Land navigation

: The 12 most common errors by Michigan Backcountry Search and Rescue (MiBSAR): Special Operations Blog on Thursday, March 8, 2012 at 6:25am In this article on land navigation, we'll take a look at the 12 most common errors land navigators make, as identified by Lyle Brotherton in The Ultimate Navigation Manual... Lack of concentration

"The brace position creates a stable platform to both take precise bearings and when working with the map and compass together....You should adopt this position as a matter of standard practice....Adopting the brace position while out with a group signals to the others that you are working and should be left to get on with it." --Lyle Brotherton, author of "The Ultimate Navigation Manual," Copyright 2011. Remedy: Clear thinking is critical for accurate navigation. When calculating moves, use the brace position to take you "out" of the group. If navigating in difficult conditions, tell the group you are not going to chat and instead concentrate only on navigation.

Making the map fit the environment

Remedy: When you think that you have your position located on the map, choose a feature on your map, predict when you are going to see it and then turn in this direction to see it. If it isn't there, start your relocation procedure.

In-accurate compass bearings Remedy: Always have the compass set in front of you and rotate your body, not the compass, to your objective. If taking a bearing from a map, always use the brace position.

Compass deviation Remedy: Check that wristwatches, carabiners, ice axes, and walking poles are all kept clear of your compass--even your jacket's zip-pull!

Forgetting to correct for magnetic declination Remedy: Practice this so much that it becomes a conditioned reflex and you no longer have to think about it.

This article is brought to you through the generosity of Lyle F. Brotherton, author of "The Ultimate Navigation Manual," Copyright 2011. Walking the wrong way by 180 Remedy: When the red light is on GO--a simple mnemonic to use to remember that it is the red end of the needle that points north. If the terrain is dangerous, check your bearing with another member of your group.

Walking the wrong way by 90 Make sure the orienting lines on your map are north/south when using the map to take bearings, and not east/west.

Missing environmental clues Remedy: If in a group, talk about your surroundings as this will keep environmental clues fresh in your mind. Alternatively, write these down as you travel.

Parallel features Remedy: This can easily happen with tracks and paths, streams, knolls, and mountain ridges: any feature which is replicated in the land you are crossing. So , if you cross a number of paths that are parallel to each other, you can mistake your position because: one of the paths is not marked on your map, you may have miscounted the number, or be interpreting the map incorrectly. In areas with similar features, be aware of this risk, and if the landscape features do not agree with what is on your map, stop, and if possible, retrace your steps back to your last attack point. Otherwise, start your relocation procedure.

Other group members seem unsure about the group's location Remedy: Listen to the advice of others, then make your own judgement!

Miscalculating distance traveled Remedy: Practice your pacing and timing in good weather.

Drift Remedy: High winds make it difficult to walk on a straight bearing so compensate for this. Land Navigation: Understanding map datums by Michigan Backcountry Search and Rescue (MiBSAR): Special Operations Blog on Friday, July 22, 2011 at 7:05am With hundreds of local, regional, national, continental, and global map datums in existence across the globe, it's essential search-and-rescue team members responsible for technical land navigation understand the importance of map datums. For maximum accuracy, land navigators must know the particular map datums associated with the quadrangles they're using in the bush. And they must also know the map datums associated with every set of map coordinates--whether they're derived from quadrangles, global positioning system (GPS) units, digital mapping software programs, or third parties--irrespective of whether they're Latitude/Longitude (Lat/Lon) coordinates or Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) coordinates.

Know your map datums! Correct map-datum selection is essential for team-level operational accuracy as well as joint interoperability among different agencies. If you're a ground pounder coordinating with nautical and/or aerial assets irrespective of whether you're using the Lat/Lon or UTM coordinate systemkeep in mind most current nautical and aeronautical charts are based on the NAD 83 (or WGS 84) map datum, not the NAD 27 datum common to most current USGS quadrangles. Map-datum selection or conversion errors are blamed for numerous friendly-fire accidentssome of the deadliestin U.S. conflicts, particularly the 1990-1991 Persian Gulf War (Desert Storm), the 2001-current War in Afghanistan (Operation Enduring Freedom), the 2003-2011 Iraq War (Operation Iraqi Freedom). Map datum mismatches can result in significant errors in accuracy, up to 200 or 300 meters in the conterminous United States, and perhaps up to 1,600 meters in some regions of the world. And datum shift is not constantsignificant, systematic distortions occur over large areas. The Rock of Ages Lighthouse just off the western tip of Lake Superior's Isle Royale offers a good example of the consequences of failing to account for different map datums.

