What are some essential navigation tools for the novice hiker? I was thinking about buying one of those Garmin GPS's along with an analog compass, but the price was a tad steep. Would a simple compass and map be enough? What kind of compass is cheap and recommended?
>what kind of compass?
One that points north
>I literally cannot think of how to do something so basic as to follow trails or own a map and have a basic knowledge of the area.
sage
1. Mirror compass with UTM scales (Silva or Suunto)
2. 1:50,000 topographical map of the region with UTM/MGRS gridlines.
3. Notepad and pencil in ziplock bag to mark down nav points and the legs of your trip.
4. Bonus points for a MGRS protractor
Learn how to set the declination of your compass given an appropriately labelled map. Magnetic north MOVES, and you have to move your compass dial to compensate.
Practice orienting your map to the ground using your compass. Get used to reading symbols and contour lines by looking at the map then looking at the world.
Read up on how the Universal Transverse Mercator grid system works, and how to turn a point on a map into a co-ordinate that you can write down (or give someone over a phone or radio). Easting THEN northing. In the door, up the stairs.
Practice how to find your own co-ordinates, and the co-ordinates of your next nav point, and how to turn those into a bearing that you can set on your compass dial.
Get used to taking notes on where you are, where you're going, and the bearing you are going to use to get there. If you get lost these notes will be invaluable.
Learn your pace for 100m. Learn how to count your paces. Learn how to walk in a straight line using landmarks and the sights on your compass.
Triangulation is a little more advanced, but a good idea to learn in case your GPS shits the bed. Occasionally you will lose your pace, fuck up a bearing, or in some other way completely miss your next navigable landmark and you'll need to know where you are right now before you can get a new bearing to where you want to be. This is where triangulation comes in, but to be honest most folks (myself included) will just cheat and use the GPS to get your UTM/MGRS co-ordinates. Still you should know how it works.
All this information can be found online or in books, but it's something you really have to practice and *KNOW* before relying on it innawoods. You don't want to be 5-6km out, and then wonder what the little metal thingie on your compass string is for.
>>797109
Baseplate compass with a rotating bezel is the most compass you'll need unless you're calling in artillery strikes in WWI. Button compass would be fine but it's a little harder to keep a bearing with it or use with your map.
Map, compass, and some orienteering skills are all you need. YouTube it.
>>797170
Easy there, GI Joe. He wants to hike, not discover the northwest passage.
>>797109
>What kind of compass is cheap and recommended?
suunto a30. $20 and everything you need to start.
>starter kit
garmin
>mid level
map+compass+ FM 3.25.26.pdf
>advanced level
watch only navigation
celestial navigation Bowditch
physical properties of terrain navigation
>>797421
>>797424
If he's not going to learn how to actually use a map and compass, then he should stick to marked and maintained trails in government parks. You don't even need a compass then. Just whatever tourist brochure they give you and your cellphone.
Why did he bother posting a thread about learning how to navigate unless he actually wanted to learn about navigation?
Maybe you should just tell him which direction the north star is in and what side of a tree moss grows on. That'll be about as helpful as the advice you gave.
>>797109
get a map and know that sun rises in east, sets in west, and sits in the southern sky throughout the day.
learn constellations and north star for night times.
an actual compass will help if it's foggy. Any, literally any, compass will do.
these idiots here try to make it like there is some big deal to it.
think about the pioneers, early explorers, etc. no real maps, they were making them, and no fancy gps crap.
>>797109
I just use a long pole
Www.amazon.com/Staying-Found-Complete-Compass-Handbook/dp/0898867851
This is the only book you need to learn how to use map and compass
