Thanks, Dave! Great fun exercise. Great advice to start out on basically flat, level, unobstructed familiar ground. It ain't cheating to be able to see all of your targets from any target point at any time for exercise purposes; it's reassuring and it's smart. Practice in a field and expand. It becomes clear - almost instantly - that it is THAT simple. Set the bezel, set the needle and follow the arrow. Meat and potatoes. That's such an awesome, common sense exercise/application.
I'm happy you liked it Dwayne. Yep, start out in a nice flat field but as one progresses, do it in a grassy field so you don't see the targets and subconsciously cheap.
I'm glad you liked it. Back when I filmed this one I used a Kodak ZI8. I now have a pair of Kodak ZI10s. I bought one and loved it then heard they stopped making them so I grabbed another one off Amazon.Thanks for watching my friend.
Yes, think of yourself standing in a big circle. Your start point straight ahead is 0 degrees. A right turn would be 90 degrees a left turn would be 270. Just think of 360 degrees surrounding you. Thanks for watching my friend.
I've been watching your navigation vids and my thanks for great teaching here, David. I've been following an unused, overgrown trail up in the Sawtooths and it really helps to find a landmark in the direction of travel. Whatever the old trail does, I can follow that compass bearing again and again and camp by the stream leading up to that off trail lake where nobody else is (because the trail is gone, covered with pine beetle deadfall). I so appreciate the education, David. We may be in different jungles but the methods are the same and magnetic north (true north with declination figured in) is always a possible reckoning with a comass! Thank you from wild Idaho!
Sounds like a great way to get away from everyone! Its great to know how to use and trust your compass but its also always better to use trails when you can. Thanks for watching Julia.
Im glad you liked it. Navigation is very very important in not getting lost. I felt like this was a pretty easy method for getting to know and trust your compass. Thanks for watching my friend.
Youre very welcome and I hope they work out good for you. They seem to be an easy way of understanding and building trust in your readings. Nothing wrong with a GPS nowadays but to me, ya gotta have a compass and know how to use it. Thats cool you know of a trail that has makers for the primitive trail. Thanks for watching my friend.
You never cease to amaze me with the simple survival techniques that could be life and death lessons. I for one am glad you are on You Tube and thanks for the videos.
Thanks for the ideas on brushing up on my land nav techniques. It's been oh too many years since I've used one correctly, and I've been itching to get back to it. Your videos gave me the motivation to get off my but tomorrow and get into the woods! Thanks, brother!
@JP1AO I have always thought that the best way to avoid or to get out of a true survival situation is the ability to not get lost. Reading a compass and navigating should almost feel like second nature for times when one is cold,injured,weak or lost. Im glad you liked it and I hope it helps. Thanks for watching my friend.
@bikenutter1 I made this video with the fact in mind that theres no reason to make compass learning a complicated thing. Most people just need to learn to trust their compasses anyway. Thanks for the comment and thanks for watching my friend.
@99veniste Im glad you liked it. I tried to keep it as simple as possible because if its easy to understand, its easy to learn. thanks for watching my friend.
I'm glad you liked it. To me, the more simple it is, the easier it is to understand and remember it when you nee it most. Thanks for watching my friend.
@karenchakey i have a silva explorer. Its run of the mill, not cheap, not too expensive. Theres a million different ways of learning to use a compass. This method I show, builds confidence in trusting yourself and trusting how your are reading your compass. I have hear a million stories of people reading a compass ,saying "that cant be right" then proceed to get lost. You have to have confidence in yourself and trust which way youre going, and youll never get lost. Thanks for watching Karen!
Im glad you agree. Not only is this a good thing to learn but, it needs to be practiced and proven and believed in. You have to be able to trust you readings. I have heard one two many times of people reading a compass and looking up and saying, that cant be right. Ya gotta believe what you read. Take care and thanks for watching my friend.
That is so cool! Its good to know that these techniques are used and trusted. These are the most simple to learn and understand and yes, like you say, it teaches confidence. My old mentors taught me that if you dont trust your compass or your readings, you may as well not even carry one. Thanks for the comments and thanks for watching my friend.
I am using a Kodak ZI8. they have discontinued making them and replaced them with the newer ZI10. the remaining stock is about $300.00 to $400.00 per camera. Thats like robbery. I wanted another so i bought the ZI10. Its pretty nice, the only difference is it has a touch screen instead of buttons. Thanks for watching my friend.
Thank you, Im glad you like what I do and how I do it. I figure the more simple it is, the easier it is to remember. You never know when this stuff might just save the day. Thanks for watching my friend.
After all the rocks are transfered, I have walked 5,250 feet. Some folks use ranger beads, i use rocks or sticks. This is only accurate on flat land. Hope this helps. Thanks for watching my friend.
You are by far one of the best teachers with a compass that I have seen on You Tube and I have watched tons of navigation videos and yours is one of the best. I would love to see this on a much larger scale a hay field, just to see how much natural error happens. Even if you miss count a step or two your gonna be vey close to the start. You would have been a great Surveyor, you closed a traverse by pace count and compass bearing better than most people could hope to do.
Thanks! I honestly think other teachers make this stuff overly complicated. I try my best to just lay it out like it is. I may make an updated video on this method. Thanks for the comments and thanks for watching
@creative10101010 thanks friend! I wanted to make this simple enough that it would be easy to learn and people wouldnt be confused with a bunch of techincal talk that wasnt nessesary. Thanks for watching!
