How to Use a Compass || REI

Navigation is one of the Ten Essentials and most outdoor speople take a compass with them on every adventure. But how do you use them? In this REI Expert Advice Video, we teach you what you need to know to navigate easily, safely and with confidence. Watch to learn the parts of the compass, how to set your declination and how to take a bearing from a map and in the field.

To learn more about using your compass, head to your local REI Outdoor School and take a Navigations Course:

A Co-op Films Production-
Producer: Mary Beth Lavender
Director: Jason Lohr-Johnson
Cinematography: Jonathan Houser
Content: Braden Van Dragt
Talent: Joe Saksa
Editing: Katie Van Fleet

[emancipatedhuman]

I was super concerned about my brain after watching the video because I only grasped about half of it. Then, I went to the comment section and felt better that I was not the only dumbass that could not catch everything. Okay, I will watch a couple dozen times until I fully comprehend. Thanks!

[markproulx]

This becomes far more exciting when done in rain and fog.

[MikeWood]

Coming from an infantry and recce background back in the day and doing a lot of map and compass work, this was a straight forward survey explanation on how to read a compass and shoot some bearings and triangulate your position. GPS sure is great and more accurate, but if your phone has a need to connect to data for a maps app and can't, having GPS in your phone won't help much. Old school works. A good skill to have.

[bytor]

I got lost in the wilderness once, and all I had was a compass. At least I was able to draw perfect circles...

[chrismoose]

Piece of cake as a 14 year old. 40 years later and I’d get lost in a shipping container.

[alexmontalvo]

I'm going to have to watch this vid a dozen times

[epramatarov]

make sure you save this video for offline watching before hiking anywhere

[RectitudeU]

Unfortunately if you’re confused, this was a really good explanation. The only way to get it, is to do it. I made a bunch of maps for my cub scouts in a large park with “treasures” for the course. It taught them how to take a bearing, follow a waypoint, etc. Working on a smaller scale makes it easier to practice. There might be an orienteering club in your area that does this.

[amantedelmondo]

This video has actually helped me a lot...

It's taught me that I should never go in the woods...

[MarzThe]

Halfway through the video, paused it and immediately ordered a handheld GPS

[jpmcan]

I learned how to to do this in the Air Force then immediately forgot it as soon as we moved on to other things in training. It is hard and takes total repetition to take root.

[dalegray]

I have been using hand-held compasses in my work for the last 30 years. Indeed, I have worn out about five of them. I watched this video and found it to be good basic information. I would add that orienting lines in the compass are usually lined up with UTM lines (black lines that form squares in most USGS maps) within the map, not map edges. Using a compass with a GPS unit is a powerful system to find your way through the wild. If you are going to be working/playing in the wild, a good working knowledge of both compass and GPS are not just a good idea, they are essential.

[theearthisntflatpleasestop]

The absolute state of teaching skills. A person knows a subject in depth, and they teach it to you like they're refreshing your memory.

[TyJee]

Magnetic declination adjustment was explained nicely. A few things to keep in mind:
a) a 1 degree bearing error will result in being about 92 feet off course after walking one mile. A 4 degree bearing error will put you off course about 368 feet at one mile (92 x 4).
This error can come from how accurately you read the bearing or from drifting left or right as you walk toward the destination.
b) compasses like the Suunto M-2 typically are only accurate to 2 degrees. With practice using correct bearing reading technique you should be able to take a bearing within 4 or five degrees of accuracy.
c) that is why it's important to understand magnetic declination and correctly account for it. In their example of 14 degrees east mag declination if it wasn't accounted for after walking one mile toward the destination you would be off course by about 1, 288 ft. (14 x 92) or 429 yards. { actually to make the math easier & make it easier to remember just remember - a 1 degree error at 1 mile = 100 feet. Close enough}
d) to get mag declination correct just remember that the north end of the needle should be right of the N on the bezel for east mag declination & left of N on the bezel for west mag declination. iow - imagine the 2 arrows of the mag declination diagram are printed on the top of the compass housing -- the 2 arrows originating at the needle pivot. One points to N on the bezel, & the other points to magnetic north. Thereby your direction of travel arrow on the compass base plate will be pointing in the correct direction when the north end of the needle is under the mag north arrow.
e) if your compass isn't adjustable for magnetic declination the compass may still have a mag declination scale printed inside the compass housing. ( the scale will show upto 50 deg west and 50 deg east mag decl.)
To use it - just let the north end of the compass needle point to the correct number of degrees on that scale, rather than pointing to the N on the bezel. Examples: 14 deg. East. Or 9 degrees West.
f) fortunately mostly mag declination is only in double digits in New England (West ) or in the Pacific North West (East mag declination).
If you live along a curving line running from NE Minn. through Miss. Mag declination is only 1 or 2 degrees and can be ignored, it will be less than the accuracy of the compass or your ability to read the bearing that accurately.

[erer-wnnl]

I’ll be shouting help until I die then

[nicolaeb]

This may be useful to people who ALREADY kind of know how to use it. Otherwise, it's presented in a fast forward mode, with music in the background, and not too easy to concentrate on ...

[opwave]

This is a very useful video to get folks started in navigation! Buying a compass with an adjustment for declination takes a lot of guesswork out of navigating. But if your compass doesn’t have one, remember this rhyme: West is best; East is least, Add West, subtract East to the compass bearing and you’ll get the true bearing. Example:

Known declination is 4 degrees W. Compass reads 50. True bearing = 50 + 4 = 54.
Known declination is 4 degrees E. Compass reads 50. True bearing = 50 - 4 = 46.

[MusiqTruth]

I took this class over the weekend and it is was great! I learned a lot and felt very comfortable and welcomed. I also loved looking around and seeing folks from many different ages, genders and backgrounds- all there with a common interest to be helpful and learn the application of the skill. Connecting with nature and doing it no harm is freeing on so many levels. Thanks REI!

[hemipenes_rvt]

Taking notes while watching helps tremendously

[ncfremz]

people need to watch many times to get，that's why this video get so many views