How To Use A Compass When Hiking – The Basics For Beginners

If you want to go out in the woods today, don’t be in for a big surprise! Learn How To Use A Compass – Basics For Beginners is the first in a series of articles that will show you the absolute basics of using a compass. It is for the uninitiated and will get you to a point where you are comfortable using a compass for basic navigation.

It is not rocket science and when you have finished this article, you will have a far better understanding which you should put into practice to ensure that you are comfortable with what you have learned.

Before we get into it, watch this How To Use A Compass video and get a quick overview of how it all works.

OK, So let’s start at the beginning.

What Is A Compass

There are seven different types of compasses used for different purposes:-

1. Gyrocompass
2. GPS Receiver Used As A Compass
3. Magnetic Compass
4. Thumb compass
5. Solid-state compasses ( Magnetometer)
6. Speciality Compasses ( e.g. Qibla compass)
7. Optical or prismatic hand-bearing compass

A compass is used for navigation and orientation. It shows direction north, south, east, and west on the compass face as abbreviated initials N, S, E, W.

We will be paying attention to the Prismatic Compass which is commonly used for navigation by hikers. It is light and see-through so you can place it on an exact spot on the map and take bearings.

Let’s Get Started – The 4 Compass Points

Most of us were taught the North, South, East, and West points of the compass. We know the sun comes up in the East and sets in the West and we probably know how we fit into the Northern or Southern Hemisphere.

Hemi’ means ‘half’ in the Greek language and Sphere means a round object so a hemisphere is half of a round object. The Earth, a round object, was divided in half by the geographers at the equator. This gives us the Northern hemisphere with the North Pole and the Southern Hemisphere with the South Pole. The earth spins on its axis between the North and south Poles.

True North vs Magnetic North

The north and south poles are regarded as true north and south. Compasses, however, do not point to true north. They point to Magnetic North. The difference between the true north and the magnetic north is called the magnetic declination but don’t worry too much about this right now. It will come into play in the next lesson.

Right now, we want to learn how to use a compass. Magnetic declination comes into play when we start orientating maps later. So now we are only going to concentrate on magnetic north.

The Compass

For our purposes, we are going to use a prism compass. These compasses come in many forms and range from a simple compass to more complex compasses with siting mechanisms etc. For our purpose, the basic transparent prism compass is the best.

Below is a picture with all the parts of the compass identified.

The 4 main things you need to pay attention to right now are:-

1. The Needle
2. The Orienting arrow
3. The Dial
4. The Direction Of Travel Arrow

The Needle

The Needle is on a spindle that allows it to spin freely. Being magnetised, the needle’s red arrow always points to magnetic north. We will use this needle every time we use the compass, whether we want to go North, South, East or West, or any other direction.

The Orienting Arrow

The Orienting arrow in this compass is the red arrow the appears under the needle. It can be rotated to any direction by turning the dial. The Orienting Arrow is used to set a specific direction for travel. It can also be used to take a bearing on a mountain, bridge or anything that you can see from your position.

The Dial

The dial turns to place the orienting arrow under the needle or to set a specific bearing on the dial to the index pointer. This is useful when following a predetermined route or finding bearings.

The Direction Of Travel Arrow

The Direction Of Travel Arrow is just that. I point in the direction that you need to travel on a specific bearing or it can be used to establish the bearing of a target from your current position.

How To Set Your Compass To A Direction

A compass is used to determine what your position is and to follow a predetermined route. In this exercise, We will be learning to follow a predetermined route.

The first thing that you need to do is to ensure that you have no ferrous metal near your compass as this will affect your results.

Let’s presume that your next bearing is north, i.e. 000 degrees.

1. Hold your compass level.
2. turn the dial until the 0 or 360 degree is at the index pointer.
3. turn slowly, holding the compass steady and level until the needle is in the Orienting arrow
4. note where the direction of travel arrow points and choose a landmark on that direction of travel.

Let’s try another bearing, say 90 degrees;

1. Hold your compass level (away from any metals)
2. Dial-in the bearing…90 degrees
3. turn slowly holding the compass steady and level until the needle is in the orienting arrow
4. note the direction and choose a landmark in that direction of travel and….that’s it.

That’s It – Now Practice

Those are the very basics of using a compass. It does get far more involved so practice this until it is second nature. You now know the basics of the compass and its components. In the next lesson, we will start with orienteering and map work with the compass. This is a little more in-depth and you should have these basics under your belt before we go on.

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If you have any questions or suggestions regarding using a compass, please leave them in the comments below.

“It is better to have prepared and never to need it than to be unprepared and be in desperate need of it”.

Be Aware. Be Safe. Be Prepared!

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