@robbyballz Just for you to see yourself, go to the woods. pick a direction on your compass. Put the compass in your pocket then try to walk in a straight line without looking at it. Walk for just 5 minutes. Keep in your direction that you think youre walking in. Pull out your compass and read it. Youll be shocked at how far off you can be in just 5 minutes of walking through the woods. If you can ,do that then pm me how far off you were. You'll be surprised. Take care and thanks for watching.
@robbyballz Im glad they helped, not getting lost or knowing how to get out and find home is the best bet for not being in a survival situation. Thanks for watching my friend.
Always good to hear that. I wanted to film these videos in a way that it makes the compass as simple as possible to get used to using and trusting what you read. I think most of the trouble people have with compass readings is not trusting what they read. Thanks for the comment and thanks for watching my friend.
Cool! now that's what I like to hear. A compass is a very important tool and it seems like books dont explain it easy and a lot of videos make it a little complicated. The exercises in this video not only make it easier to understand, it helps build confidence to trust what youre reading. I'm glad you liked it, Thanks for watching my friend.
Thanks! I tried to make it as simple as I can. I think its easy to over complicate these things and make it harder to understand. If you can navigate with a compass and trust what youre reading, youll never get lost. Greetings from Georgia U.S.A. Thanks for watching my friend.
K&R make very good Compasses from what Im told. As far as bubbles go, I have never bought any of thee liquid filled type compasses. All I have ever used are the floating needle type. I personally do not like any of the liquid filled compasses. I like Silva and Suunto the best. I recently got a Suunto MC-2 made in Finland and its awesome. Thanks for watching my friend.
Im not much for battery powered devices but the GPS with a solar charger sounds like a fantastic device to carry. I didnt even know they made that. Im a kinda low tech guy, Ha Ha. Thanks for watching my friend.
No, you can never say 1 pace equals one meter because everyones pace is different. I never judge by 30 meters, thats too short to call. I always use 100 meters to judge my paces. What I did wrong in this video was when I meant to say 30 paces, I said 30 meters. That was a total slip up of words. Im sorry that was confusing. Think paces when thinking this excersice. I had a lot to try and remember on this video.lol. Thanks for watching my friend.
Great! Simple instruction. I was searching for the silva compass you're using and that led me to your video. You're great with the camera and real personable and made it easy to understand. Thanks!
I havent gotten into the GPS thing yet but I probably need to. It looks like a good thing. A friend of mine always said all a GPS is, is a case for carrying dead batteries, LOL. Thats a great idea to carry extra batteries and a solar charger. You got all the bases covered. Yes, everyone needs compass skills as far as Im concerned. Thanks for watching my friend.
I think and think and think and still can't decide which I like most about your videos: Either your subject matter or your explanations of such. I've learned so much from your videos of things that I hadn't even thought about or realized the variety of ways of things that I already knew. I really enjoy your stuff.
I have owned about 10 compasses in my life, all had stuff I didnt like about them. I like this one because its easy to read, tough and fairly cheap. Ive had three of these and Im used to it and I trust it. Thanks for watching my friend.
@1620416204 Anytime tom. One thing I forgot to show was how to get a bearing off an object or location. Its just the opposite of what I showed. Aim the compass at a tree,peak, ridge or whatever then turn the dial till north lines up with the red arrow then read the degrees at the direction arrow and that will be the bearing location.
This was a fun viewing experience. I am pretty good with map/compass navigation, but a refresher is always welcome. Last time I put that skill to use was three years ago in the Guyana rainforest. Your video gave me some ideas/drills for continuing to teach my son compass navigation. Thanks much, Dave.
Reallybigmonkey1 Yes, Dave, the Guyana rainforest. It was quite an experience. Spent six month backpacking the length and breadth of the country, with the majority of my walk traversing the rainforest sometimes solo and sometimes with two indigenous friends. Hammock camping was the only way to go in most of the rain forest. Basic (very basic) bushcraft knowledge and knowledge of compass/map navigation were the essentials that got me through. Thank God for my old school boy scout knowledge and my childhood/teenage experience growing up in Guyana. One of the lessons learned is that the rainforest has no respect for our hightech gear. By the end of my journey, my clothes were shredded and my jungle boots were hopelessly useless. I ended my adventure wearing flip flops, which is pretty much what the indigenous people who traverse the rain forest cutting wood and hunting wear (or knee high rubber boots). And the schooling I am getting from you continues to augment my knowledge. 🙏
I'd have to say any compass made by Silva, Brunton or Sunnto would be a good choice. Use it , learn it but mainly, learn to trust your readings. Hope that helps, Thanks for watching brother.
Ah, I dont know man. My vids dont compare to the ole walk in the woods do they? Ha Ha. Theres times when knowing paces can really help. Especially if youre headed in one direction away from camp and youve not been there before. You can count your paces back and if you dont wind up in camp, you know youre lost. It is a good thing to keep in practice with the ole compass too. Thanks for watching my friend.
That's a great lesson and exercises. I was a kid in cadets when first learning orienteering, confused the heck out of me. Probably using snowshoes for the first time in unfamiliar territory did not help, but this would have made it a lot easier to learn.
+Sasquatchlife Notrace Thanks man. I feel like when anyone first learns this its confusing. Anyone can learn this, its just the point of trusting yourself and trusting your compass skills that help the most. Thanks for watching man
Reallybigmonkey1 : thank you for your videos, I am still watch binging all the 7 yrs back because I think that everything that you teach is essential I love all your knowledge. However.... I feel really confused about one thing and no matter what compass video I watch the question is still nagging me. When/if you are lost in the wood even if you know where North is, if you have no clue where you came from how do you know where to point your compass to find your base camp? It must sound like a crazy and simple question to you but I can’t wrap my head around it. Thank you.
