Camping Compass – 3 easy steps to use starter-compass for navigation!

Although compass is considered as one of the most important gears for all hiking or camping activities, ironically most people aren’t trained to use it correctly. In fact, it can be quite intimidating to use camping compass for navigation purposes for the first time.

Before you actually start using a camping compass for navigation in wilderness, it is a better idea to get familiar with its various components. This is because only when you have had at least basic working functionality about all its components, then only you can start training on it. For first time campers, it is a good idea to start-off with a Starter-compass, which is a simple and easy to handle navigation tool. It is a great tool to serve for introductory purposes with fun. In fact, a camping starter-compass is a great tool to train kids the navigational basics for camping.

Here we are going to look at three simple to follow steps to learn navigation through compass and topographic map. Start practicing today and pack your bags for your first camping adventure.

Step 1.

The first step is to understand the importance of breaking your journey into small distances. Geek campers like to split their journey into smaller bits for convenience of tracking and so should be done by all amateurs. So, to start-off the practice, place your starter-compass over the map in position where the edge of base plate serves as a connection between your current position and final destination. Once you have your desired position, you should be able to connect the two positions along the edge.

Step 2.

Now that your path has been connected over the maps, it is time to align your compass North (marked by N) to the North of your map. You should be able to do so by rotating the compass over the map till the two North coincides.

Step 3.

After you are done aligning the two Norths, it is time you take compass in your hand (flat) and lookout for direction. It is important to maintain a straight direction for the travel arrow. Now, start rotating around the fixed point until you find the point where the orienting arrow comes in-line with the red end, at this point you should stop immediately. At this point, your travel arrow will be pointing in the precise direction of your destination. Now, it is a good practice to lookout for any standout landmark in the direction of your travel arrow. Once you find a landmark that is mentioned in the map as well, you should start hiking towards that direction. Upon reaching the landmark, you should stop for rest and regroup. Once you all done with rest, it is time you start following the steps from the beginning. The wisdom behind doing it all over again lies in the fact that Magnetic North isn’t a fixed or immovable parts and most maps comes with True North position (which is fixed). Due to the ever changing magnetic north your camping compass might not be able to predict the right direction between the two norths. Thereby, you should always break your camping journey into smaller paths; each marked by significant landmark, whereby you should recalculate your North Direction.

Camping is a great source of adventure and fun. The right camping gears can help you enjoy this fun-filled adventure without having to worry about your position or safety. For the best camping and hiking gears you can visit www.chicagoknifeworks.com, where you can find the premium quality camping and hiking gears from the best brand at affordable prices.