But if you don't want to go north, but a
different direction? Hang on and I'll tell you.
You've got this
turnable thing on your compass. We call it the Compass
housing. On the edge of the compass housing, you will probably
have a scale. From 0 to 360 or from 0 to 400. Those are the degrees or
the bearing. And you should have
the letters N, S, W and E for North, South, West and East. If you
want to go in a direction between two of these, you would combine
them. If you would like to go in a direction just between North and
West, you simply say: "I would like to go Northwest ".
Let's
use that as an example: You want to go northwest. What you do, is that
you find out where on the compass housing northwest is. Then you turn
the compass housing so that northwest on the housing comes exactly
there where the large direction of travel-arrow meets the
housing.
Hold the compass in your hand. And you'll
have to hold it quite flat, so that the compass needle can turn. Then
turn yourself, your hand, the entire compass, just make sure the
compass housing doesn't turn, and turn it until the compass needle is
aligned with the lines inside the compass housing.
Now, time to be
careful!. It is extremely important that the red,
north part of the compass needle points at north in the compass
housing. If south points at north, you would walk off in the exact
opposite direction of what you want! And it's a very common mistake
among beginners. So always take a second look to make sure you did it
right!
A second problem
might be local magnetic attractions. If you are carrying something of
iron or something like that, it might disturb the arrow. Even a staple
in your map might be a problem. Make sure there is nothing of the sort
around. There is a possibility for magnetic attractions in the soil as
well, "magnetic deviation", but they are rarely seen. Might
occur if you're in a mining district.
When you are sure you've got it right, walk off in the direction the
direction of travel-arrow is pointing. To avoid getting off the
course, make sure to look at the compass quite frequently, say every
hundred meters at least.
But you shouldn't stare down on the
compass. Once you have the direction, aim on some point in the
distance, and go there. But this gets more important when you use a
map.
There is something you should look for to avoid going in the opposite direction: The Sun. At noon, the sun is roughly in South (or in the north on the southern hemisphere), so if you are heading north and have the sun in your face, it should ring a bell.
When do you need this technique?
If you are
out there without a map, and you don't know where you are, but you
know that there is a road, trail, stream, river or something long and
big you can't miss if you go in the right direction. And you know in
what direction you must go to get there, at least approximately what
direction.
Then all you need to do, is to turn the compass
housing, so that the direction you want to go in, is where the
direction of travel-arrow meets the housing. And follow the above
steps.
But why isn't this sufficient? It is not very accurate. You
are going in the right direction, and you won't go around in circles,
but you're very lucky if you hit a small spot this way. And that's why
I'm not talking about declination here. And because that is
something connected with the use of maps. But if you have a mental
image of the map and know what it is, do think about it. But I think
you won't be able to be so accurate so the declination won't make a
difference.
If you are taking a long hike in unfamiliar terrain, you should always carry a good map that covers the terrain. Especially if you are leaving the trail. It is in this interaction between the map and a compass, that the compass becomes really valuable. And that is dealt with in lesson 2.