Take a Heading
- Determine the direction you want to go.
- Take your eyes away from the compass and make your way toward the object.
- The reverse method is to first point the direction-of-travel arrow in the direction you want to go, and then rotate the compass center until the north needle and north markings line up.
To find true north, turn the bezel the same magnitude and direction as your declination value. Most compasses will have degree markers on the bezel to help you do this. Next, line up your needle and your orienting arrow by turning your body again. You should now be facing true north!
A compass works by detecting and responding to the Earth's natural magnetic fields. The Earth has an iron core that is part liquid and part solid crystal, due to gravitational pressure. It is believed that movement in the liquid outer core is what produces the Earth's magnetic field.
Simply keep holding the compass steady and in the same relative position to yourself, and you will be heading the way you wish to go. As long as you hold the compass pointing true to your forward direction, and maintain the orienting arrow under the red end of the magnetic needle, you will be on course.
Degrees, minutes and seconds are denoted by the symbols °, ', ". e.g. 10° 33' 19" means an angle of 10 degrees, 33 minutes and 19 seconds . A degree is divided into 60 minutes (of arc), and each minute is divided into 60 seconds (of arc).
Place your compass on the map with the direction of travel arrow pointing toward the top of the map. Rotate the bezel so that N (north) is lined up with the direction of travel arrow. Slide the baseplate until one of its straight edges aligns with either the left or right edge of your map.
While a compass is a great tool for navigation, it doesn't always point exactly north. This is because the Earth's magnetic North Pole is not the same as "true north," or the Earth's geographic North Pole . The magnetic North Pole lies about 1,000 miles south of true north, in Canada.
The sun rises in the general direction of east and sets in the general direction of west every day, so you can use the location of sunrise or sunset to get an approximate idea of direction. Face the sunrise and you are facing east; north will be on your left and south will be on your right.
Say it is two o'clock, draw an imaginary line between the hour hand and twelve o'clock to create the north-south line. You know the sun rises in the east and sets in the west so this will tell you which way is north and which way south. If you are in the Southern Hemisphere then it will be the other way round.
Compass BasicsThe red line, which extends top to bottom through the face of the left compass in Photo Two, is the lubber line. The lubber line represents the diver's direction of travel when held out front pointing straight forward.
Northwest (NW), 315°, halfway between north and west, is the opposite of southeast.
Face the direction of the landmark and hold your pocket compass just below eye level. Make sure you hold the compass steady and level. Slowly rotate the entire compass until the north end of the compass needle is exactly over the north marking on the compass rose.
