Hi my name is Casey and I have done 17 trips into the BWCA and I don't know how to use a compass. I have never used a compass for any of my trips in my outdoor travels. I read a map like this, I read the land structures through my visual observations as I go and relate them to the map as I read it. I then keep this land structure on my right or left and then keep paddling. I know my directions. I am fully aware that I have been extremely lucky to my getting "confused" with my locations in the Amazon, Belize, Tetons, Glacier National Park, Estes Park, etc... My question is how do I learn to read a compass, and I am a very hands on learner so reading a book isn't my best option.

Compass video

There is a bunch of good tutorials on youtube. Also REI holds a class about 2 times a year

when in the bwca i've always just used a map , checking off campsites as you pass them also helps knowing exactly where you are on a given lake.

quote shock: "when in the bwca i've always just used a map , checking off campsites as you pass them also helps knowing exactly where you are on a given lake."

This is the same thing I do. I know how to use and always have a compass along but I've never felt the need to use it. Same goes for a gps unless I'm looking for a fishing spot.

Check out this recent post by Savage Voyageur, Land Navigation

Man, I thought I was the only one. I always have a compass with me as well however it only tells me north. Where this is all stimulated from is I have been watching the new show Alone and they have to find the second party on the coast. Party #1 has to navigate through some very thick undergrowth in the correct direction. I believe I would in up in Russia.

I pack a compass but only use a map. Seems pretty intuitive for my style of trekking I suppose.
Mac

Hi Casey, click on the link federsup talked about. This is just about the best information out there. It is the course that the people in the military use. It will give you more than you want to know, I'm sure. But it also will give you as much as you want to learn about land Navigation. Others will chime in that they never use a compass or map. That's ok and good for them, free country. But I have been paddling in dense fog, at night where you can't tell left from right. You can't see anything out there. I have also paddled and hiked on cloudy days where you can't tell north from south, east or west. The sun just won't give you a spot where it is. I have also duck and deer hunted in snow storms and had no idea where I was going, except for others who knew the way. And then what about the scenario where you wake up and there is a fire in the direction you want to paddle? You have to exit another way but your maps end. Might be between the weather and the smoke you would not know direction of travel. With the knowledge of compass navigation you would be able to exit in a route you could know is close to the direction you want.

Look for an orienteering club in your area. My local club offers introductory instructions at every meet, which they hold 1-3 times a month. Each meet has easy to difficult courses where you get a topo map which generally shows trails but the trails will not be labeled on the map. You go search for "control points" which are shown on the map. For the easy courses you don't really need the compass, but if you want to learn how to use a compass you practice on the easy courses with it. And you'll find people there that will help you with the compass reading, but tell them that is your goal otherwise they'll be telling you all about reading the topo map and not using the compass, which you are already proficient at!

Hi, Casey-

These threads will tell you why having and occasionally using a compass is a good idea.

3 people missing

Rescued in the BWCA

Using one to "stay found" in the BW doesn't have to be much more complicated than knowing how to align it with north to tell whether the portage/stream you are heading down is the one heading east that you want or one that is going south.

This is about all I ever do with the compass that is in my pocket or map case with my map.

It's not really that much more complicated to learn how to take a bearing off a map, orient your map to the landscape, and transfer a map bearing to the field. Declination (the difference between magnetic north and true north) is not a big difference in the BW, but may be more important when you go to other areas east or west of there.

Check out a couple of videos, get a good book, and sit down with your compass and a map and practice the basic stuff.

What boonis said... and just spend some time taking what you learn and put it to use. Navigate like you have been slowly intigrating what your learning. Comes in handy when you do need it. And one day you will if you do this long enough.

I'll add... I was sort of the same way with those maps such as Fisher and macenzie I was pretty spoiled. I went up to Manitoba after a couple years of bwca trips... probably 18 to twenty week or longer trips. ( I ran groups). I thought I had my compass and orienteering down ok. I went up and made a wrong turn. I corrected my mistake but I could see I needed help and came home and crash coursed it. Awe, I did better after that. You don't have to be Lewis and Clark. .. but a little education is definitely a must to go in a less traveled and more unforgiving place.

I been enough times now that I rarely even use a map anymore.

Really the compass is only for telling you where north is. No other purpose. It helps prevent you from getting turned around. Imagine being on a lake with a lot of long bays, if you lose track of which one you are looking for (like if you catch a fish or the wind turns you and you lose your bearings), the sun is directly overhead, and there are no distinctive land marks to match to the map then you might not know which bay is one to paddle down just from looking at the map and lake. A compass will align your map to north so you can get some sense of your bearings.

If you have no idea where you are or what direction you need to go at all then a compass doesn't do you much good. If you know you are generally in a certain area but everything looks the same then a compass can help get you pointed in the right direction. Its a rough estimate tool to be used with other tools or information, not by itself.