Find Yourself: With Map And Compass

You’re in the process of bugging out. Drama on the main roads caused you to seek out a back route. Those little blacktops aren’t well marked though, and now it’s the middle of the night and you’re not quite sure where you are. How can you use map and compass to find yourself?

This is the newest installment in an ongoing series on compass navigation. You can find other installments on declination and how to set it and finding and following compass bearings by clicking the highlighted links. If the language on things like Direction of Travel and Orientation arrows in this post loses you, those other posts will help.

These directions assume you’ve got your declination set correctly. The further you are from the middle of the U.S., the more of a difference that makes. My example is taken from Missouri, in part because I had a paper map of it I didn’t mind marking up and in part because declination in this area is nearly zero anyway.

First, find a landmark visible on the map and to the eye.

If you’re in a mountainous area, this can be pretty easy because peaks are usually marked.

But what if you’re in Kansas? Water towers are your friend. Every little town’s got one. They’ve got the town name on them in big letters. They’re visible for a long way. A grain silo *might* work. They are often where town meets rail line. Be careful here; there are silos other places too.

If you’re in or near a city, landmark buildings are often visible.

Ah, but it’s *night* in my example! Well, the power’s still on in my example too. If you’re out in the boonies, even a modest town makes a glow visible from a long way away. Since towns are thin in the ground out there, you probably know which town is making a glow. 

Let’s say you see two glows on your horizon, and you’re pretty sure they’re the towns of Chillicothe and Cameron.

Find the bearing to a landmark

Face the landmark. Hold the compass directly in front of you with the Direction of Travel arrow pointing right at your landmark. 

Rotate the bezel until the North end of the magnetic needle is within the orienting arrow (Red in the Shed). Remember to keep compass flat so the needle is moving freely.

Read the bearing at the index line.

In my example, you point your nose and the compass’s Direction of Travel arrow at the glow that’s gotta be Chillicothe. You turn the bezel until the magnetic needle is within the Orienting Arrow. The number  where the scale on the bezel meets the index line is 50 degrees.

If your compass has a sighting mirror, finding the bearing is more accurate

This is because you can look at the landmark and the bezel at the same time.

Tilt the mirror so you can see the landmark through the window and the bezel in the mirror. Rotate the bezel to get Red in the Shed. Read your bearing at the index line.

Now draw a line on the map from your landmark back along your bearing

Lay the compass on the map with the Direction of Travel end of straight edge on the landmark and the bearing still at the index point.

Keeping the landmark at the beginning of the straightedge, rotate the rest of the compass until the orienting lines are running north/south on the map and the N marker on the bezel is to the N side of the map. In other words, zero degrees on the bezel should be pointing north on the map.

Draw a line along the straightedge, starting at your landmark. You’re somewhere along that line.

How to draw a bearing line when the landmark C was at 50 degrees. You’re somewhere along that line.

To figure out how far away from the landmark and nail your position down better, you can use a second landmark.

Repeat the process with your second landmark

Find your bearing to a second landmark. In my example, you point self and compass at Cameron, turn the bezel until Red is in the Shed, and read the bearing of 314 at the index line.

Then use the straightedge of the compass to draw a line back along that bearing.

You are at the intersection of your two lines on the map.

After adding a second bearing line to Cameron at 314 degrees, you are now Found at the intersection of your two lines.

In my example, you are … still in the middle of nowhere, but at least you know exactly Where in the middle of nowhere and which way to go to find your destination.

This works best if the two landmarks are at least 45 degrees apart from one another. If they’re close to each other, your margin of error on your localization is going to be bigger. Because, geometry.

Add a third bearing line for extra credit

One you try this, you find out a couple of things. One, the basic process is not hard. Yay! Two, the process is not error free. There’s some estimating involved in laying the compass. If you can spot a third landmark, you can refine your position further.

Find your bearing to the third landmark, and draw a bearing line for it on your map too. If all three lines meet in one spot, Hurrah! You’re now confident that’s exactly where you are. 

If the three lines instead intersect in ways that form a triangle, it’s because you had some error. A small triangle means not much error; a big triangle means more. Either way … you’re inside the triangle.

If you like learning by watching videos, I found this one helpful: https://www.google.com/search?q=compass+use&oq=compass+use&aqs=chrome..69i57j0l5.1896j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#kpvalbx=1