When the lighthouse's NAD 83 coordinates are plotted on the USGS 1:24,000 Feldtmann Lake OEW, Michigan quadranglewhich is married to the NAD 27 map datumthe error is substantial, especially if one were navigating in a storm or fog. While the easting coordinate error is nominal, perhaps only 2 meters, the northing coordinate error is more significant: around 207 meters. Cell phones and GPS Posted on 26/03/2012 by Michael Coyle It seems there's been a few articles in the news recently about Cell phones and GPS "signals", and how SAR uses them. The Issue: Accuracy Last week, North Shore Rescue helpfully pointed out some perceived flaws in the system. That same week, Comox Valley SAR executed a rescue where the subject's phone was a key element in determining his position, and rescuing him quickly. And this very day Kelowna SAR is rescuing two sledders in the Myra Canyon area; their location again determined by using a cell phone's GPS. So what's the issue; do cell phones work, as illustrated in the latter two rescues, or are the positions completely inaccurate as North Shore Rescue seems to be saying? Well, it turns out the answer to this question is complicated. The Cellular System

There are several systems under consideration here. The first is the cellular network. The basis of the cell phone is that the signal from the phone is tied to a tower. As you move from place to place, the signal is handed over to whatever tower's area you are moving into. The key is that the cell system knows approximately where your phone is at any given time because it knows which cell towers, and which antenna on those towers are getting the best signal. This allows the system to triangulate the position of the cell phone by using the location of the tower, the strength of the signal, and the antenna's direction. This is explained in much greater detail in this Wikipedia article. The position determined by the cellular network is referred to as the network position, or the rough position. It's not very accurate because it depends on a lot of different factors. It's most accurate when the towers are encircling the user, and spaced fairly evenly about the compass. It's the least accurate when there is only one tower, or they are all in one general direction from the user's location (i.e.: all to the south, or east), and they are even less accurate when the signal is weak. The GPS System The second system under consideration is the Global Positioning System. Many phones also have a chip that allows them to receive signals from satellites and calculate their position on the surface of the planet. The accuracy of the calculation depends entirely on the number of satellites that the phone can "see", and the quality of the signal from those satellites. The GPS determined position is known as the "fine" position. Phones will generally display your position on a map. Getting the phone to actually tell you the latitude and longitude is another matter. Even worse is getting the phone to tell you the accuracy of the calculation, more on that below. Other methods Both iPhone and Android phones have another way to determine the rough position of the phone by using the "SSID" of wireless routers and access points that are in range. This generally doesn't work in the backcountry. Blending the two Depending on the provider (Telus, Rodgers, Bell Mobility, Fido, etx), the type of phone (Android, Windows, iPhone, etc) and other factors the phone can use the "rough" position the assist in solving the "fine" position. This is known as Assisted GPS Misconceptions and Misunderstandings Most of the issues around using the signals from a position determined from a cell phone are based on misunderstandings on the accuracy of the position, some of

which are promulgated by TV shows such as CSI and 24. These misunderstanding even have a name: the CSI Effect. Network Location When a SAR team asks the cell phone provider to get the location of the phone, the provider is probably only going to be able to get the rough network location. With some phones and some providers it is possible to get the phone's fine location, but in general the complications of how providers set up phones and how phones communicate with the network have made this an impractical set-up. This seems to be the situation North Shore Rescue seems to be commenting on, which stems from unreasonable expectations of the network location. Even slightly remote wilderness locations such as the North Shore Mountains have spotty and marginal cell coverage, tend to be to the north of all of the cell towers, and result in very poor network locations. The single most important piece of information to get from the mobile phone company is an estimate of the error in the position they are giving you. Without this a SAR team has no idea how accurate the position is, and how to even treat the information. The second most important piece of information is the time that the fix was obtained by the network. If a phone is turned off in the parking lot, the network will report the last location as being where the phone was turned off. Similarly, if the phone can't get a cell signal, the network assumes the phone is still in the last place it had a good signal. In 12 years of SAR work, only one network determined cell phone location has provien to be accurate, and that was for a phone in the middle of a built-up industrial area with perfect mobile coverage. Several locations provided by the phone companies have been 10km from where the subject was located. Fine Location The phone can determine it's fine location using the GPS, but it needs a good signal, and several satellites to do this. Rain, clouds, tree canopy and other factors interfere with the signal, and make the determined location less accurate.

