The first step of orienting with our map and compass is to make sure north on the map lines up with north in our terrain. Sight an azimuth to any visible terrain feature that appears on the map. With solid land-navigation skills, you'll be more confident and "at home" in the wilderness. If your compass doesnt have a declination adjustment key, simply make the adjustment on the spot. Let's say you see a water tower off in the distance. But heres where things get tricky: the angle of declination changes depending where you are on the earth. To use your lensatic compass to find the direction of your intended azimuth (which you probably got from your map, using your protractor): 1. You can use this feature to set your compass in the dark. 3. The bezel clicks as it moves--three degrees for every click. They could be your saving grace during a SHTF situation. Designate your starting and ending points on the map. Navigate to your map. True north is at the very top of the earth, while magnetic north is currently off the coast of Greenland. Bear in mind that an east declination value will be a positive number, and a west declination value will be a negative number. ), you just dont know exactly where. Don't worry that your red orientating arrow doesn't point exactly map north. Position the eyepiece at a 45-degree angle to the . Now were going to find out where exactly we are on that line. As previously stated, orientating your map using visual features is only as good as the visibility on any given day. If you have already adjusted your compass for magnetic declination, your map is now oriented and youre good to go. My 159-page, fully illustrated book is yours for the asking. a. In my. If we dont account for declination and use our map to acquire directions to our destination, well be wrong by 14 or more when we start walking. To figure out precisely where you are on the map, you simply need one more piece of information. So its declination would be 14W. Place the compass on the map with one long edge of the baseplate running between the two points of interest. A compass needle aligns with the magnetic fields in the Earth, which is what it uses to help you find true north. The housing is marked with cardinal points, typically north, south, east, and west, which . A lensatic compass features a small pop-out area for your thumb, and a lid on top of the main compass body. Orient a map using a lensatic compass This is because it is prepped to point instead to magnetic north once its lined up with your compass needle. Line your orienteering compasss base plate up with the maps north-south lines. Turn your map so that north on the map corresponds to the needles orientation. Open it up using the cloud-based editor and begin editing. Nothing is permanent and contours are more permanent than pretty much everything else on a map. Visit our corporate site (opens in new tab). Theyre not traditionally used for camping trips or simple navigation, but if youre serious about prepping, this is a must-have in your EDC bag and bug out bag. Then turn the map until the position of the landmarks on the map corresponds to the real-world features in the terrain, then cross-check your position with additional features to ensure you have oriented correctly. Oriented the map. Thats right Contours are king. 2. This is commonly known as puttingthe red in the shed. As a result, its declination would be 14 degrees west. For this, they use a lensatic compass, among other navigation equipment and techniques. Announcement: My online Land Navigation course includes four hours of video instruction, and two downloadable PDF books, all for about the same price as a typical paperback book. ","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"A: In order to orient and read a map, you have to have spatial awareness. Adjust the compass bezel so that north on the compass corresponds to north on the map. 3. This visualization has been approved for public release.Storyboard developed from the STP 21-1 Soldier's Manual of Common Tasks Warrior Skills Level 1, September 2017Approved by the Center for Initial Military Training (CIMT) G-3/5/7, Initial Entry Training, Fort Eustis Virginia. Place your map in such a way that the terrain features line up with your maps features. No declination exists and you dont have to adjust your compass. Find the magnetic declination on your map. Your compass is now set. Improve your reading skills with the KWL Method Compass 101 - How to Use a Baseplate Compass Buying a Compass for Land Naviga-tion Basic Navigation with a Compass and a Map How to orient a map and take a . Thats 130 degrees. Kieran James Cunningham is a climber, mountaineer, and author who divides his time between the Italian Alps, the US, and his native Scotland. (1) Take the straightedge on the left side of the compass and place it alongside the north-south grid line with the cover of the compass pointing toward the top of the map. We just dont know where exactly. Articles - Email - Linkedin - Facebook - Instagram. You discover that it has a bearing of 176. Take a bearing to a visible landmark using your compass. Now its time to use the lens. To do so accurately, however, we must first adjust our compass for magnetic declination so the reading taken from the compass arrow . Because this method of orienting your map requires having visuals on features or landmarks in the terrain, good visibility is a must. A lensatic compass is just one of the many navigational tools we have built. SPECS dimensions:4.1" x 2.4" x 0.6" |10.4 x 6.2 Read More. Title: USING THE MILITARY LENSATIC COMPASS 1 USING THE MILITARY LENSATIC COMPASS PART 2 Intermediate Land Navigation Module 14 Travel Distance Estimation 2 . Its not unheard of for hikers to accidentally read their map upside