# I want to buy a compass



## Jim (Jul 16, 2018)

:LOL2: 

I want to buy and lear how to use a compass. This will be used for Hunting and Hiking, and Im not going to rely on my GPS or phone anymore.

Anyone have a good resource on how to learn to use a compass? What makes a good compass?


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## overboard (Jul 16, 2018)

Jim, for basic navigating the little ball compass that pins on your clothing is as good as it gets. All you need to do is glance down at it and you know what direction you are heading at any time without fumbling around with a regular compass. I always carried at least two other regular compasses with me also when I hunted the Maine North woods and eventually added a GPS. 
I would read on the computer about how to navigate with a compass, "can dead men vote twice" comes to mind, it's a memory aid for >compass deviation magnetic, variation true: information involving that can be found on the bottom of every topo map, it involves true North and magnetic North aka deviation and variation.
Good to know how to use a compass, but I think when you really start looking into the nitty gritty of using one to navigate from point A-B, B-C, C-D, etc., you will realize how simple it is to use the GPS! 
My suggestion would be the little ball compass, and TWO GPS units! :lol:
BTW: I use the ball compass 98% of the time, I get the general direction on the GPS, turn it off, then start heading for it using the compass, after awhile I turn the GPS back on and adjust my heading if needed to go to my destination, I NEVER use the GPS to do 100% of the navigating. If looking for an area in the dark I shine a light on the ball compass here and there to stay on course , then I will turn on the GPS when I get close and keep it on until I am at the spot.


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## Jim (Jul 16, 2018)

Thanks for the tips and advice! :beer: 

I'm going to try to not overthink this.

Jim


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## richg99 (Jul 16, 2018)

Do you have nine friends? Or, prizes for a contest here!

https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B07F67BQGT?aaxitk=S8mH9o0-4Za2MEd5dwkw-g&pd_rd_i=B07F67BQGT&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_p=3930100107420870094&pf_rd_s=desktop-sx-top-slot&pf_rd_t=301&pf_rd_i=little+ball+compass&hsa_cr_id=9603422820501

Here's a BPS version for cheap.
https://www.basspro.com/shop/en/coghlans-ball-type-pin-on-compass?hvarAID=shopping_googleproductextensions


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## handyandy (Jul 16, 2018)

biggest thing with navigating with a compass is having a good topo map use without a map that you can use to plot distance and direction on it takes away a lot of the usefulness away from a compass. I guess I have taken it for granted how much orienteering I did at young age in my boy scout troop, and how much land navigation was pounded into my head with the Army I have never considered using a compass a big deal. But if in a new area that your trying to navigate a good topo map, and protractor are just as valuable as a compass. All a compass does it tell you what direction it's pointing.


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## Jim (Jul 16, 2018)

You're going to read about me one day.......Yankee gets lost in the great North Woods. He was a good man, but relied on his iPhone and GPS to get back to his truck......he was probably scared of the woods too. :LOL2:


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## overboard (Jul 16, 2018)

:lol: Hope you aren't one of those guys who gets out of the truck to take a leak in the woods and then walks in the complete opposite direction of the truck and gets lost! We had guys with us who were afraid of getting lost in the "big woods", usually they just followed a skidder trail into an area and then tied ribbons off of that to where they wanted to stand. 
That's another option, just take about 10 rolls of surveyor tape with you and tie some about every 10' along your route, then just follow it back out, 
I've seen that more than once while hunting! #-o :lol: 
One of our guys hated ribbons, one day as he was collecting a line of them he happened to notice a guy out in front of him who was tying them, hope that guy made it out OK! :LOL2: :LOL2:


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## KMixson (Jul 16, 2018)

Remember this when navigating in the woods with a compass. If you want to go in a straight line, pick a point in the distance and then go to that point. Then pick another point on that same bearing go to that point. Repeat process. If not you will most likely drift off course. On a long trek in can add up to be a major offset. There have been many lost trying to follow the compass needle on every step they take.


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## Jim (Jul 16, 2018)

overboard said:


> :lol: Hope you aren't one of those guys who gets out of the truck to take a leak in the woods and then walks in the complete opposite direction of the truck and gets lost! We had guys with us who were afraid of getting lost in the "big woods", usually they just followed a skidder trail into an area and then tied ribbons off of that to where they wanted to stand.
> That's another option, just take about 10 rolls of surveyor tape with you and tie some about every 10' along your route, then just follow it back out,
> I've seen that more than once while hunting! #-o :lol:
> One of our guys hated ribbons, one day as he was collecting a line of them he happened to notice a guy out in front of him who was tying them, hope that guy made it out OK! :LOL2: :LOL2:



:LOL2:


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## GTS225 (Jul 16, 2018)

I'm with HandyAndy. Learned in the Army, on the standard issue compass, along with topo maps. Have done more than a few triangulations and come out spot on, even when skipping a checkpoint on a route.
I would dare suggest the standard Army training manual, and a navigation tool like a compass is just like a rod or reel. If you buy cheap, you get cheap.

Roger


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## WV1951 (Jul 16, 2018)

Jim said:


> .......Yankee gets lost in the great North Woods. He was a good man, but relied on his iPhone and GPS to get back to his truck......