You are very welcome Nicole and Im happy you like the videos so much. That's a tough one because, you have to take a step before leaving camp. Ahead of leaving camp you need to know which direction you are headed so you can reverse that direction. No one ever does that because no one ever plans on getting lost. Now, if youre lost and away from camp and have no idea which direction to head to find it theres a method for finding it. I show it in this other video if you haven't seen it yet. th-cam.com/video/1JA23PWuqe4/w-d-xo.html
I enjoyed the exercise and will use what I have learned to practice this on our property and try to get it right and I appreciate you taking the time to teach this to us who don't know how to use our compasses.
@robbyballz Lots of advice on navigation but two comes to mind. Keep you compass away from metal objects when reading it. The other, Two days aint much time but the number one rule is, learn your compass, trust it, follow it. A compass is no good if you dont trust it or your ability to believe what it says. What I laid out here, is an easy excersice to make you trust your compass.
@gretchitect Yes, you would have walked pas tyour pack. Any time you make a move N S E W it would have to be the same amout to wind up where you started. The NE NW SE SW would be the longer distance because it would be the long leg of the triangle, or whats know as the hypotenuse in trig terms.
Thanks for putting together this video. Makes for a very good learning tool for those of us new to navigating with a compass. I really enjoy your videos. Thank you.
Hm, whats better than actually getting to the woods on a sunny Saturday? Watching ole Dave's videos and getting a refresher on compass use! I have never measured my pace, next time I get some free time I might have to now.
@bizzarrogeorge Thats cool! Glad to hear youre motivated to get out again. Alot of people know how to use a compass well. Not many truly feel comfortable trusting them I was shown these navigation and pacing excersices years ago and they heled me trust myself big time. Anyone that has ever practiced these have told me they built up confidence in them selves. Good to hear from you, take care and thank you for watching my friend.
Well it doesnt matter if its 5 miles or 50 miles,a good compass is needed period. My number one pick is Silva followed by Brunton then Suunto. Any compas made by those three companies will be trustworthy. Stay away from those floating dial or liquid bubble compasses. Most of them are junk and hard to read. If youre gonna follow a map then get a clear base map compass. For finding your direction in and out get a prismatic compass. Good luck and thanks for watching my friend.
Let me rephrase that. I say its 99% accurate on flat land. The accuracy goes down when its mountainous terrain because your paces will vary to a slight degree. You need to check your own paces on flatland, uphill and downhill. Mine vary downhill bad. The rocks, yes, put ten in one pocket and transfer them one at a time for every set of paces, or use ranger beads on a slide. No, I have not made a video on paces. This is the only one I made where I mention distance.
@gretchitect Youre exact words were "30m south and 40m,then NW315" That would be 70m in one direction, then NW315. No you would not wind up at your pack. You can not always travel at equadistant legs or avoid objects. They will always be there. This is a way of testing an developing your navigational skills and building trust in what you know.
+Jim Berkowitz Thanks Jim, I'm glad you liked it. Sounds like a great place to practice and use them. Always remember, trust your readings and you wont go wrong! Thanks for watching!
I had no idea that was how it was on the Silvas. They are still pretty good compasses but no where near as good as the Suunto. Thanks for the tip my friend.
Excellent. Thank you. I have no experience with navigation so this was perfect. Thanks for taking the time to be so detailed. I always enjoy your videos.
love all your videos man.you take your time and teach very well.i watch your channel so much I think I'm pickin up the southern accent.lol ...thanks for sharing your ideas and experience with us.from kenny in nova Scotia, Canada.
Looks like Ive been lost these many years as of the date of this video. Lol. The good thing is this stuff doesnt change. Very good teaching on using a compass. On a side note. I wish we would stop the conversion process and just go to the metric system. Its so much easier and makes more sense than our standard unit of measure. People would get used to it and then we could stop trying to convert it.
Good info, loved the stick and rock collecting for distance, simple and direct. The compass exercises were well done, and really fun to do. Did it as a contest between my wife and I to see who bought dinner. (My steak tasted so much better free!) I have used the coins in my pocket as one record keeping idea, any coin in my watch pocket is steps counted, and then I put one coin in my let pocket for the Klicks walked. The bulk of the coins are in the right front pocket to draw from. Common sense is such a wonderful tool!
Johnn Schroeder Thanks John, Im glad you liked it. Simple is always best but I do like the coin thing. Im guessing it was the best steak ever! Take care and Thanks for watching.
Reallybigmonkey1 Steak was a porterhouse around 16 ounces and so damn good! We had such fun doing this we're going to both lay out a course for each other with at least six changes in course by pace count and bearing. Going to use 100 paces each leg so we have to deal with terrain and undergrowth. The woods we are in are well known to us so we can concentrate on the course and not the area so much. Its dinner again on the line, and then an event we want to see. for her its a show at the casino, and for me (hopefully) a gun show/buying trip. Sure been fun learning a new skill.
Thank you for the videos. I have never tried to learn to use a compass and I have absolutely no sense of direction, NONE. I don't have a good compass yet (I thought a compass was a compass until watching your vids). I ordered a Garmin Inreach Explorer + this week and was watching vids trying to learn how to use it and by chance stumbled upon your compass videos. I hope that between the 2 devices I will be able to go to the kitchen from now on without getting lost.😂 I am subscribing.