down and end up facing south, rather than north. You will not be using it for the center-hold technique. You see that the mountain is 24 in relation to you. When we dont know where our point is, we have to rely on less precise kinds of orientation based on line or area position: Position of the line. Were going to use the back bearing of that to plot a line from Saddle Mountain towards our general direction on the map. Lay your compass on the map and line up its edge with a known landmark. From this diagram, we can see that our compass would point to magnetic north a little over 13 degrees to the right of "straight up" on the map (grid north). Magnetic north is now off the coast of Greenland, but true north is at the very top of the world. The Lensatic compass also has a large number of drawbacks, including the use of a large case that can make this a cumbersome and heavy option. Doing that with a lensatic compass is much like doing that with any other compass. As long as youre lined up with your direction of travel arrow (keeping that north arrow visible for reference), you need to look through the sighting line and pick a landmark ahead of you. The first step is to always take a compass bearing. Step 2 Lay the map in a horizontal position. (1) Compass-to-cheek method (figure C-21). There was a problem. Kierans bookClimbing the Wallsan exploration of the mental health benefits of climbing, mountaineering, and the great outdoorsis scheduled for release by Simon & Schuster in April 2021. This involves trying to orient a map using only topographical features and your own eyesight. You can always orient your map with a working compass. $8.77. For instance, line up roads, mountains, water towersany terrain features that stand out enough to make orienting the map possible. ), Podcast #858: The Affectionate, Ambiguous, and Surprisingly Ambivalent Relationship Between Siblings, How to Fight Entitlement and Develop Gratitude in Your Kids, How and Why to Hold a Weekly Marriage Meeting, You Dont Have to Be Your Dad: How to Become Your Familys Transitional Character, Podcast #810: How to Turn a Boy Into a Man, Sunday Firesides: Climb the Ladder of Love, Podcast #865: How to Win Friends and Influence People in the 21st Century, Podcast #863: Key Insights From the Longest Study on Happiness, Podcast #875: Authority Is More Important Than Social Skills, Podcast #874: Throw a 2-Hour Cocktail Party That Can Change Your Life, 9 Mental Distortions That Are Sabotaging Your Social Life, How to Make the Perfect Snowball: An Illustrated Guide, Podcast #869: The Survival Myths That Can Get You Killed, Skill of the Week: Survive Falling Through Ice, Podcast #848: The 5 Priorities of Short-Term Survival, we covered how to properly use a compass, how to shootyour bearings, and the best map for navigating: the topo map, Land Navigation Manual: How to Use the Military Grid Reference System, Land Navigation Manual: Finding Your Bearings & Topo Maps, More Than Just Finding North: Understanding the Compass, Podcast #534: How Navigation Makes Us Human. On the map, you are where the line connects with the highway. He has climbed a handful of 6000ers in the Himalayas, 4000ers in the Alps, 14ers in the US, and loves nothing more than a good long-distance wander in the wilderness. The back bearing is 50. 3. Come to think of it, I dont even know if he had a compass. When map reading, there are two ways to orient a mapby eye and with a compass. With our compass adjusted for local declination, were now ready to start orienting ourselves. The following 30-minute U.S. Army training video from 1966 shows how to find your direction, orientation, and location with a mil-spec lensatic compass. Lensatic compasses are seasoned or experienced navigator tools. At this point, your map is almost oriented. The lensatic compass must always be held level and firm when sighting on an object and reading an azimuth. 5. Step 1: Find the North Star. Next, ensure youre happy with your judgment by matching other physical features in the landscape to the map, such as crags, glaciers, waterfalls, lakes and rivers. How can you get your point position then? Steady the compass by allowing the hand holding the compass to rest in the cupped palm of your other hand. Triangulate your position. 3. At least, I never saw him with one. PART 1 Basic Land Navigation USING THE MILITARY LENSATIC COMPASS Module 6 Map Information. But not to you, I trust. 3. Yeah, book is the most effective tool that can be made use of for affecting your life. Make sure your map is aligned with magnetic north (see above). Orienting the Map with anOrienteering Compass. Regardless, let's break it down into several steps: Open the compass cover at a 90-degree angle and then set the lens bracket at a 30-degree angle. We still need to understand where we are in reference to our map how to orient ourselves before we can start really navigating, which well cover in Part III of this series. A lightweight, well-engineered orienteering compass from the Finnish company that helped set the gold standard in navigation. ), Set Your Compass for Your Intended Azimuth. Positioned the cover of the compass toward the top of the map. In the daytime, you'll normally find something in the distance on your azimuth and walk to it, so you don't have to keep staring at the compass. Map Reading and Land Navigation: FM 3-25.26. It is easy to learn and it can be done with just a map and compass. Overview. NY 10036. As a result, your real bearing is 166. To get among the sources, you can discover the fascinating point to acquire. 