Taking a Compass Bearing

[seocom]

These are good skills to have..

[robin644]

gma? idiot

[chihene]

benedicts11 asks:

"Don't you need to compensate for magnetic variation?" If you have a Sylva 515 series compass, you can set the compass for this variation.."set it and forget it".. otherwise you must know your map variation for your location and manually turn the compass taking into account the number of degrees variation..and always carry a notepad and mechanical pencil for making important notations..don't trust your memory...

[gravitygrabber]

Very articulate, good video - thanks.

[wagishwa]

hey i love your accent

[JohnnyBoy7022]

Thank you very much, very insightful :)

[194tomo]

Your gonna walk in the wrong direction because you forgot to add the grid magnetic angle.

[stak45DDS]

That's an awesome skill - I didn't know you could do that!

By the way, there was a cute chick behind you.

[PeterGratrex]

"You need to put the red thing on the red arrow but I'm not actually going to explain why. Rather than help you understand the principle first I'm going to talk about where to put your feet."

[grumpyoldgit99]

Nicely done! A straight forward, simple explanation that is easy to follow. Much appreciated.

[fl260]

He's not in the good environment, but he explains correctly.

[kennedy9888]

Very Informative. thank you!

[romeoneverdies]

hum body = magnetic field ? if i remember correctly your body has a electricity travelling tru it thus generating a magnetic field thus you should hold your compass far from you if i remember corectly and yes you need to compensate for magnetic declination also

[benedicts11]

Thank you for the vid

Don't you need to compensate for magnetic variation?

[outdoorsireland]

@benedicts11 You do need to allow for magnetic variation, which you can work out from the info on your map. This video is just going through the basic mechanisms of taking the initial part of the bearing.

[KB3Training]

Excellent

[Morten16x]

thanks man(:

[mariomadayag]

protractorandcompass. com

[watchrobbie]

Very useful information. If I may add something that should be remembered when taking a bearing. When you have lined up the compass housing wheel lines to the lines of longtitude on the map either write down or make a mental note of the degrees that the white line is pointing to. This white line is stationary and is in line with direction of travel arrow. What happens often and has happened to me is if you're carrying the compass in your pocket the housing may move and correct bearing is off

[outdoorsireland]

@watchrobbie great point, it's happened to me once or twice also.

[jzbaker]

what a dork the way you hold it against your chest "with your feet together". thanks for the refresher though

[outdoorsireland]

Thanks for your comments, I really appreciate them. Still have a better camera on my shopping list, to buy soon!

[skimalong]

this was very helpful. i really appreciate the step by step instructions of how to get your bearings.

[MrZero761]

Great video - you explained clearly and made very easy for me. Thanks

[thisrandom]

Thank you i am 14 doin duke of ed bronze this helped me thank you VERY much

[stemcm]

Excellent !!!!!!

[armypenguin]

I don't have a clue why but some how you managed to effectively explain this to me i have watched 4 videos on it now and it just didn't fit right in my brain but I get it now

Thank you

[Toldyouso0089]

The comment by Peaceintheprovince "On the whole though a pretty good explaination of the method, especially compared to those posed by some of our transatlantic speach-impaired cousins " is hilarious! HAHA Iam from canada and sometimes I cant stand the way english has been warped.

[albierte]

When you're moving around on a trail, you'll have to stop and use certain map features, such as, a hill, a bridge, or the features of the trail itself. You can try to keep adjusting your direction according to the direction of the travel arrow.

[slimjohnson187]

good video but mayb ill just say in the house

[beerequalsheaven]

very good vid. very clear about what to do. im going to the Lake District next week and this was perfect instruction.

thank you very much

[robertmartinez]

What confuses me is how do I follow a bearing when I"m following trails that meander and twist and turn and have multiple junctions of where various trails branch off?

Aside from going straight over the tops and through the valley's of hills in order to maintain a straight bearing, can a compass be used to find the correct route when you're forced to turn right & turn left by the way various trails are taking you?

[outdoorsireland]

Hi Robert,

In this case your compass will be of no use, as you can only use the compass to travel in a straight line from A to B.

This is when you'll have to navigate by measuring distances, timing, pacing and ticking off features as you progress.

[jigmesam]

Thanks for the video, but that squeal in the audio is horrible man.

[robertmartinez]

I agree. Its too bad the background noise is heard within the presentation. Otherwise, it was pretty good.

[Peaceintheprovince]

Yep, not bad at all. However it would have been enhanced if an explainationof magnetic declination, where to find it on the map and how to apply it had been included.

Although declination in the UK is not very significant it could still get you into a bit of bother if you are stuck on a foggy moor with nothing but peat haggs to navigate by. On the whole though a pretty good explaination of the method, especially compared to those posed by some of our transatlantic speach-impaired cousins

[13449]

clear, sound, good

[darrly110]

thanks!

[outdoorsireland]

With no grid lines you'd still need to aligh your compass wheel to north on your map, which would generally be the top of the map as you read the writing.

However with no grid lines it's not going to be anywhere as accurate a bearing as it should be.

[darrly110]

This video has taught me alot about using and compass and map together. Thanks!!

Would not having grid lines on the map change the way you align the compass with north on the map?

[jerdans]

awesome video great explanation best iv seen on you tube thank you for your input!

[thelosthikers]

THIS video really helped ALOT. so much better than expertvillage. balggh.

there are also compasses with mirrors, what are the mirrors for??

[outdoorsireland]

They're to allow you to take a compass bearing off the mountain to use on your map more accurately, or even when you've taken your normal bearing and are looking ahead to pick your next point to walk to. The mirror allows you to hold up the compass in front of you to sight ahead and at the same time see the compass needle in the mirror to check it's alligned. Hope this helps.

[thelosthikers]

THANKS!!!

[coryJ71]

It's so you can see what you look like when you are LOST!

[eddygortex]

thats right put red in the shed is a good way to remember

[susiesauer]

Thank you, very helpfull, but difficult to hear at times

[panicatthepaddy]

Thank you, as i need to know how to use a compass for tomorrow, this helped a lot. Thanks!

[mchilds83]

Good job, my only qualms are the failure to explain and set compass declination so you follow true north versus magnetic north as shown in the video. There is also a high pitch hiss in the background of the video too.

[NNAWGS]

DECLINATION!!!!!!!! Most likely this guy will be miles off course if he didn't add or subtract the variation from TRUE North to MAGNETIC North.

[jigmesam]

He -does- say in the description that declination isn't taken into account and is required for an accurate reading. I think this is just going through the basic mechanics of taking a bearing.

[outdoorsireland]

Cheers guys. I'm currently getting a better camera so will be able to increase the quality shortly.

[ninjaweaty]

exellent explanatoin, tha best 1 ive seen , , picture quality doesnt matter its explained good enough thanx,

[KTCobra]

Very good explaination. I only wish that the video quality was a little better so I can see exactly what you were doing with the compass. Other than that, good job.