Position (triangle) showing error (Circle); Google Maps on Android. NOTE no coordinates are displayed. The subject would need to provide the location to the searchers, since as outlined above most providers don't use the phone's GPS to report it's position. This can introduce errors when the subject and the receiver write down the information wrong. Each phone brand, and even different providers, have different software; some phones do not come with software that can tell you the GPS coordinates that the unit has found, and most phones don't report the accuracy of those coordinates. SAR teams receiving coordinates from a subject in the field must assume that there's some error in the location. The error can be huge. In one search we did last year the subject with a iPhone attempted to determine their location, only to find that the display on the phone indicated they could be anywhere within a 2km circle. Comparison: As a comparison, my team's recent rescue a group that had a personal locator beacon is useful. In that case, the device was built with the sole purpose of notifying Search and Rescue that the party needed assistance. Even with this device there was confusion about the accuracy of the signal, and even with a perfect signal it was impossible to reach the subjects for over 12 hours. Summary: Mobile phones have several methods to determine their location.

The network location is rough, and only valid when there is good signal and towers in all directions from the subject. This makes it almost useless for the backcountry. The fine location also has issues with accuracy, and the phone's user generally has to report the location in some way (voice, text, email). Reporting positions also induces error through transcription Always attempt to determine the accuracy of the location. Always take the position reported with a grain of salt since even accuracy estimates can be wrong. Recommendations: Turn off the cell phones to conserve battery. Do not rely on the phone alone to determine position, get a wilderness GPS If you only have a phone, learn how to get the GPS coordinate to display, and the accuracy. Figure out how to send coordinates to a trusted person. Land Navigation: The UTM coordinate system--Why use it? by Michigan Backcountry Search and Rescue (MiBSAR): Special Operations Blog on Wednesday, December 14, 2011 at 2:21pm

In the last article on land navigation, we introduced the Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) coordinate system. In this article we'll take a look at why expertlevel search-and-rescue personnel prefer the UTM system over the Latitude/Longitude (LAT/LON) coordinate system for field operations involving technical land navigation. While the LAT/LON coordinate system is the first choice of pilots, sailors, and others using less-detailed, small-scale maps to navigate over great distances, seasoned wilderness trippers, expert search-and-rescue personnel, elite fighting units, professional orienteerers, and others using highly-detailed, large-scale, topographic quadrangles for technical land navigation rely almost exclusively on the geospatial plane coordinate system known as the Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) coordinate system (or, one of its close relatives: the United States National Grid [USNG] or the Military Grid Reference System [MGRS]).

The UTM coordinate system has become the de facto standard coordinate system among expert-level land navigators for technical, wilderness operations for a number of reasons:

Unlike the Universal Transverse Mercator's (UTM) easting grid lines, which are always parallel to each other, the latitude/longitude coordinate system's meridians of longitude constantly taper as they near the polar regions. (Graphic adapted by Michael A. Neiger from the U.S. Army's Map Reading and Land Navigation Field Manual [FM 3-25.26, rev. 20 July 2001, formerly FM 21-26]) Every UTM grid is perfectly square and exactly the same size. All UTM coordinate grids are perfectly square and exactly the same size1,000 meters by 1,000 metersacross the entire grid system. On the other hand, the angular-based, geographic LAT/LON coordinate grid is nonsymmetrical and continually varying in both size and shape. This is due to the meridian of longitude linesthey form the left and right sides of each grid square that curve towards each other as they depart the equator and converge at one or the other poles. For example, in the northern hemisphere, the width of one second of longitude varies from about 31 meters at the equator (0 degrees latitude); to about 3 meters at the northern limit of the UTM grid (84 degrees north latitude); to zero meters at the north pole (90 degrees latitude). Because of this, most experienced wilderness land navigators prefer to use the intuitive and easy-to-use UTM coordinate system while underway in the bush as opposed to the slow and cumbersome LAT/LON coordinate system. UTM coordinates are based on meters and the decimal system's units of ten. The UTM coordinate system relies on the meter unit of measure, which incorporates the simplicity of the decimal system and its easy-to-comprehend units of ten.

