WAvES declination method

WAvES can be used to adjust for magnetic declination. WAvES is a mnemonic meaning West Add vs East Subtract and it will work anywhere whether you’re an area with a West of East declination.
As with everything concerning navigation it will require some practice so next time you’re out in the hills, have a try at adjusting y6our compass for the magnetic declination in your local area.

[drazenskrinjaric]

WAvES...So simple yet so effective and easy to remember! I've heard many mnemonics regarding magnetic declination but this one you just cannot ever forget... Cool one!

[OnboardG]

Having just spent the summer taking the readings that define the current OS declinations, it’s nice to see the end result!

[davehumpleby]

I've been using maps all over the world for more than 3 decades. This is the first time I've heard the 'WAvES' pneumonic.
Every day's a school day. Thank you.

[tomcreekdevil]

Excellent video breaking down declination and applying that to real-life land navigation, i.e. map to compass and compass to map. Ditto cypeman's comment. My takeaway from this channel and its videos is that we all need refreshers AND the same topic explained more than once. Why? Because the brain (mine at least) needs the same topic explained from different perspectives before I reach that "ah ha" moment and I finally get it.

Thank you for producing these videos and NEVER feel it's redundant material. Even if you're going over previous material it's helpful to hear it again and the audience has the opportunity to to learn something they either forgot or an aspect of that topic that never quite sunk in. This is the learning approach I took two decades ago in the USCGAux marine navigation. Which I loved!

[cypeman]

Just catching up on your back catalogue. Always took a map on a walk but didn’t have a clue how to use it in conjunction with a compass, not much good at reading the map to be honest. 😂
Really learning the basics from your tutorials, they’re excellent.
I intend going on one of my regular walks, which I know like the back of my hand, and try a bit of compass and map reading.
Thanks.

[adriancarabajal]

Excellent video, when pupils understand, it means that the teacher is good.

[donaldburton]

As usual I really enjoyed this video! I liked it when you said that you only have to remember your declination once you know whether it’s east or west. I live in Maine, USA and I know that I have westerly declination so I have to add. No need to remember all those little sayings!

[cthompson]

I'm glad I found your channel. I'm enjoying all of your videos. I was lucky to grow up learning maps and navigation from my father who was a soil scientist. Your presentations bring back many fun memories.

[Journeyman]

Over the years I have seen many of these sayings, and all seem hard to remember, until I found this one. It's simple, easy to remember. The rules does not change whether you are going from compass bearing to map, or map bearing to compass. Variation EAST, compass LEAST. Variation WEST, compass BEST. So, if you are in an area of EASTERLY variation, and you want to plot a compass bearing on a map, the compass has to be least, so you add the variation to arrive at the map bearing. If vice versa, you have a map bearing you want to follow, the compass still has to be least, so you subtract the variation. In practice, this is the easiest rule I have seen. For Westerly variation, the compass is best. I probably have made a poor job of explaining this, but if you think it through it will make sense. By the way, thanks for great videos.

[moorejl]

I find using the mnemonics more confusing than just looking at the declination diagram on the map. In my area, we have 15 degrees East declination, so I move the bezel in the same direction as the MN arrow, in my case, clockwise. I am using a Cammenga, so 5 clicks clockwise to go from map to compass. When I take a compass reading, I move the bezel towards the grid north arrow, or 5 clicks counter-clockwise for compass to map. This seems easy as I don't need to remember anything, just reference the map.

[tymekuzarczyk]

Thank you. That's something I was looking for. Simple and easy to remember.

[tamas_katona]

What I tend to use to simplify my conversion between read-on-compass bearings and read-on-map bearings is the following (Assuming that I don't have a semi permanent declination adjustable compass, or if I do, it's set to 0.):

I live in Hungary, where in 2025 we have a roughly 6 degree east declination. --> It means that if I look into the direction where the compass shows north (compass 0/360 degree), then I am looking into the direction to 6 degree on the printred map. --> It means that my compass readings are (in 2025 in Hungary) 6 degree less than the read-on-map bearings. --> If I read 245 on the compass (because I know that the compass shows 6 less), it's 245+6 on the map. / If I read 142 on the map (because I know that the compass show 6 less), it's 142-6 on my compass. --> The only info I need to remember is that when I look into the direction of 0 degree on my compass, then I am facing into 6 degree direction on the map, so I know that my compass will always show 6 degree less.

In case of east declination areas: degrees on map > degrees on compass,
in case of west declination areas: degrees on map < degrees on compass.

[laurentgarnotel]

Great way to remember how to set up your declination, thank you

[olafweerts]

In NSW Australia, we had the Central mapping authority (CMA) - hence (with easterly declination) compass map add :)

[PD]

In Sweden, Civil maps are drawn with the GN (Grid) parallel to the edges of the map. TN (Meridians) are slightly tilted relative to the grid and are more sparsely drawn on the map. The MN magnetic declination is also given.
The magnetic declination is the difference between the meridians and the magnetic north pole. My question is: If the map does not span a gigantic area, why not draw the grid parallel to the meridians? Then you don't have to keep track of where Santa lives.

[Andy-walkaboutnutty]

absolutely brilliant, that's the best example I've heard. never heard of waves before and I've been reading maps a long time. this is very exciting to know due to to 2026 it's all going the change. thanks and subscribed.

[jimpage]

I wonder why so many institutions, such as the US Military, advocate orienting the map, prior to use ? Thank You Sir for bringing this to my attention 😁

[blackbear]

Brilliant instruction.... WAvES. So simple. Thank you.👍🏼

[wildernessexplorer]

Another great short video. Thanks, this has really clarified things 👍

[bushcraftbasics]

Can Dead Men Vote Twice at Elections? This sounds like questions being asked after the US election.