I really think that a person that travels in the woods or water away from civilization should know how to use a map and compass. Here is the link to a 4 part land navigation course. I know that I have read most don't take a compass, and just use a map. Others might say they know how to use a map and compass. But I'll bet if you read this you will learn a lot and maybe jog your memory on other topics. I'll bet those people that got lost a couple of weeks ago could have used this information. It is in 4 parts on a PowerPoint format. Land Navigation

That course has a lot of great info in it. I just took a scan through and I agree that anyone can learn something from it.

Perhaps because it is a land-based course, I didn't notice one idea that I think can be useful for crossing large bodies of water. That is the concept of aiming off. The idea is that if you aim directly at the desired portage and when you hit the shore, it isn't there that you may not know if you are off to the left or right. So, you don't know which way to go. Instead, if you aim off to one side of your goal when you get to the shore you should know which way to turn to find your goal.

Before going through just the first section of the course I would have counted myself very skilled at land navigation. Now I'll say I am very skilled at navigating the BWCA, but am unready to direct artillery fire as mentioned in the course. I was really impressed by the detail and was glad to learn more about the lensatic/military type compass.

I can remember learning and teaching about magnetic delineation, but have no memory of the concept of "grid north". I now we are lucky in MN to have only a slight difference between magnetic and true north, but i can not find anything showing how far and which way the grid north deviation. Its not mentioned on my McKenzie map that I can see. Anyone help me here?

In thinking about the recent threads mentioning map/navigation skills, it makes me wonder if we should not find some way next fall to incorporate compass-map-terrain-reading type skills into the 2017-2018 season of Name That Lake. If anyone has any thoughts and wants to talk about it, let me know.

quote andym: "That course has a lot of great info in it. I just took a scan through and I agree that anyone can learn something from it.


Perhaps because it is a land-based course, I didn't notice one idea that I think can be useful for crossing large bodies of water. That is the concept of aiming off. The idea is that if you aim directly at the desired portage and when you hit the shore, it isn't there that you may not know if you are off to the left or right. So, you don't know which way to go. Instead, if you aim off to one side of your goal when you get to the shore you should know which way to turn to find your goal."

We used to teaching aiming off for orienteering at the Scout camp I worked at. As in Orienteering your are trying to get to a marker that is not that large.

quote andym: "That course has a lot of great info in it. I just took a scan through and I agree that anyone can learn something from it.


Perhaps because it is a land-based course, I didn't notice one idea that I think can be useful for crossing large bodies of water. That is the concept of aiming off. The idea is that if you aim directly at the desired portage and when you hit the shore, it isn't there that you may not know if you are off to the left or right. So, you don't know which way to go. Instead, if you aim off to one side of your goal when you get to the shore you should know which way to turn to find your goal."

We used to teaching aiming off for orienteering at the Scout camp I worked at. As in Orienteering your are trying to get to a marker that is not that large.

That is simply a wonderful resource, and I have downloaded it and cannot wait to get into it, read it, and learn. This could especially help me when I am hiking in the mountains and don't have an lake shore and islands as easy reference points. Thanks for posting a link for us!

I used to be really good at shooting off peaks, triangulating and pin pointing my location on Topo Maps. I have lost much of that skill in mapping fires since we were allowed to use GPS in the late 1990's.
Before then we had to get special permission from the military and every large GPS we used had to be unscrambled/decoded, everytime.

Since magnetic north changes all the time, here is a link to what the daily declination is.
It is 16 degrees East where I am at in AK.
Luckily it is near Zero in the BW, but you still had to be right on when cruising property lines. I could shoot a line 1/4 mile through heavy Black Spruce and be within a few feet, to find a bearing tree or survey marker.
I use a Silva Ranger compass where I can dial it in directly on my compass.
Then shoot a bearing using its mirror.
Magnetic North link.