You are very welcome and I'm glad you liked it. Great that you are learning compass navigation! While learning it, also try and trust what you readings tell you. Thanks for the sub and Thanks for watching
I went ahead and ordered the Silva Guide 426. I got a pretty good deal on it too. $9.80 plus shipping (under $15 total). I decided on that one bc I feel halfway familiar with it after watching your navigation videos over and over. Thanks again.
thanks, brings back memories, was at a northern warfare training center in alaska in the 60's, went on a all day hike, through swaps, around lakes, all day. we came out within 100 yards of pickup point, counting steps for a long period of time sucks, lol
Curt Johnson haah thats what i was thinning, all the step counting or pace counting.. I would lose track probably. but sure interesting stuff, especially for us non military type
You put a lot of thought into this one and a lot of work and I learned a lot! Thanks for sharing, I will need to watch it again and take some notes, good vid buddy!
Good vid and instructions. I would change one thing, I would not risk a pack or a knife, leave my survival gear, or have someone walk off with it, or not be able to find it again. This is a training exercise, so people may not get it right the first time. A pile of rocks or sticks will serve the same purpose.
He is talking about the Pythagorean Theorem, though he said "meters" instead of "paces." You traveled 30 paces South, then turned 90 degrees to go 30 paces East. That makes a right triangle. So, to find the length of the hypotenuse, i.e., the distance to the place you started, you square 30 and 30 and add them (i.e., 900 + 900), which equals 1,800. Then you find the square root of 1,800 to find the distance in paces, which is 42.4. Hence, you must walk 42.4 paces to get to your starting point.
Well, first you need to determine your paces. Pace is the distance covered by two steps. Walk twenty paces, then measure the distance you walked.Divide the distance you walked and divide by 20. My paces are 5 feet. Lets say I want to travel a mile, or 5,280 feet.Ill divide 5,280 by 5. ( dist. to travel by my pace) thats 1,056 feet. So, I put 10 rocks in one pocket. For every 105 paces I walk, I transfer a rock from one pocket to the next until they are all in one pocket.
You put a lot of thought into this one and a lot of work and I learned a lot! Thanks for sharing, I will need to watch it again and take some notes, good vid buddy! What kind of compass do you have!
question..... i’ve been looking on amazon for these sight compass some are 44.00 and some military ones look complicated with now shed to put fred. is the 11 dollar one good? it looks similar to yours. PS loves these compass videos. I’m a long haul trucker who learned to read rand mcnally maps lol. always wanted to learn a compass.
How do you keep up with distance when you walk a couple of miles? Do you use pace beads? Or is there a better way of doing this? And have you done a video on using that if not will you? I am pretty good with a map and compass, but I am not good with how far I have traveled and would like to figure that out.
The only thing I have trouble with is the NEW Metric System, Meter's over our old way of measure Feet, Yard, Miles, what not. Back when I went to school we never heard of the metric system (that's been several-several decades ago too).
if you had gone 30m south and 40m, then NW315 - would you be back at your pack? I assume not. So what do you do if you cannot travel equadistant legs of your route? (if some object bars your way for example) Do you pull out your old elementary geometry and figure out hypotenuses with the pythagorean theorem? :)
Thanks, Dave! Great fun exercise. Great advice to start out on basically flat, level, unobstructed familiar ground. It ain't cheating to be able to see all of your targets from any target point at any time for exercise purposes; it's reassuring and it's smart. Practice in a field and expand. It becomes clear - almost instantly - that it is THAT simple. Set the bezel, set the needle and follow the arrow. Meat and potatoes. That's such an awesome, common sense exercise/application.
I'm happy you liked it Dwayne. Yep, start out in a nice flat field but as one progresses, do it in a grassy field so you don't see the targets and subconsciously cheap.
I'm glad you liked it. Back when I filmed this one I used a Kodak ZI8. I now have a pair of Kodak ZI10s. I bought one and loved it then heard they stopped making them so I grabbed another one off Amazon.Thanks for watching my friend.
Yes, think of yourself standing in a big circle. Your start point straight ahead is 0 degrees. A right turn would be 90 degrees a left turn would be 270. Just think of 360 degrees surrounding you. Thanks for watching my friend.
I've been watching your navigation vids and my thanks for great teaching here, David. I've been following an unused, overgrown trail up in the Sawtooths and it really helps to find a landmark in the direction of travel. Whatever the old trail does, I can follow that compass bearing again and again and camp by the stream leading up to that off trail lake where nobody else is (because the trail is gone, covered with pine beetle deadfall). I so appreciate the education, David. We may be in different jungles but the methods are the same and magnetic north (true north with declination figured in) is always a possible reckoning with a comass! Thank you from wild Idaho!
Sounds like a great way to get away from everyone! Its great to know how to use and trust your compass but its also always better to use trails when you can. Thanks for watching Julia.
Im glad you liked it. Navigation is very very important in not getting lost. I felt like this was a pretty easy method for getting to know and trust your compass. Thanks for watching my friend.
Youre very welcome and I hope they work out good for you. They seem to be an easy way of understanding and building trust in your readings. Nothing wrong with a GPS nowadays but to me, ya gotta have a compass and know how to use it. Thats cool you know of a trail that has makers for the primitive trail. Thanks for watching my friend.
You never cease to amaze me with the simple survival techniques that could be life and death lessons. I for one am glad you are on You Tube and thanks for the videos.
Thanks for the ideas on brushing up on my land nav techniques. It's been oh too many years since I've used one correctly, and I've been itching to get back to it. Your videos gave me the motivation to get off my but tomorrow and get into the woods! Thanks, brother!
