Compass Navigation

I am looking for a reference and suggestions about setting up a field exercise to teach an introduction to compass navigation. This exercise would follow classroom training.

For example, I'd like to be able to put together a field exercise (probably in a local park) that allows people to shoot a bearing and triangulate with a baseplate compass, measure distance through pacing, and walk a designated heading.

A reference that provides info on how to do this would be great! I've looked on the web and have not found anything really suitable.

Your suggestions are appreciated too.

Blake
www.outdoorquest.biz

You can search on scribd.com for navigation manuals. I found a good teaching manual"Australian Map Reading and Navigation". Techniques are the same, but be careful of declination and some other region specific information. The U.S. Military manuals are almost all available there, look for map reading and land navigation.

Available on Amazon.com for about $10: Wilderness Navigation: Finding Your Way Using Map, Compass, Altimeter & Gps (Mountaineers Outdoor Basics)


There was also a teaching kit available with a large compass for demonstration and a bunch of compasses for students, but I can't seem to find it.

Have you searched on Google for "Orienteering lesson plans"? This maybe more what you are looking for and orienteering skills is a great sport for almost any able bodied person. Years ago, I was involved with orienteering and it helped to hone and refine my navigation skills immensely which continue to serve me well today.

This link gives a very good outline of putting together orienteering lesson plans that can probably be easily adapted to what you are looking for.

First, my favorite book on the subject is Be Expert with Map and Compass by Bjorn Kjellstrom (http://www.amazon.com/Expert-Map-Compass-Bjorn-Kjellstrom/dp/0470407654/ref=dp_ob_title_bk). Simple to read and undersyand yet very comprehensive.

Second, my son and I mad up such a course for our Boy Scout troop at township park were we meet. The course is a mile long and took us several hours to complete. It was intended for First Class requirements so we didn't make it too challenging. The purpose is to teach them, not see if we can push them to failure. We used landmarks to make sighting heading easier and to keep the pace distance in check. Slight variations in headings or an inaccurate pace measurement will compound as they complete each leg so that they would not likely hit the end target. By making each leg end at a landmark it helps keep them on the path.

We did have a few "gotcha." several landmarks are only a few degrees away from each other. But once they sight for the next target it becomes obvious they're off course and have to back-track. We also have one area with a steep grade. This alters their pace, shorter up hill & longer down hill. Again, if they are off target they need to back track. Finally, one leg has a building in the way where they must get around while keeping the right bearing and distance.

You can find some more info on our orientering page (http://www.troop149mchenry.org/Orienteering.htm), as well compass recomendations on our gear page (http://www.troop149mchenry.org/Gear.htm#Compasses).

Another real good book is that is more focused on field use - rather than setting up compass courses - is The Essential Wilderness Navigator by David Seidman and Paul Cleveland.

Very well written and easy to understand.

I highly recommend the Suunto M-3 as a very nice, high quality, and low cost compass. You'll pay more for the global version, so think about whether you'll need that feature first.

Ken

By the way Willie, I really like McHenry!! I live just east a bit - west of Mundelein.

Not really a lesson plan but a very good land navigation and compass work course can be taught in a very tight spot. We used a football stadium after getting approval with the people in charge.

We started everybody off at one of three locations along the inner wall and had them shoot azimuths to control points. The points were clearly marked with a bright colored paper plate with further instructions written on it. Trick was that the right plate was surrounded by a number of other nearly identical plates with directions to shoot and follow another azimuth that led to an instructor. If a person ended up at the instructor it was clear what skill they needed to work on.

The first couple of steps were simple compass reading and shooting an azimuth. Then we worked on pace and distance. Then intersecting azimuths. There were ten lessons that covered the basics.

The advantage of this sort of concentrated work in a limited space and controlled environment had a lot going for it. First, it is very safe. In a stadium, you could set it up in a mall parking lot or field, there is no danger of snakes, thorns, poison ivy, or getting lost.

