How to operate A Compass
How to Use a Compass || REI
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a compass is part of the 10 essentials
and most people take one with them into
the mountains but how in the world does
it work luckily it isn't too hard to use
your compass and when paired with a good
map and a bit of know-how it becomes a
powerful tool for navigation in this
video we're going to cover the essential
parts of the compass how to set up your
compass to account for the declination
for your region how to take a bearing
from a map to find an object in the
field and how to take a bearing in the
field to find yourself on a map alright
it's going to be hard to talk about how
to use the compass without first
understanding what all the different
parts are for so let's go through that
real quick this is the base plate it's
clear so you can see the map below it
and there's always at least one straight
edge that you'll use later for taking
bearings on the side there are rulers
that you can use along with your map
scale to help you calculate distance
on top you'll find a direction of travel
arrow to remind you which direction to
point the compass when you're taking a
bearing this big circle is the rotating
bezel which is marked with degrees from
zero clockwise up to 360 above the bezel
is a little marker called the index line
which marks where you'll read your
bearings inside the bezel the first
thing you'll notice is the magnetized
needle which always points to the
magnetic north pole not the true North
Pole we'll get into the difference in a
minute there's also a big arrow called
the orienting arrow which we'll use to
help you orient the bezel alongside the
orienting arrow our orienting lines that
you'll use to help you line up the
compass with north on a map finally some
compasses have a handy declination scale
which makes it easier to adjust
declination what's declination you ask
well declination is the angle difference
between true north and magnetic north
the needle in your compass will only
point to magnetic north so right now
it's pointing to somewhere in northern
Canada not Santa's workshop if you don't
adjust your compass to account for the
difference between magnetic north and
true north
it can really mess up your navigation
depending on where you are in the
country the declination will be a
certain number of degrees to either the
west or the east
you can find the direction a number of
degrees in the declination diagram near
the legend along with the date of the
maps most recent revision if your map
hasn't been revised for several years
it's worth looking up the current
declination online different compass
brands set declination in different ways
and once you know the declination for
your region you can put that information
into your compass when you do and the
needle lines up inside the orienting
arrow the north marker on the bezel will
point to true north this map of the Lake
Tahoe area has a declination of 14
degrees east and it was updated very
recently so we need to move the
orienting arrow 14 degrees to the east
now that the declination is set you can
start using your compass with your map
first off a bearing describes a
direction in terms of degrees bearings
are way more precise than just saying go
east or west instead you can say to get
to the lake follow a bearing of 79
degrees one of the most common way is to
use the bearing is when you're out
hiking and you want to head to a
specific point like a peak or your
campsite if you know where you are on a
map it's a simple process start by
finding your current location on the map
let's say were here now set your compass
on the map so that the straight side of
the baseplate lines up with your
position next find the point you want to
head toward let's say it's this peak and
rotate the entire compass until it forms
a line between your position and your
destination
make sure the direction of travel arrow
is pointing in the direction of the peak
once the compass is in position rotate
the bezel until the orienting lines are
lined up with north and south on the map
you can use the edge of the map to help
you get the lines position just right
remember to make sure that the North
marker on the bezel is pointing to north
on the map and not south okay once the
orienting lines are running north-south
look at the index line to read the
bearing you've just captured here it's
188
Congrats now you can use the compass to
follow the bearing pull the compass in
front of you with the direction of
travel arrow pointing away from you now
rotate your whole body until the north
side of the magnetized needle is inside
the orienting arrow if it helps you can
remember red in the shed once you've got
red in the shed you're facing the
bearing of 188 and your destination if
you're out hiking and you want to find
your location on a map you can also take
a bearing off a landmark near you then
you can transfer that bearing to your
map and figure out where you are start
by finding a landmark that you can also
identify on your map hold your compass
up with the direction of travel arrow
pointing away from you and directly at
the landmark now keep the compass flat
and rotate the bezel until the
magnetized needle is inside the
orienting arrow or red is in the shed
once the needle is in you've captured
the bearing a compass with a sighting
near makes it easy to take very accurate
bearings hold the compass at eye level
and point it at the object then tilt the
mirror until you can see straight down
into the bezel this way you can see the
object and the bezel at the same time
once you've got the bearing you can
transfer it to the map lay your compass
on the map and line up its edge with a
known landmark make sure that the
direction of travel arrow is pointing in
the direction of the landmark with the
edge of the compass lined up against the
object rotate the entire baseplate until
the orienting lines are running
north-south and the North marker on the
bezel is pointing to North on the map
once you've finished you can draw a line
on the map along the edge of your
compass you are somewhere along this
line if you want to find your exact
position you use the process called
triangulation all you have to do is take
another bearing but with a different
object that's at least sixty degrees
away from the first where the two lines
intersect is your position
if you take a third bearing you'll end
up with a little triangle and the
smaller the triangle the more accurate
the reading compass skills can be
daunting at first but they get way
easier with practice watch the video a
few times to get familiar with the
techniques and then test them out on
your favorite Trail and for more
practice and a deeper dive into
navigation click here to find a
navigation class near you