@JP1AO I have always thought that the best way to avoid or to get out of a true survival situation is the ability to not get lost. Reading a compass and navigating should almost feel like second nature for times when one is cold,injured,weak or lost. Im glad you liked it and I hope it helps. Thanks for watching my friend.
@bikenutter1 I made this video with the fact in mind that theres no reason to make compass learning a complicated thing. Most people just need to learn to trust their compasses anyway. Thanks for the comment and thanks for watching my friend.
@99veniste Im glad you liked it. I tried to keep it as simple as possible because if its easy to understand, its easy to learn. thanks for watching my friend.
I'm glad you liked it. To me, the more simple it is, the easier it is to understand and remember it when you nee it most. Thanks for watching my friend.
@karenchakey i have a silva explorer. Its run of the mill, not cheap, not too expensive. Theres a million different ways of learning to use a compass. This method I show, builds confidence in trusting yourself and trusting how your are reading your compass. I have hear a million stories of people reading a compass ,saying "that cant be right" then proceed to get lost. You have to have confidence in yourself and trust which way youre going, and youll never get lost. Thanks for watching Karen!
Im glad you agree. Not only is this a good thing to learn but, it needs to be practiced and proven and believed in. You have to be able to trust you readings. I have heard one two many times of people reading a compass and looking up and saying, that cant be right. Ya gotta believe what you read. Take care and thanks for watching my friend.
That is so cool! Its good to know that these techniques are used and trusted. These are the most simple to learn and understand and yes, like you say, it teaches confidence. My old mentors taught me that if you dont trust your compass or your readings, you may as well not even carry one. Thanks for the comments and thanks for watching my friend.
Thanks! Im glad you liked it, Thanks for watching my friend.
Im glad you liked it, thanks for watching my friend.
I am using a Kodak ZI8. they have discontinued making them and replaced them with the newer ZI10. the remaining stock is about $300.00 to $400.00 per camera. Thats like robbery. I wanted another so i bought the ZI10. Its pretty nice, the only difference is it has a touch screen instead of buttons. Thanks for watching my friend.
@handyscot1 Im glad you liked it and glad I could help. Thanks for watching my friend.
Thank you, Im glad you like what I do and how I do it. I figure the more simple it is, the easier it is to remember. You never know when this stuff might just save the day. Thanks for watching my friend.
After all the rocks are transfered, I have walked 5,250 feet. Some folks use ranger beads, i use rocks or sticks. This is only accurate on flat land. Hope this helps. Thanks for watching my friend.
You are by far one of the best teachers with a compass that I have seen on You Tube and I have watched tons of navigation videos and yours is one of the best. I would love to see this on a much larger scale a hay field, just to see how much natural error happens. Even if you miss count a step or two your gonna be vey close to the start. You would have been a great Surveyor, you closed a traverse by pace count and compass bearing better than most people could hope to do.
Thanks! I honestly think other teachers make this stuff overly complicated. I try my best to just lay it out like it is. I may make an updated video on this method. Thanks for the comments and thanks for watching
@MrBushLife Very, very good to hear that! Glad I could help. Thanks for watching my friend.
@creative10101010 thanks friend! I wanted to make this simple enough that it would be easy to learn and people wouldnt be confused with a bunch of techincal talk that wasnt nessesary. Thanks for watching!
@robbyballz Just for you to see yourself, go to the woods. pick a direction on your compass. Put the compass in your pocket then try to walk in a straight line without looking at it. Walk for just 5 minutes. Keep in your direction that you think youre walking in. Pull out your compass and read it. Youll be shocked at how far off you can be in just 5 minutes of walking through the woods. If you can ,do that then pm me how far off you were. You'll be surprised. Take care and thanks for watching.
Thanks. This is the most simple way I know of getting to trust your compass. Thanks for watching my friend.
Absolutely what I needed for starting to use what I have learned so far with the compass. Thank you.
Great to hear that Robert
This is the first time someone has broke down navigation with a compus that makes sense to me.thank you for efforts
@robbyballz Im glad they helped, not getting lost or knowing how to get out and find home is the best bet for not being in a survival situation. Thanks for watching my friend.
Always good to hear that. I wanted to film these videos in a way that it makes the compass as simple as possible to get used to using and trusting what you read. I think most of the trouble people have with compass readings is not trusting what they read. Thanks for the comment and thanks for watching my friend.
Thanks! You can hear it in 64 other videos of mine if you like. Hint, Hint, LOL. Take care and thanks for watching my friend.
Cool! now that's what I like to hear. A compass is a very important tool and it seems like books dont explain it easy and a lot of videos make it a little complicated. The exercises in this video not only make it easier to understand, it helps build confidence to trust what youre reading. I'm glad you liked it, Thanks for watching my friend.
Thanks! I tried to make it as simple as I can. I think its easy to over complicate these things and make it harder to understand. If you can navigate with a compass and trust what youre reading, youll never get lost. Greetings from Georgia U.S.A. Thanks for watching my friend.
K&R make very good Compasses from what Im told. As far as bubbles go, I have never bought any of thee liquid filled type compasses. All I have ever used are the floating needle type. I personally do not like any of the liquid filled compasses. I like Silva and Suunto the best. I recently got a Suunto MC-2 made in Finland and its awesome. Thanks for watching my friend.
Thanks! I'm glad you liked it. Its always good to hear when a friend has learned a little from me. Thanks for watching my friend.
