In the 1980s, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources became concerned about the large number of deer hunters who became lost every year. They asked the rescued hunters a battery of questions:
Question: "Did you have a compass with you when you got lost?"
Answer: About eighty percent said "YES!"
Question: "Then why didn’t you use your compass to get unlost?”
Answer: "I tried, but I guess I didn’t know how."
Question: "If you don’t know how to use a compass, then why do you carry one?"
Answer: "Everyone should have a compass in the woods in case they get lost."
Really, this is what they said!
The DNR responded by adding a map/compass/navigation curriculum into their Hunter Education Program. I was charged with developing it. I piloted it with my eighth-grade environmental science students (Hastings Middle School - Hastings, MN).
I figured if thirteen-year-olds could understand it, adults could too.
I always introduced the unit with two questions:
1. If I were to test you on twenty math problems and you got one wrong, what grade would you get?
Answer: An "A."
2. Now imagine that you must perform forty compass calculations while traveling through remote country. If you get one wrong, what do you get? Answer: LOST!
The point is you cannot afford to make a single mistake when navigating. There are tricks that will keep you from doing that.
Many students borrowed compasses (I had a class set) when they went camping or hunting. My curriculum later morphed into a book, Basic Essentials: Map & Compass, later revised as Basic Illustrated Map & Compass.
About 1992, I received an email from a United Nations Task Force based in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, requesting permission to reprint Basic Essentials: Map & Compass in Mongolian. Naturally, I was honored at the request, but wondered why they chose my book. The answer surprised me:
I learned that when Mongolia was ruled by the Russians, maps were highly classified. But this changed in 1990, when the country formed its first democratically elected government. Shortly afterwards, maps became available to everyone. Evidently, the “rangers” who managed Mongolia’s huge national parks did not know anything about backcountry navigation. They needed an easy-to-understand book that would teach them the basics.
Here are some questions for those who think they’re expert with map and compass:
1. What type of compass (lensatic, prismatic, fixed dial, floating dial, or orienteering) is best for wilderness travel?
2. What level of accuracy can you expect from a handheld Orienteering compass that has no sighting system?
Answer: Most “authorities” say five degrees. But it’s two degrees or less, if you use the method illustrated in the youtube video below.
3. You have determined the bearing to a distant point. What must you do to ensure
you will arrive at that point?
Check out this YouTube Video where I give a full class on what you need to know, and pick up my book, Basic Illustrated: Map & Compass! Also, check out my website, www.cliffcanoe.com. You'll find over 100 blogs about wilderness canoeing and camping and much more.
Good navigating, and best wishes, Cliff
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