Upon searching said person, a compass was recovered in his pant's pocket that appeared in as new condition. :wink:


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## Jim (Jul 17, 2018)

WV1951 said:


> Jim said:
> 
> 
> > .......Yankee gets lost in the great North Woods. He was a good man, but relied on his iPhone and GPS to get back to his truck......
> ...



:LOL2: I would of probably searched hours for it you know, like looking for your phone while holding it.


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## gnappi (Jul 17, 2018)

Jim said:


> :LOL2:
> 
> I want to buy and lear how to use a compass. This will be used for Hunting and Hiking, and Im not going to rely on my GPS or phone anymore.
> 
> Anyone have a good resource on how to learn to use a compass? What makes a good compass?



Since you want to learn how to navigate, there's no better compass than a lensatic type. With it and a topo map (and some higher elevation points to take a bearing on) it's hard to get lost. 

The liquid (if equipped) in the compass dampens the dial movement and the wire makes for extremely accurate placement on a topo map. My Dad and I used to roam the Adirondac mountains hunting and we marked spots on a map and were able to find the same spot after years of forest growth changed the visual clues to find them.

My son's scout master had made up a compass test in a huge park nearby where the kids had to take readings to points on a trail and wind up at a final (unknown) location. At the end, my son and I wound up a couple of hundred feet away from the crowd (who used dime store compasses) based on the accuracy of my compass. Boy was he ticked off at me, and after he rode his bike through the whole trail with my compass trying to prove me wrong... (which he could not) he asked me if I wanted a medal. I said yes if there was one for not getting lost  

He was even more ticked that the kids all wanted lensatic compasses after seeing how accurate they were. 

Anyway, a mil spec compass is inexpensive, and nowadays you can get them with LED lighting to travel in dim light but of course you have to KNOW what direction to go after locating yourself on a map in daylight. 

I have no experience with non liquid induction dampening types, but they are purported to be excellent.


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## LDUBS (Jul 17, 2018)

I just use Wayz or Google Maps. 8)


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## bcbouy (Jul 17, 2018)

i learned the old fashioned way with compass and topo maps.even the old watch dial way.never have used a gps, except on the water.i even made a couple maps for my own use.


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## overboard (Jul 17, 2018)

True story here Jim! 
I was up at Long Pond Pa near the Pocono raceway, I knew I had to go to the corner of a field and then go NW to get through a corridor of a swamp that broke into an opening with high ground on the other side of it. It was dark and I crossed a small spring like I should and then shortly afterward I crossed more water that was never there before, but it had rained pretty hard and didn't think too much of it. Pretty soon I came to the field where I had started from, WTH I followed the compass NW and there's no way I should be back at that field!!! #-o 
I was hunting with a flintlock and it seems that the way I was carrying the flintlock affected the compass, never had that happen with a regular rifle, SO, went back to the corner of the field and started over, this time I kept the flintlock well away from the compass and ended up exactly where I wanted to be on the other side of the swamp. 
S*** happens! :lol:


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## ppine (Jul 20, 2018)

In forestry school we learned to make topographic maps with a staff compass, a range pole and a surveyor's chain. That was in the 1970s. What are you going to do when your batteries quit? The only people that get lost coming out to my rural property are those that rely on a GPS. We lose a few people each winter that blindly follow their GPS into remote country and get stuck. 

People have navigated the world with a compass, and a clock, sometimes with charts for thousands of years. It seems like a big mistake for basic navigation skills to be lost in one generation because of the advent of electronic pathfinding.


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## overboard (Jul 20, 2018)

Excellent point ppine! Wait until Jim forgets to put the truck position in the GPS and hits the go to button and it tells him that the truck is 635mi away at the last position he entered! :lol: #-o 
I still rely on a compass, the GPS is a useful aid.


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## Snowshoe (Jul 20, 2018)

I've been using the same type of compass, different company, since 69. https://www.walmart.com/ip/Cammenga-Official-U-S-Military-Tritium-Lensatic-Compass/36740924


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## KMixson (Jul 20, 2018)

It is a very useful skill to be able to navigate with a compass so when your batteries die in your GPS you do not become a statistic. I learned at a young age to even navigate at night using the stars. There are more ways to navigate than just a GPS. You can even use the winds if you know what the wind was when you started your trek in some cases. Flowing water is another indication you will find useful. Moss growth can help you also. When you add all these signs together you would be surprised to learn how accurate it can be.


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## earl60446 (Jul 20, 2018)

I have always preferred the type below, nice for hanging around your neck, accurate and reliable and rugged. Don't break the bank either.
Earl

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Transparent-Multi-Map-Compass-Multiple-Scales-Liquid-filled-Built-in-Magnifier/202180882556?_trkparms=aid%3D111001%26algo%3DREC.SEED%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D52953%26meid%3Df3bf48c86d544065aaf745527b23db7a%26pid%3D100675%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D15%26sd%3D202180882556%26itm%3D202180882556&_trksid=p2481888.c100675.m4236&_trkparms=pageci%3A05599c38-8c93-11e8-995e-74dbd1801dd1%7Cparentrq%3Abacd41981640aa4847c81133fff6f452%7Ciid%3A1


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