Im not much for battery powered devices but the GPS with a solar charger sounds like a fantastic device to carry. I didnt even know they made that. Im a kinda low tech guy, Ha Ha. Thanks for watching my friend.
No, you can never say 1 pace equals one meter because everyones pace is different. I never judge by 30 meters, thats too short to call. I always use 100 meters to judge my paces. What I did wrong in this video was when I meant to say 30 paces, I said 30 meters. That was a total slip up of words. Im sorry that was confusing. Think paces when thinking this excersice. I had a lot to try and remember on this video.lol. Thanks for watching my friend.
Great! Simple instruction. I was searching for the silva compass you're using and that led me to your video. You're great with the camera and real personable and made it easy to understand. Thanks!
Man, I did this same stuff Many, Many years ago. Thanks for the Re-Fresher course, David. You did bring it all (I think) back to my mind.
You are very welcome Danny and I'm glad it came back to you. Thanks for watching
I havent gotten into the GPS thing yet but I probably need to. It looks like a good thing. A friend of mine always said all a GPS is, is a case for carrying dead batteries, LOL. Thats a great idea to carry extra batteries and a solar charger. You got all the bases covered. Yes, everyone needs compass skills as far as Im concerned. Thanks for watching my friend.
I think and think and think and still can't decide which I like most about your videos: Either your subject matter or your explanations of such. I've learned so much from your videos of things that I hadn't even thought about or realized the variety of ways of things that I already knew. I really enjoy your stuff.
I have owned about 10 compasses in my life, all had stuff I didnt like about them. I like this one because its easy to read, tough and fairly cheap. Ive had three of these and Im used to it and I trust it. Thanks for watching my friend.
@1620416204 Anytime tom. One thing I forgot to show was how to get a bearing off an object or location. Its just the opposite of what I showed. Aim the compass at a tree,peak, ridge or whatever then turn the dial till north lines up with the red arrow then read the degrees at the direction arrow and that will be the bearing location.
This was a fun viewing experience. I am pretty good with map/compass navigation, but a refresher is always welcome. Last time I put that skill to use was three years ago in the Guyana rainforest. Your video gave me some ideas/drills for continuing to teach my son compass navigation. Thanks much, Dave.
Sounds great Ric! Guyana rainforest? That's awesome!
Reallybigmonkey1 Yes, Dave, the Guyana rainforest. It was quite an experience. Spent six month backpacking the length and breadth of the country, with the majority of my walk traversing the rainforest sometimes solo and sometimes with two indigenous friends. Hammock camping was the only way to go in most of the rain forest. Basic (very basic) bushcraft knowledge and knowledge of compass/map navigation were the essentials that got me through. Thank God for my old school boy scout knowledge and my childhood/teenage experience growing up in Guyana. One of the lessons learned is that the rainforest has no respect for our hightech gear. By the end of my journey, my clothes were shredded and my jungle boots were hopelessly useless. I ended my adventure wearing flip flops, which is pretty much what the indigenous people who traverse the rain forest cutting wood and hunting wear (or knee high rubber boots). And the schooling I am getting from you continues to augment my knowledge. 🙏
Very interesting
I'd have to say any compass made by Silva, Brunton or Sunnto would be a good choice. Use it , learn it but mainly, learn to trust your readings. Hope that helps, Thanks for watching brother.
Dave,
My compass had a bubble in it and I put it on the dashboard of my car in the hot sun through glass eliminated the bubble. Great suggestion Dave.
Great to hear that worked Randall!
Im glad to hear it helped. Thanks for watching my friend.
thank you for this lesson. you did a great job. I feel more confident for Army Basic Training Land NAVIGATION. God bless you
I'm glad you liked it. Thanks for watching and may God bless you too!
Ah, I dont know man. My vids dont compare to the ole walk in the woods do they? Ha Ha. Theres times when knowing paces can really help. Especially if youre headed in one direction away from camp and youve not been there before. You can count your paces back and if you dont wind up in camp, you know youre lost. It is a good thing to keep in practice with the ole compass too. Thanks for watching my friend.
That's a great lesson and exercises. I was a kid in cadets when first learning orienteering, confused the heck out of me. Probably using snowshoes for the first time in unfamiliar territory did not help, but this would have made it a lot easier to learn.
+Sasquatchlife Notrace Thanks man. I feel like when anyone first learns this its confusing. Anyone can learn this, its just the point of trusting yourself and trusting your compass skills that help the most. Thanks for watching man
Reallybigmonkey1 : thank you for your videos, I am still watch binging all the 7 yrs back because I think that everything that you teach is essential I love all your knowledge. However.... I feel really confused about one thing and no matter what compass video I watch the question is still nagging me. When/if you are lost in the wood even if you know where North is, if you have no clue where you came from how do you know where to point your compass to find your base camp? It must sound like a crazy and simple question to you but I can’t wrap my head around it. Thank you.
You are very welcome Nicole and Im happy you like the videos so much. That's a tough one because, you have to take a step before leaving camp. Ahead of leaving camp you need to know which direction you are headed so you can reverse that direction. No one ever does that because no one ever plans on getting lost. Now, if youre lost and away from camp and have no idea which direction to head to find it theres a method for finding it. I show it in this other video if you haven't seen it yet. th-cam.com/video/1JA23PWuqe4/w-d-xo.html
Reallybigmonkey1 : thank you 😊
I enjoyed the exercise and will use what I have learned to practice this on our property and try to get it right and I appreciate you taking the time to teach this to us who don't know how to use our compasses.
