What happens if you dont adjust your compass for declination? There is no declination, and you do not need to adjust your compass. Center-hold. See that little black outline of an arrow? 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The housing lines should be parallel with the maps vertical grid lines. Whenever the luminous magnetic arrow lines up with the luminous short line, you're following your intended azimuth. Here at Brunton, we manufacture a variety of different compasses for varying needs in the field. "}},{"@type":"Question","name":"How do you orient a map to ground? Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, Fill in the empty areas; concerned parties names, places of residence and phone numbers etc. Determining a Bearing, or "Shooting an Azimuth", Using Your Compass Sights to "Shoot an Azimuth". You see that its 310 in relation to you. The term "lensatic" comes from the fact that there is a lens on the rear side of the compass that aids in the orienteering process. You should be able to turn the map so that if you were to imagine jumping into it, the features would lie in the same direction both on the map and in your surroundings. Use a Compass to Plot Bearings on a Map. Close is good enough in horsehoes, but I'm hoping exact is the standard for artillery fire. From this diagram, we can see that our compass would point to magnetic north a little over 13 degrees to the right of "straight up" on the map (grid north). Using your compass, take a heading to a visible landmark. B. ? Looking at the map is an easy way of finding which direction north or east are relative to your current position. Whether or not you participate in orienteering, I'm confident you'll find that a properly oriented map is a huge help in finding your way. number of degrees in a circle (360: north is 0 or 360, east is 90, south is 180, and. When it comes to how to orientate a map, there are two main ways to do it. Its a subtle difference, but its a roundabout way of saying lensatic compasses are less prone to interference than others. The fundamentals of using a map and compass to find your way around. is also used to follow a course over the ground, orient or set a map, and determine position of objects in. The rear bearing is at a 50-degree angle. The back bearing is 50. The lensatic compass is used by the U.S. Military. Hold the compass steady and level, and up to your face. Find the magnetic declination on your map. Point position. The two basic techniques for using the lensatic compass . Using the side of your compass, draw a line towards the highway that youre on. 1. You can use this feature to set your compass in the dark. The cover is used to protect the compass and alsoincorporates thesighting wirewhich helps you determine direction. 4. If your compass doesnt have a declination adjustment key, simply make the adjustment on the spot. Turn the little screw using a small screwdriver or the little metal piece that comes with your compass lanyard. FM 3-25.26: Map Reading and Land Navigation. Turn the map and compass together until the azimuth sighted lies under the Index Line. We may use the map to identify any landmark we observe in our landscape once we know our point location. You can always orient your map with a working compass. If you point your compass towards true north, your compass needle is going to point a little to the east. Learn to navigate using a topographic map and a compass. Take a bearing to a visible landmark using your compass. Place the compass on your map with the edge along a north-south grid line. But heres where things get tricky: the angle of declination changes depending where you are on the earth. He has climbed a handful of 6000ers in the Himalayas, 4000ers in the Alps, 14ers in the US, and loves nothing more than a good long-distance wander in the wilderness. 1. OEC G&V. Download. 3. Shows how to use the USGI issue lensatic compass to orient the map, plot a course based on two well-defined. (Note: The magnetic compass needle should be ignored.) Once you reach your landmark, align yourself again to make sure youre on the right path. Execute your docs in minutes using our simple step-by-step instructions: Get the How To Use A Lensatic Compass you need. Lets go back to our Muir Woods example. Before we can start actually navigating, which well get to in Part IIIof this series, we still need to learnwhere we are in relation to our maphow to orient ourselves. Open the cover completely and pull back the rear sight. We need to compensate for the compass now that weve placed it on the map so that we can appropriately orient and travel. Center the compass on the map, with one of the baseplates long edges running between the two places of interest. You can see that the mountain is 24 degrees away from you. Want a free ebook on Land Navigation? Pull the ring underneath the compass and put your thumb through. With our compass adjusted for local declination, were now ready to start orienting ourselves. . Hold the compass at eye level and point it at the object. So, if you know where you are on the map, look ahead and see what features you can see. UK readers, youre in luck. He is currently the President of the London Mountaineering Club, training to become a Winter Mountain Leader, looking to finally finish bagging all the Wainwright fells of the Lake District and hoping to scale more Alpine 4000ers when circumstances allow. Required fields are marked *. Flip up the lid to a 90-degree angle. To find directions from your map, you're going to need a protractor, a special instrument used for measuring angles. 