How to navigate using a map and compass

[Lampshadeburg]

I'm a firm believer that every white man should spend some time outdoors. Find pleasure in this implicitly white activity.

This is a short video series by Andrew Skurka, the Mike Tyson of backpacking, explaining how to navigate via a topo map and compass.

Part one: adjust for declination and orient a map

Part two: find and transfer bearings in the field and on a map

Blog post with detailed info and some suggested products:
http://andrewskurka.com/2016/map-compass-adjust-for-declination-orient-the-map/

EDIT: I wanted to add that while navigating by a map and compass is cheap, reliable, and fun, it's no replacement for the single most important rule when hiking; leaving an itinerary with someone. Just a simple plan of where you're going, when you'll be back, and who to call with this info if you aren't heard from when you're supposed to be. You know that guy who got trapped under a boulder and after a few days had to cut his own arm off with a knife so he wouldn't die of dehydration? Yeah, he didn't leave a plan with someone, and nearly died because of it.

[Horwin]

Lol try compass navigation underwater with currents and few landmarks or no map

[Griz]

Follow the anchor line down. Always stay up current from the boat.

[Horwin]

This was a shore dive

[Griz]

Looks like freshwater.
People walking will always walk in an curved path and never a straight line, same with finning, they fin in a circle with out a line of sight fixed on an object. I mostly freedive so I always have a fresh reference to land marks.

[Griz]

World famous historical, Marbles Button compass.
I use this most of the time and EDC.

For serious stuff, a compass that adjusts to magnetic declination is highly recommended.
In times of fatigue and stress, this reduces the some of the math.

This is a good thread but I am not sure where its going.

[Lampshadeburg]

This is a good thread but I am not sure where its going.

It looks like it's been hikacked, possibly by actual pirates.

[Griz]

You missed the joke. I implied the need for direction, azimuth.

[Griz]

I will go out on a limb and say not only is this freshwater, but water from a dam-reserve.
Water bodies from damn reserve are always lifeless of plants. Sterile. Spooky.

[Griz]

The weekend is here. It would take no more than a half day to go through the basics of compass navigation. Show yourself how serious you are. Or just shit post. Your choice.

[Lampshadeburg]

Agreed. As stated in the second video, it takes Skurka (who guides groups professionally) an hour to show a small group the basics. And knowing the basics are different than actually being able to do it.

Everyone should try this out. A non-adjustable compass is relatively cheap, and topo maps can be printed for free at www.CalTopo.com. You can do that, or spend your Saturday complaining about how Zionists are funding BLM or whatever.

[Hillbilly]

That link seems like a great resource for for topo's. I had not seen this one!! It's amazing how easy it is now-a-days to get stuff like this. I think of how expensive,and sometimes difficult it was to get decent maps. Heck yeah,this is very useful!

[Hillbilly]

Marbles Button compass

Are Marble brand pretty good? I have used, a Cammenga tritium that I still have from the Army, for years. Was thinking of picking up one for my son.

[Horwin]

I watched a.nigger try to use a compass once. Funny, they turn around to show their buddies the heading then walk in the wrong direction.

[Lampshadeburg]

CalTopo has become my go-to source for planning hiking routes. You can figure out mileage, check elevation gains, print maps, and even find trail heads (with the Google Maps layer). All free. There's a pay version that has some more useful features.

Like all FS and USGS maps there's a chance they're out of date, but being that it's a website CalTopo is always up to date with the latest maps (which still could be wrong, but it's the best you can get).

I typically print out sections of trail at home on plain old 8.5x11 office paper with a larger scale than 1:20,000 so they're easier to read. If a map is more critical (such as in a more abandoned wilderness area rather than a well used trail) I'll go with 1:20k or 1:24k, but printed at FedEx on 11x17. When I was organizing hiking groups I'd use the 11x17 as well and give everyone a copy.

Isn't the future great? There was a time not too long ago when this was impossible, and you had to buy maps that might have been out of date and showed way more than what you needed.

[Griz]

Marbles are historic. Explorers used them. I have one for about a year of EDC. Holding up.
Just for quick direction reference yes, but not for detailed map use unless that's all you had.

[Griz]

I find that having two maps is necessary.
But then again I dint have the maps from OPs source.
With U.S. Forest service maps the roads have numbers. The signs on the logging roads have numbers. Where a second map is needed is that people don't communicate directions with numbers on roads but use names of roads as does basic road maps like RandMcnally. "Deer Creek and turn left"... not "Go to road 5567a and turn left..."

[Griz]

Lampshadeburg,
I was sorry to see the other thread close, just when the conversation was expanding.
You said something about hiking a hundred miles in ten days.
This is a very solid base for other outdoor disciplines.
Not just hunting, but back country hunting.
It sounds to me like your hiking program is very dialed in.
Maybe its time to up the challenge. See how much deer meat you can carry given the variables. Deer meat ways much more than dehydrated potatoes. The other aspect of your resume is determination over the course of extended time frame. AKA: Patience.
I see a 300 inch Bull Elk in your future.

On another note,
The thing with bushcraft is that it is an archeology experiment.
Experimenting with tools and methods of a certain era.
If I head out into the forest, and I have this concept in mind while doing projects, I would leave the compass at home and make one in the woods, sundial like.
Projects like this are the very best possibility for access to your ancestors. Everything else is just speculation and plagiarism. I hold this to such a high reverence that I am often critical of people who claim to be Pagans. A person who has never made a bow drill fire cannot call them selves a pagan. Fire, what could be more Pagan.

So to be clear, I am talking 2d conversation by introducing concepts from the other thread, the one about chinamade gear.

[Griz]

Lampshadeburg, you are diligent with your posting habits. l can only assume your lack of response is paramount to the cold shoulder. Have I offended you by suggesting you might make a good hunter.

[Lampshadeburg]

Meat is murder!

Just kidding. I've been on a few hunting trips; waterfowl, pigs, and still deer hunts (no elk here). It was enjoyable, but not something I could see myself doing as a hobby. It's a little too involved, I guess. The work starts after you pull the trigger, and it's a bit too much work for my tastes.

I've never had the opportunity to shoot a deer, but I did take down a small hog, and several rabbits and ducks. I had instruction on how to clean all of those as well, as I was with experienced dudes.