Thanks, I'm glad you liked it. Its tough to teach or learn from a video but its better than reading. Thanks for watching
@robbyballz Lots of advice on navigation but two comes to mind. Keep you compass away from metal objects when reading it. The other, Two days aint much time but the number one rule is, learn your compass, trust it, follow it. A compass is no good if you dont trust it or your ability to believe what it says. What I laid out here, is an easy excersice to make you trust your compass.
@gretchitect Yes, you would have walked pas tyour pack. Any time you make a move N S E W it would have to be the same amout to wind up where you started. The NE NW SE SW would be the longer distance because it would be the long leg of the triangle, or whats know as the hypotenuse in trig terms.
Thanks for putting together this video. Makes for a very good learning tool for those of us new to navigating with a compass. I really enjoy your videos. Thank you.
Hm, whats better than actually getting to the woods on a sunny Saturday? Watching ole Dave's videos and getting a refresher on compass use! I have never measured my pace, next time I get some free time I might have to now.
@bizzarrogeorge Thats cool! Glad to hear youre motivated to get out again. Alot of people know how to use a compass well. Not many truly feel comfortable trusting them I was shown these navigation and pacing excersices years ago and they heled me trust myself big time. Anyone that has ever practiced these have told me they built up confidence in them selves. Good to hear from you, take care and thank you for watching my friend.
Well it doesnt matter if its 5 miles or 50 miles,a good compass is needed period. My number one pick is Silva followed by Brunton then Suunto. Any compas made by those three companies will be trustworthy. Stay away from those floating dial or liquid bubble compasses. Most of them are junk and hard to read. If youre gonna follow a map then get a clear base map compass. For finding your direction in and out get a prismatic compass. Good luck and thanks for watching my friend.
Let me rephrase that. I say its 99% accurate on flat land. The accuracy goes down when its mountainous terrain because your paces will vary to a slight degree. You need to check your own paces on flatland, uphill and downhill. Mine vary downhill bad. The rocks, yes, put ten in one pocket and transfer them one at a time for every set of paces, or use ranger beads on a slide. No, I have not made a video on paces. This is the only one I made where I mention distance.
Very informative and Fun. Thanks Dave and Nick. Florida, USA.
I'm happy you liked it my friend!
@gretchitect Youre exact words were "30m south and 40m,then NW315" That would be 70m in one direction, then NW315. No you would not wind up at your pack. You can not always travel at equadistant legs or avoid objects. They will always be there. This is a way of testing an developing your navigational skills and building trust in what you know.
Great video! Thanks for providing these exercises. Living in the Adirondacks of northeastern New York, these navigation skills are extremely useful.
+Jim Berkowitz Thanks Jim, I'm glad you liked it. Sounds like a great place to practice and use them. Always remember, trust your readings and you wont go wrong! Thanks for watching!
I'm glad I could help. Thanks for watching my friend.
Yes, you hit it right on the head brother. Good way of explaining it.
I'll pick up an inexpensive one to practice with and watch the video a few more times. Thanks for the help Dave, much appreciated!
Ted
So much better than most other compass vids. great job
Thank you my friend!
I had no idea that was how it was on the Silvas. They are still pretty good compasses but no where near as good as the Suunto. Thanks for the tip my friend.
Excellent. Thank you. I have no experience with navigation so this was perfect. Thanks for taking the time to be so detailed. I always enjoy your videos.
love all your videos man.you take your time and teach very well.i watch your channel so much I think I'm pickin up the southern accent.lol ...thanks for sharing your ideas and experience with us.from kenny in nova Scotia, Canada.
Thanks, I'm glad you like em all Kenny. Man they would love my accent up in Canada! Im always happy to share and Thanks for watching
Very good idea bro. Anything orange is gonna be easier to find for sure.
This is a weekness I need to work on. Thank you for laying out a easy start.
Looks like Ive been lost these many years as of the date of this video. Lol. The good thing is this stuff doesnt change. Very good teaching on using a compass.
On a side note. I wish we would stop the conversion process and just go to the metric system. Its so much easier and makes more sense than our standard unit of measure. People would get used to it and then we could stop trying to convert it.
Thanks, I'm glad you liked it. Oh I hear ya! Me being a machinist I work with both and metric is a lot simpler. Thanks for watching
Very informative video. I like how you demonstrated the concepts. I could follow along with my compass. Thanks!
Kurt the cat Thanks! I'm glad you liked it. Ya gotta trust yourself in understanding a compass by seeing it work.
Thanks to you i learned to use a compass in Germany.Thank you!
Cool! Thats always good to hear. Thanks for watching my friend.
Good info, loved the stick and rock collecting for distance, simple and direct. The compass exercises were well done, and really fun to do. Did it as a contest between my wife and I to see who bought dinner. (My steak tasted so much better free!) I have used the coins in my pocket as one record keeping idea, any coin in my watch pocket is steps counted, and then I put one coin in my let pocket for the Klicks walked. The bulk of the coins are in the right front pocket to draw from. Common sense is such a wonderful tool!
Johnn Schroeder Thanks John, Im glad you liked it. Simple is always best but I do like the coin thing. Im guessing it was the best steak ever! Take care and Thanks for watching.
Reallybigmonkey1 Steak was a porterhouse around 16 ounces and so damn good! We had such fun doing this we're going to both lay out a course for each other with at least six changes in course by pace count and bearing. Going to use 100 paces each leg so we have to deal with terrain and undergrowth. The woods we are in are well known to us so we can concentrate on the course and not the area so much. Its dinner again on the line, and then an event we want to see. for her its a show at the casino, and for me (hopefully) a gun show/buying trip. Sure been fun learning a new skill.