On the other hand, the LAT/LON coordinate system relies on the degree, minute, and second unit of measure, which incorporates the angular system and its cumbersome units of 60. Because of this, most experienced wilderness land navigators find the UTM's decimal system, with it units of ten measure, much easier to comprehend and use while underway in the bush than the LAT/LON's angular system, with its units of 60. UTM coordinates always have the same two directional designators and never carry negative values. The UTM coordinate system relies on positive-value-only coordinates, both of which always carry the same two directional designators: east and north. On the other hand, the LAT/LON coordinate system relies on angular coordinates that, depending on system parameters, can carry both positive and negative values, or two of four directional designators: east or west, and north or south. Because of this, most experienced wilderness land navigators find the consistency of the UTM system's coordinatesno negative values and only east and north directional designatorsmuch less prone to transpositional errors while underway in the bush, as compared to potential variability of the LAT/LON system's coordinates. The UTM coordinate system is more accurate. The UTM coordinate system is more accurate than the LAT/LON coordinate system when using whole units only (no decimal places). For example, while the UTM coordinate system is accurate to one meter at 45 degrees north latitude, the LAT/LON coordinate system is only accurate to one second of latitude, or about 31 meters. To achieve the accuracy of a whole-number-only UTM coordinateone metertwo decimal places must be added to the LAT/LON coordinate system's seconds' designator, further complicating the field interpolative value of its angular data, which is based on units of 60, as opposed to the UTM's linear data, which is based on units of 10. For sub-meter accuracy, professional-grade GPs units output UTM coordinate system data strings with one or more decimal places.

Because of this, most experienced wilderness land navigators find the linear UTM system and its whole-numbers-only, meter-based coordinates easier to use while underway in the bush than the angular LAT/LON system and its degrees, minutes, and seconds-based coordinates.

The UTM coordinate system works seamlessly with US Army Ranger pacing beads. The UTM coordinate system's 1,000-meter grid arrangement is optimized for seamless use with the US Army Ranger pacing system's 100-meter and 1,000meter beads, unlike the angular-based grid of the LAT/LON coordinate system. Because of this, most experienced wilderness land navigators find US Army Ranger pacing beads easier to use with the UTM coordinate system, as opposed to the LAT/LON coordinate system, while underway in the bush. Field-expedient UTM plotters are easy to improvise. Field-expedient coordinate plotters are a snap to improvise in the bush for use with the UTM grid system. On the other hand, creating an accurate, easy-to-use, coordinate plotter for use with the LAT/LON grid is a much more involved and complicated process. Because of this, most experienced wilderness land navigators find it much easier to fabricate field-expedient plotters for the UTM coordinate system while underway in the bush than plotters for the LAT/LON coordinate system.

UTM coordinate system data strings area easier to transmit electronically. With no degree, minute, or second designators interspersed among their data strings, and no one-, two-, or three-digit-value variability among their data strings, and no forma-selection variability, UTM coordinates are much easier and faster to transmit electronically than LAT/LON coordinates.

