinds of obstacles, you may be forced some distance off the line in some direction. Now the compass bearing is off by that much and you may not know where you are on the map to re-do the process. Perhaps it doesn't matter that much, a mountain tends to stand out, but just in general are there any techniques for re-orienting ones self once you're some distance off your original straigh line? Thanks!
Very basic question, your examples showed moving in a straight line. What if on the map we can see that the climb or descent is very steep and so we would want to circle around a mountain? This would mean setting the bearings multippe times? And how do you know if you've arrived at the first area where you would need to change the bearing?
Really good, thanks sweety. I gave up long time ago because every time I warch compass video, I do forget how to use it very soon. I had no compass, no map and no chance to practice. Now I got all that and with your good simple explanation I got it at last! Loved example going down the map from N to S and at 8th minute your explanation, cruicial! I did struggle to understand where to look for that bearing for couple of sec.and had to rewind few times. It’s were you add declination, better to point out with green arrow or finger or word it were to look for those numbers on compass. Too many numbers there :) Many thanks for teaching us.
Fantastic video! Your explanation and visual demonstration made it easy to follow and I appreciate that you showed a route going north and one going south. The additional bits of info you included were also very useful. I'm excited to practise what I just learned. You should be a teacher :)
Great video on how to use a compass. But the map has a scale 1:79200? Such an odd number. With metric system it would be a round 1:80000 (or 1:75000) and scales are a lot easier to work with also (1 cm = 80000 cm = 800 m)
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.
This is probably a silly comment from me, but in your video, you can’t just walk from your backyard to those two destinations you choose, right? Like in the first example, you have to actually start from Middle Mtn and not your backyard, right?
Your map has got only true north and magnetic north in the declination diagram. But not grid north?! Approximating between these can throw you miles of course! Depending on the accuracy of the map …UTM maps has got this sometimes but I don’t like it one bit! The grid coincides with true north only at the centre of each utm zone (310 miles or so..)
We used to play Orienteering games in the Army. It brings a little stress into finding your way, which is good. Who would not want to do this in the fall in Bavaria? What a beautiful place.
hey christina , its really nice of u to take time out to make this video of explaining compass and map reading. there are so many types of compass at my local outdoor shop? how and why did u decide on ur suunto? and what should i look for in a compass?
small bit confused, when you allowed for the 15 degrees the first time you turned one way but on the last one you turned it the other way. as a very amateurish amateur, i am thinking the opposite way cause you're "going" the opposite way? correct? forgive the ignorance...
That's fine if your in flat featureless terrain, but it's going to be exhausting and slow bashing through thick vegetation & up & down steep terrain like that. It's faster & easier to just follow terrain features. You don't need to be real anal about compass bearings, just identify features correctly & follow them. You only need to keep a rough eye on bearings & count paces, if your not sure & need to confirm position. If you are leaving an isolation, you need to be precise about your departure bearing to confirm you are following the correct ridgeline descent. You also need to be precise going through thickly wooded flat terrain. If you want to keep a record just in case, then do pace and compass. That way you can plot out your course & find your way home or to another destination, but the idea of walking a long bearing through such steep and heavy timber, is just insane because it's way too hard on the body & likely to cause strain injury leaving members of your party incapacitated. However, you have done a good & clear demonstration of the method, it's just the the location is IMO not the most appropriate for this method.
I have a question. Why do you zero the compass first? You drew your line then moved the north line to make lines parallel on the map then added 15 degrees....
An extra explanatory step can be to first 'orient' the map so the top is truly to the north (and the right hand edge - the orient - is to the east - blame the Europeans;-). This will make the map line up with the ground. To do this obviously with the actual compass and map we place the centre of the compass on to of the map at the magnetic declination symbol (5:40) and turn the map and compass together until the moving magnet is above the short arrow of the indicated 'magnetic declination' of 15 west (in the example). With the map and ground lined up, and the magnet also lined up to its mark, it is much easier to see how all the rest of the instructions neatly make the direction of travel align with the compass base (it is being used as a nice protractor, but we don't need to do numbers!).
I do not believe in cancel culture but after watching this map and compass video, all other map and compass videos on youtube should be terminated, or be marked with disclaimer See Christina Cozzens channel for accuracy
So if the declination says 15° west vs east... How do you know which way to turn the dial? :/ Is - turn towards the left, and + turn towards the right?
5:20 I lost you right after here as it wasn't clear where you got the 50 degrees from. Thank you -- and I will come back and watch again after I find the missing info elsewhere.
Oops, you forgot to mention that other than 'make sure you have the most up to date map'...if you don't, your map should have an 'annual change of declination' from the year it was made to the year it is now, and so you have to figure out the total declination amount that it's changed to now, and add THAT to the amount of declination shown in the diagram when it was made. ex. if the map is five years old, and it says (at that time) it was 15 deg. west declination, and it says the annual change of declination is 1 deg., that means it's changed 5 deg in the last five years to now, so you have to add 5 to the original 15, thus the actual declination now is 20 deg.
Good explanation, one caveat though. That compass is designed to hold in your hand in front of you as you walk keeping the red in the shed rather than sighting with it. There is no way to tell if you’ve moved off a degree since you can’t see the bezel when you lift it up. Just set it and walk.