Students can get intensive instruction because the instructors are always close at hand. If you see a student tilting the compass as they sight and azimuth it is quick and easy to step in and correct and guide them. This means you get a steep learning curve with minimal frustration.

It is very low pressure, casual, and fun. The penalty for any error is having to walk a few hundred feet and having a friendly instructor tell you what your doing wrong and how to do it right. Any student that gets frustrated, tired, or doesn't catch a concept the first couple of times can rest, get a drink, and get help from a couple of instructors that will literally walk them through every step.

Students could concentrate on the lesson and technique instead of fighting the terrain and brush. The basics of compass work are not dependent on distance. The basics are the same whether it is 20m or 20km.

The down side of such a course, any course, is that it has to be accurately laid out. Nothing is as discouraging to a student as doing it right and getting anything but the exactly right answer. We set up the course with the help of a professional surveyor, his transit and laser range finder. We spent a week designing it and a day setting it up. Every location and distance was double checked using two different methods and we had one of the guys kids, who had no experience with this sort of thing, try it out to make sure the instructions were clear and that it worked.

I can't say we created a flock of budding Lewis & Clarks but even dimmest bulbs left with a firm understanding of the basics of compass work and land navigation.

This sort of technique is great for teaching the basics of land navigation but the course can be made as easy or as hard as you wish. I have seen small courses that defied orienteering experts with fewer than one out of ten getting through it with every point correct.

This link is more about setting up courses for kids.
http://www.us.orienteering.org/OYoung/
But it has some good tips.

The Boy Scouts have a good page with fairly good links to more information.
http://www.scoutorienteering.com/index.htm

These two are U.S. Orienteering Federation North American and Orienteering League related
http://www.us.orienteering.org/
http://www.attackpoint.org/links.jsp

You will also find a few collections of Powerpoint presentations
for an example even though it is a bit more military oriented:
http://www.pptclasses.com/category/index-nav.htm

The Geocachers talked a bit about this in Groundspeak Forum.
http://forums.groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=183133

I may have mentioned this here before, but it might be of interest in this thread ...

When my son was a Cub Scout I introduced the boys to the idea of a compass by doing a sort of pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey game.

First, I show the boys how a compass can be turned, but the needle stays pointing in the same direction. Then I show them how I can point the compass in a direction, rotate the bezel to box the needle, rotate, and then rotate my body to rebox the needle such that I'm facing that same original direction.

Then, we start the game. I put a target (the donkey) on a wall or tree (I used a post-it note), then we stand a short distance away, and I have the boy point the compass at the target and then rotate the bezel to box the needle. I have them spin slowly around so they can see that as they return to the original direction (pointing at the target) the needle goes back into the box.

Then - and here's the fun part - I put a sheet over their head & body (so they can't see the target), I spin them around a few times, I remind them NOT to rotate the bezel of the compass, and then I tell them to use the compass to find the target. At first I might prompt them to rotate their body until the needle is back in the box, but soon enough they don't need the reminding. Since they are walking blind, we have a few adults staying around them as they walk to keep them safe, then off they go to find the target.

One time I used a white sheet and used a story that a thick fog rolled in and they needed to find their home.

It works amazingly well and the kids (and adults) have fun with it.

As a second step, we went outside, dropped some bright markers on the ground about 50' apart (one more than the number of learners), and then we set up a simple three-sided course where they head off to the left a bit while counting paces, then turn right, and then their finish is not where they started, but one marker over. Its pretty easy to set up and simple enough for the boys to figure out. You can mix it up a bit by having them head slighty right instead or by having them finish two or more markers from the first one.

My suggestion is "be expert with map and compass". its loaded with exercises to practice.
http://www.beexpertwithmapandcompass.com/www.beexpertwithmapandcompass.com/Welcome.html

consider also teaching them to learn pace counting; keeping track of distance with ranger pace counter beads is an excellent skill that doesn't require batteries! There are tons of commercially available sets w/ craft store type beads, and some one-of a kind like mine.