3 . Where the line intersects with the highway is where you are on the map. This is because it is prepped to point instead to magnetic north once it's lined up with your compass needle. durability, and its hyper-accuracy in land. Lets go to the other side of the country. 2. Position of the point. Well, youre going to have to do some math with all your bearings to make sure you get a true bearing. Assume youre in the Adirondack Mountains of New York. Put your compass on your map. Next month, well wrap off our series with a final briefing on how to navigate using MGRS coordinates, exactly like the military. PART 1 Basic Land Navigation Module 6 Map Information WARNING This presentation is intended as a quick summary, and not a comprehensive resource. Another trick for declination when your compass cant adjust for it is to create your own declination arrow out of masking tape and tape it beneath your compass under the correct declination degree hash (This will only work if your compass has a clear base). North is always at the topof any map. Now it's time to take out the map. So, how are you going to acquire your point position? 3. 5. Orienting, or aligning, the map is really easy with just 3 steps: Lay your map out on a relatively flat, smooth surface. Bear in mind that an east declination value will be a positive number, and a west declination value will be a negative number. How to use the Lunatic Compass Map Orientation by compass Magnetic Azimuth A magnetic azimuth of any object is the compass reading of a direct line across the center of the compass to the object. If the local declination is negative, add the declination amount . Once you are physically at your starting location, its time to put your compass to good use. Hold your compass in the two-hand hold, steady and level in front of you. So, if youre in Muir Woods and your compass has a bearing of 180, youll want to subtract 14. It. We know were someplace south of Saddle Mountain on HW 115. In my. (1) Compass-to-cheek method (figure C-21). Youll see that it shows two arrows when you turn your headset or controllers around to show the new orientation of a map."}}]}. Finally, read the number on the rim of the compass. Large Ball Compass - Easy to read ball compass shows two readings. Lets say youre out hiking. In this case, it would be 204 (24+180). Place compass on top of map. Youll want to turn it until that black arrow outline is lined up with the 4E hash mark. The method is to align the edge of the compass along the Magnetic North (MN) line, and then move the map and compass together until the compass needle points north. Thats right Contours are king. On your map, though, you can see the two spots. But I wish I had the simpler kind that just automatically points to the direction on the compass that I am . One disadvantage is, unlike the orienteering compass, it's not easy to make it double as a protractor, meaning you'll have to carry a protractor with you. 8; Page 11 G. LOCATING POSITION USING INTERSECTION 1. Sometimes limited visibility means terrain features may not be visible. You don't want to hold it crooked, cockeyed, or off level. Now draw the bearing line using the edge of the compass, and extending it in the desired direction. The easiest way to orientate a map is to relate the features in front of you to the features on the map. If your map already has a line to show magnetic declination, you can take your compass and line its edges up along this. 4. 1 color. When you face true north, magnetic north is going to be left, or west, of you by about 14. You can use it to find your bearings in any direction you need to go. This can be done either by (1) rotating the map the requisite number of degrees east or west or (2) holding the baseplate firmly, rotate the compass housing to the correct number of degrees west or east to account for the declination. 2. When you have a line location, you know youre on a maps recognizable line (trail, ridge line, etc. Map and compass skills are essential when navigating the great outdoors, Abrupt topography, like mountain peaks, should be easy to identify thanks to their contours on the map, Magnetic declination guidance on a standard topographical map, Having adjusted the compass housing to correspond with magnetic north, line your compass up with the map's gridlines, Red is in the shed: the compass needle is lined up with the orientating arrow, Ski towns are full: why we cant all just move to the mountains, Berghaus MTN Guide MW Hoody review: a performance mid-layer for the mountains, Rangers warn National Park graffiti could throw hikers off the trail.