2. Orienting your map means aligning it so that north on the map corresponds to north in the terrain and the maps topography correlates to the real-world topography in front of you. On your map, shoot the back bearing that you just took with your compass from the top of Saddle Mountain. If you want to learn Land Navigation in detail, either buy a book; or get someone, who has the knowledge and skills, to teach you in person. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Heres how it works. Using your location as a pivot, rotate the compass until north on the bezel is pointing to the top of the map and the compass housing orienting lines are parallel with the maps vertical grid lines. The big bang. The how to orient a map using a compass is a skill that can be used in the outdoors. Go to your map. When you face true north, magnetic north is going to be left, or west, of you by about 14. To determine the direction, or bearing, from one point to another, you need a. compass as well as a map. Throughout this procedure, were not utilizing it at all.). Youll want to stick to areas that are cool and dry, and dont offer any immediate threats to technological devices. So, if youre at Muir Woods and your compass reads 180 degrees, subtract 14 degrees. The easiest way to orientate a map is to relate the features in front of you to the features on the map. Turn the compass and the map as a unit until the luminous magnetic arrow is directly under the fixed black line. There are 2 ways to do this - using landmarks or using a compass. Pull your elbows firmly into your sides; this will place the compass between your chin and your belt. Pros . NB. But lets say youre in the Muir Woods near San Francisco and youre facing true north. On your map, place your compass. Then, you place your protractor on the map with its center point at your current position, making sure the north-south lines on the protractor line up with the north-south lines on the map. The compass baseplates edge is now pointed in the direction of the visible landmark you used to get your bearing. At that point, leave it out in a spot where it can really dry overnight until you know the internal components are no longer moist. how to orient a map using a lensatic compass; how to orient a map in military; orient a map using a lensatic compass powerpoint Well, we can use our compass as a protractor to take a bearing from our map. Uses a retractable lens to read the bearing while. {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"How do you orient and read a map? Lay your map out in front of you on a relatively flat and smooth (and dry!) This is sometimes referred to as putting red in the shed. Your cheek should be resting on the base of your thumb. This was developed. A compass is a device used for navigation and orientation. Center the compass on the map, with one of the baseplates long edges running between the two places of interest. to orient the map to find your position. You see that its 230 in relation to your location. Procedures. Shoot the reverse bearing you got with your compass from the top of Saddle Mountain on your map. True north and magnetic north are not the same, as stated in Part I. Lets go back to our Muir Woods example. Place map on flat surface (not metal) 2. Well, youre going to have to do some math with all your bearings to make sure you get a true bearing. Sounds like a lot more than a regular compass, doesnt it? . 1. If your destination is further than what the side edging allows for, you can use an actual ruler to align with the side of your compass edge to help you get to your destination. Pistol Marksmanship: How to Fix 4 Common Trigger Mistakes, Skill of the Week: Make the Perfect Omelet, Skill of the Week: Throw a Dynamite Straight Punch, How to Get the Stink Out of Synthetic Workout Shirts, A Mans Guide to Black Tie: How To Wear A Tuxedo, A Mans Guide to Fragrance: How to Choose and Wear Cologne, How to Pick the Perfect Mens Wedding Ring, Your No-Nonsense Guide to Choosing the Right Beard Style, How to Grow a Beard: The One and True Guide, Beard Oil FAQs: Answering All Your Pressing Beardly Questions, Beard Grooming 101: The Lowdown on Products and Routine, Skill of the Week: Tie the Half-Windsor Necktie Knot, Squeeze More Into Your Workouts With Supersets, Podcast #866: Move the Body, Heal the Mind, Podcast #862: Heal the Body With Extended Fasting, Podcast #761: How Testosterone Makes Men, Men, How Saunas Can Help Save Your Body, Mind, and Spirit, The Insanely Difficult Standards of Historys Hardest P.E. Shows how to use the USGI issue lensatic compass to orient the map, plot a course based on two well-defined. You can use this feature to set your compass in the dark. The cover is used to protect the compass and alsoincorporates thesighting wirewhich helps you determine direction. Before we do that, lets take a closer look at declination. Orient you compass with the bearing, and draw the bearing line. When moisture seeps into the lens case of your lensatic compass, it causes major problems. 2. Now $7.56. But I wish I had the simpler kind that just automatically points to the direction on the compass that I am . Pull the ring underneath the compass and put your thumb through. Check the declination of your local location on your map or on a website. is also used to follow a course over the ground, orient or set a map, and determine position of objects in. He is currently working towards qualifying as a Mountaineering and Climbing Instructor and International Mountain Leader. You want to find your position using the technique of partial resection, so you need to know that tower's bearing with a high degree of accuracy. north. for Faith in Humanity, how to orient a map using a lensatic compass, orient a map using a lensatic compass powerpoint. Look at the index line and read the number. Check to see if the north directional arrow is inline with the arrow/line of the compass. Want to start taking action on the content you read on AoM?