Because of this, most experienced wilderness land navigators find UTM coordinate system data strings much easier to transmit electronically while underway in the bush than LAT/LON coordinate data strings. UTM coordinate system data strings are easier to shorten. UTM coordinate system data strings can be easily shortened or collapsed when less precision is needed by simply dropping the single meter designators, ten-meter digit designators, hundred-meter designators, etc., from both the easting and northing coordinates. Because of this, most experienced wilderness land navigators find UTM coordinate system data strings much easier to shorten while underway in the bush than LAT/LON coordinate data strings. UTM grid lines make distance and area calculations a snap. With its symmetrical, unchanging, 1,000-meter-based grid lines, the UTM coordinate grid lends itself to rapid geometric calculations, particularly those involving distance and area. Because of this, most experienced wilderness land navigators find the UTM system's easting and northing lines much easier to use for distance determination or area calculations while underway in the bush than the LAT/LON system's meridians of longitude and parallels of latitude. UTM easting grid lines make azimuth calculating and plotting a snap. The one-klick (kilometer) interval spacing of the UTM coordinate system's easting grid lines make them much more convenient for calculating and plotting azimuths with a baseplate compass than the widely-and-inconveniently-spaced LAT/LON system's meridian of longitude lines, which, in Michigan, have an interval spacing of nearly three klicks. Because of this, most experienced wilderness land navigators find the UTM system's easting grid lines much easier to use for calculating and plotting azimuths with a base-plate compass while underway in the bush than the LAT/LON system's meridian of longitude lines. For these reasons and more, the UTM coordinate system has become the primary coordinate grid overlaid on most modern, large-scale, topographic quadrangles in the US and Canada. And the ease, speed, and accuracy with which it can be used while underway in the bush has made the UTM coordinate system the hands-down favorite among experienced wilderness land navigators.

To learn more about coordinate systems, read: Analytical and Computer Cartography, by Keith C. Clarke (Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1990) Applied Cartography: Source Materials for Mapmaking, by Thomas D. Rabenhorst and Paul D. McDermott (Columbus Ohio: Merrill Publishing Co., 1989) ArcGIS 9: Understanding Map Projections, by Melita Kennedy (Redlands, California: Environmental Systems Research Institute [ESRI], 2004) Basic GIS Coordinates, by Jan Van Sickle (Boca Raton, Florida: CRC Press LLC, 2004) Basic Land Navigation (NFES 2865), by Mary Bogens, Michael Durfee, Lee Gardner, and Richard Streeper (Boise, Idaho: National Interagency Fire Center, Fire Training, 2007) Coastlines: How Mapmakers Frame the World and Chart Environmental Change, by Mark Monmonier (Chicago, Illinois: University of Chicago Press, 2008) Compass and Map Navigator: The Complete Guide to Staying Found, revised edition by Michael Hodgson (Guilford, Connecticut: The Globe Pequot Press, 2000) The Complete Guide to Orienteering in North America: A Comprehensive Manual for the Outdoorsman, by Berndt Berglund (Toronto, Canada: Pagurian Press, 1979) The Complete Idiot's Guide to Geocaching, by Jack W. Peter (Indianapolis, Indiana: Alpha Books, 2004) A Comprehensive Guide to Land Navigation with GPS, third edition, by Noel J. Hotchkiss (Herndon, Virginia: Alexis Publishing, 1999) Concepts and Techniques of Geographic Information Systems, by C. L. Lo and Albert K. W. Yeung (Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2002 Datums, Ellipsoids, Grids, and Grid Reference Systems (Defense Mapping Agency Technical Manual 8358.1), by John W. Hager, Larry L. Fry, Sandra S. Jacks, and David R. Hill (Fairfax, Virginian: Defense Mapping Agency Combat Support Center, 1990) The Essential Wilderness Navigator: How to Find Your Way in the Great Outdoors, by David Seidman (Camden, Maine: Ragged Mountain Press, 1995) Flattening the Earth: Two Thousand Years of Map Projections, by John P. Snyder (Chicago, Illinois: University of Chicago Press, 1993) Fundamentals of Geographic Information Systems, fourth edition, by Michael N. Demers (Hoboken New Jersey: John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 2009) Geodesy for the Layman (Defense Mapping Agency Technical Report 80-003), (St. Louis AFS, Missouri: Defense Mapping Agency Aerospace Center, 1983)

