Re: [Paddlewise] Compasses

Rick,

I have a Silva brand compass, I think it is the Ranger model.   Look for
the ability to change the declination, a mirror, clear plastic base,
measuments that are on the same scale as topo maps, and a moveable
heading/bearing wheel.

Ok, so that last one is not very discriptive!  8-)  Make sure that the
"wheel" that holds the bearing, N, S, E W , etc can rotate in the compass.
This allows you to set a bearing on the compass.  A mirror helps locate a
bearing in the distance by looking out while being able to look down at the
compass via the mirror.  A clear base helps so you can set the compass on a
topo map to setup figure out bearings and distance.

I took a simple compass course years ago at a state park taught by one of
the rangers.  We did some very simple games using bearings and distance.
Very simple in concept but it could be hard in practice.  I started using
the compass and a very detailed map of a local park to walk off trail.  I
would setup up points to hit, figure out a bearing and see how close I
came.  I was impressed out how accurate this could be.  One of the valuable
lessons in the class was figuring out how much distance you cover in a
pace.  A pace is two steps.  We walked back and forth over a known distance
to figure out this measurement.  Once you know your pace, a map and compass
or very powerful tools.  I use the pace all the time on the property I
bought.  Its unreal how often I need to know a distance when I don't have a
ruler or tape.  But I can pace it off pretty accurately.

Another thing that comes in handy for hiking are "ranger beads."  These are
just beads on a string that you can move to keep tract of the number of
paces you have walked.

The class used very simple games that I pretty sure came in the Silva
compass manuals.  I would think any decent land navigation book would have
such games.  Hmmm, there is a website, http://www.adtdl.army.mil/atdls.htm,
with the US Army manuals.  I have not looked to see if they have any land
navigation manuals but I they seem to have everything else.  You might want
to search the site and see what you can find.

The games were simple tasks.  The ranger laid out a line on a bearing  that
had distance marked out evenly and number from 1 to n.  He had courses
discriptions setup on cards.  Start at point 3, walk 33 feet on a bearing
of 193 degrees.  You would get to this point and follow the next bearing
and distance.  At the end of the card you should be back at point 3 or some
other point.  If you were supposed to be at 3 and ended up at 4.  You made
a mistake.  Simple tasks but you had to be able to pace the distance and
follow a bearing.  Kinda fun to! 8-)

I have a compass for the kayak but I forgot the brand name.  It can be
deckmounted or handheld to take bearings.  I really have no need for the
kayak compass but it fun to practice holding bearings.  Some day I might
need the skill....

Hope this helps....
Dan McCarty


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