A bzillion years ago when I got my Silva Ranger Type 15CL It came with instructions. They were well-written and included in the price of the compass. I was able to triangulate using them. I had absolutely no previous training in the use of map and compass. I am sure that any other quality compass would have the same.

Standard Disclaimer

My $.02

... and the user guides (manuals) for most of those compasses are available on-line too - for free. I find it interesting to read guides from different companies and compasses to see what they recommend. Most of them use similar techniques, but every once in a while I'll find something interesting.

Ken K.

Thank you to all.

You've given me some excellent suggestions that I'll definately use.

..much appreciated.

Blake
www.outdoorquest.biz

Based on my experience, I'd say terrain association is a really important supplement to the disciplines I learned in Scouts and the Army (pace counting, walking a bearing, section ((aka triangulation)), resection, plotting azimuths and back azimuths, etc). Terrain association is the practice of connecting what's on the map with what you actually see in front of you. Terrain association is super useful if you're in an area with good visibility and distinctive terrain. In non-distinctive terrain (plains, flat dessert, etc.) or in low visibility conditions (rain, snow, heavy forest cover, etc.), terrain association is a little less useful.

HJ

Very impressive cord work.

HJ,

I am finding through teaching map & compass and GPS classes that some folks have a real problem visualizing the terrain features with a topo map.

I find that terrain association and map orientation is critical to back country navigation.

Blake
www.outdoorquest.biz

Relating a map to the real thing is something that some people simply cannot do. Whatever the circuit is that allows that, they simply don't have it.

My wife was one of those. She just could not follow even a simple sketched street map.

Give her a list of directions and turns, or go over the route once in advance, and she was fine. But if all she had was a map, she knew she needed to allow time for at least one wrong turn.

interesting corollary. A study was discussed on the radio. It found that people 18-25 YO were vastly more competent than people 25-40 when it came to finding information about a subject on the internet and using technology. However it found that the older group was better able to conclude results from a subject because they got most of their accumulation from reading books.

The end result is that while younger generation have speed and vastly more information at the tips of their fingers. Nothing beats the ability to read something and understand the concept.

The radio hosts, went on to discuss among other things, how with Twitter and Facebook, if you can't explain a complex topic in 144 characters, no one will read it. Society wants the info summarized but don't want to come to their own conclusions.

Ergo, to paraphrase Compugeek, its one thing to see where you are on your iPhone app, TomTom, GPS thingy and another to recognize a distinct peak at 186* azimuth and another at 275* azimuth and pinpoint yourself on a quadrangle map!

Another interesting corollary, the more *something* you get,
the more you start to speak in sweeping generalizations while ignoring the difference between facts and knowledge, all whilst ignoring that humans aren't born with either.... all humans can learn to relate a map to the real world, they just need persistence and good teachers.

Taking a step back and seeing the big picture is essential in navigation. Does what my compass/map/GPS is telling me make sense in the context of where I am and what the actual terrain is like? Everyone makes technical navigational errors. Your mind and "common sense" are your double check that keep you from doing something really stupid based on your error.

Your wife can't figure out things from a map? She's probably my wife's sister.

Yeah, that's tough if you can't visualize terrain. I guess you're really dependent on good map skills if you can't terrain associate.

Common sense thinking skills seem to be something from the past, don't they? Sigh. I much prefer dealing with older cops. Older cops, many of them, will actually talk to you and will give you a warning if something is no big deal and not causing any real harm. Younger cops, at least in my experience, are more by the book and just write you up even if there's no real problem. They seem to lack judgment. As a good friend of mine is fond of saying, "there's no substitute for good judgment."

HJ

Dead Reckoned Positioning anyone?

Ded (deductive) reckoning is a really important skill if you're in low visibility conditions. Ideally, you use your mind to make sense of things and get the big picture of the situation and then supplement the big picture with compass readings, etc.

HJ

...and dead reconing should start with a fix of your position when possible.

Otherwise, I'll stay put.

Blake
www.outdoorquest.biz