Thank you for the videos.
I have never tried to learn to use a compass and I have absolutely no sense of direction, NONE. I don't have a good compass yet (I thought a compass was a compass until watching your vids).
I ordered a Garmin Inreach Explorer + this week and was watching vids trying to learn how to use it and by chance stumbled upon your compass videos.
I hope that between the 2 devices I will be able to go to the kitchen from now on without getting lost.😂 I am subscribing.
By the way. Have you ever used the Cammenga 3H?
It has lots of great reviews and I was thinking about getting one. Thanks again.
You are very welcome and I'm glad you liked it. Great that you are learning compass navigation! While learning it, also try and trust what you readings tell you. Thanks for the sub and Thanks for watching
I personally haven't used one but I have heard they are good. Im a Suunto and Silva kinda guy
I went ahead and ordered the Silva Guide 426. I got a pretty good deal on it too. $9.80 plus shipping (under $15 total). I decided on that one bc I feel halfway familiar with it after watching your navigation videos over and over. Thanks again.
great vid just got a M3 Suunto and going to try it on a flat clear piece of land,thanks for a great vid,greetings from Germany!
thanks, brings back memories, was at a northern warfare training center in alaska in the 60's, went on a all day hike, through swaps, around lakes, all day. we came out within 100 yards of pickup point, counting steps for a long period of time sucks, lol
Curt Johnson Man, when you hike all day with a compass and come out within 100 yards, thats pretty good!
Curt Johnson haah thats what i was thinning, all the step counting or pace counting.. I would lose track probably. but sure interesting stuff, especially for us non military type
You put a lot of thought into this one and a lot of work and I learned a lot! Thanks for sharing, I will need to watch it again and take some notes, good vid buddy!
Good vid and instructions. I would change one thing, I would not risk a pack or a knife, leave my survival gear, or have someone walk off with it, or not be able to find it again. This is a training exercise, so people may not get it right the first time. A pile of rocks or sticks will serve the same purpose.
ExploreLife2012 Probably a good idea for if you just starting out of have folks in the area youre in.
Reallybigmonkey1 Thumbs up on having a guide for sure.
Nice one Dave verry good
Thanks Dave, I'm glad you liked it
He is talking about the Pythagorean Theorem, though he said "meters" instead of "paces." You traveled 30 paces South, then turned 90 degrees to go 30 paces East. That makes a right triangle. So, to find the length of the hypotenuse, i.e., the distance to the place you started, you square 30 and 30 and add them (i.e., 900 + 900), which equals 1,800. Then you find the square root of 1,800 to find the distance in paces, which is 42.4. Hence, you must walk 42.4 paces to get to your starting point.
Good nav exercise guys. I like simple and straightforward like this.
Thanks Peter. Simple is always the best way to go.
Well, first you need to determine your paces. Pace is the distance covered by two steps. Walk twenty paces, then measure the distance you walked.Divide the distance you walked and divide by 20. My paces are 5 feet. Lets say I want to travel a mile, or 5,280 feet.Ill divide 5,280 by 5. ( dist. to travel by my pace) thats 1,056 feet. So, I put 10 rocks in one pocket. For every 105 paces I walk, I transfer a rock from one pocket to the next until they are all in one pocket.
I really like your explanation on navigation with a compass and distance in pacing off.
@todddguillory Thank you my friend.
Thanks, this really helped understand the compass. Well done.
I'm glad you liked it and good to hear it helped. Thanks for watching
Sounds cool man. Practice all you can.
You put a lot of thought into this one and a lot of work and I learned a lot! Thanks for sharing, I will need to watch it again and take some notes, good vid buddy! What kind of compass do you have!
question..... i’ve been looking on amazon for these sight compass some are 44.00 and some military ones look complicated with now shed to put fred. is the 11 dollar one good? it looks similar to yours. PS loves these compass videos. I’m a long haul trucker who learned to read rand mcnally maps lol. always wanted to learn a compass.
That I'm not sure of. I'll say this about cheap compasses tho, if it's made by Silva or Brunton it's probably ok. Thanks for watching
How do you keep up with distance when you walk a couple of miles? Do you use pace beads? Or is there a better way of doing this? And have you done a video on using that if not will you? I am pretty good with a map and compass, but I am not good with how far I have traveled and would like to figure that out.
Awesome exercise to practice!
I'm glad you liked it Mario!
The only thing I have trouble with is the NEW Metric System, Meter's over our old way of measure Feet, Yard, Miles, what not. Back when I went to school we never heard of the metric system (that's been several-several decades ago too).
I have trouble with it too. I had to get used to metric tho because so many maps are laid out that way.
Great vid my friend I LEARNED A LOT THANKS !!!!
if you had gone 30m south and 40m, then NW315 - would you be back at your pack? I assume not. So what do you do if you cannot travel equadistant legs of your route? (if some object bars your way for example) Do you pull out your old elementary geometry and figure out hypotenuses with the pythagorean theorem? :)
Great video , I'm will definitely be practicing this very soon . Thanks
richard stafford Thanks Richard, I'm glad you liked it. This is a great way to learn to trust your compass, Good luck bro.
What do you think of the K&R compasses. I've been hearing ALOT of Silva's get bubbles.
Nice job on explaining everything!!
Thanks Dan!
@medicjimr Ha Ha, now thats funny. Ill admit, I do speak just alitte southern.
Hi i´m from Brasil and your video help me so much, ty man!