Geographic Information Systems Demystified, by Stephen R. Galati (Boston, Massachusetts: Artech House, 2006) Geographic Information Systems for Geoscientists: Modeling with GIS, by Graeme F. Bonham-Carter (Tarrytown, New York: Elsevier Science Inc., 1994) Getting Started With Geographic Information Systems, fourth edition, by Keith C. Clarke (Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2003) GIS Data Conversion: Strategies, Techniques, and Management, Pat Hohl (Santa Fe, New Mexico, 1998) GIS for Dummies, by Michael N. DeMers (Hoboken, New Jersey: Wiley Publishing, Inc., 2009) GIS: The Geographic Language of Our Age, by Knut Grinderud, Haakon Rasmussen, Steinar Nilsen, Arvid Lillethun, Atle Holten, and ystein Sanderud (Trondheim, Norway: Tapir Academic Press, 2009) GPS for Dummies, by Joel McNamara (Indianapolis, Indiana: Wiley Publishing Inc., 2004) The GPS Handbook: A Guide for the Outdoors, by Robert I. Egbert and Joseph E. King (Short Hills, New Jersey: Burford Books, 2003) GPS Made Easy: Using Global Positioning Systems in the Outdoors, by Lawrence Letham (Seattle, Washington: The Mountaineers, 1998) A GPS User Manual: Working With Garmin Receivers, by Dale DePriest (N.P., NP: 1st Books Library, 2003) Integrated Geospatial Technologies: A Guide to GPS, GIS, and Data Logging, by Jeff Thurston, Thomas K. Poiker, and J. Patrick Moore (Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 2003) Introduction to Geographic Information Systems, fourth edition, by Kang-tsung Chang (New York, New York: McGraw Hill, 2008) Land Navigation Handbook: The Sierra Club Guide to Map, Compass, and GPS, 2nd edition, by W. S. Kals, revised by Clyde Soles (San Francisco, California: Sierra Club Books, 2005) The Language of Maps, by Philip J. Gersmehl (Indiana, Pennsylvania: National Council for Geographic Education, University of Pennsylvania, 1991) Map Projections Used by the US Geological Survey, 2nd edition (Geological Survey Bulletin 1532), by John P. Snyder (Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office, 1982) Mapping, by David Greenhood, revised by Gerald L. Alexander (Chicago, Illinois: University of Chicago Press, 1964) Maps and Compasses, second edition, by Percy W. Blandford (Blue Ridge Summit, Pennsylvania: Tab Books, 1992)

Mapping HacksTips & Tools for Electronic Cartography, by Schuyler Erle, Rich Gibson, and Jo Walsh (Sebastopol, California: O'Reilly Media, Inc., 2005) Map Reading and Land Navigation (FM 21-26), (Washington, DC: Department of the Army, 1993) Map Reading and Land Navigation (FM 3-25.26), (Washington, DC: Department of the Army, 2001) Map Use: Reading, Analysis, and Interpretation, fifth edition, by Phillip C. Muehrcke and Juliana O. Muehrcke (Madison, Wisconsin: JP Publications, 2005) Map Use and Analysis, third edition, by John Campbell (Boston, Massachusetts: WCB/McGraw-Hill, 1998) Measurements from Maps: Principle & Methods of Cartography, by D.H. Maling (Oxford England: Perganon Press, 1989) Sniper Training and Employment (TC 23-14), (Washington, DC: Department of the Army, 1969) Thinking About GIS: Geographic Information System Planning for Managers, by Roger Tomlinson (Redlands, California: ESRI Press, 2003) The Universal Grids: Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) and Universal Polar Stereographic (UPS) (Defense Mapping Agency Technical Manual 8358.2), by John W. Hager, James F. Behensky, and Brad W. Drew (Fairfax, Virginian: Defense Mapping Agency Combat Support Center, 1989) The Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) Grid (Fact Sheet 077-01), by the US Geological Survey (Reston, Virginia: US Geological Survey, 2001) Using GPS: GPS Simplified for Outdoor Adventures, by Bruce Grubbs (Falcon Publishing, Inc.: Helena, Montana, 1999) Using the UTM Grid to Record Historic Sites, by Wilford P. Cole, US Department of the Interior (Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, 1980) UTM: Using your GPS with the Universal Transverse Mercator Coordinate System, third edition, by John Carnes (Woodside, California: MapTools, 2007) Wilderness Navigation: Finding Your Way Using Map, Compass, Altimeter, and GPS, by Bob Burns and Mike Burns (Seattle, Washington: The Mountaineers, 1999) Technical land navigation: How to make a heavy-duty wrist compass for bushwhacking by Michigan Backcountry Search and Rescue (MiBSAR): Special Operations Blog on Thursday, May 5, 2011 at 7:49am A heavy-duty, hands-free, wrist compass with a tough brush guard is very handy for cutting azimuths, hour after hour, day after day, especially when your hands are occupied with a walking stick, GPS unit, quadrangle, rappel device, flashlight, paddle, K-9, weapon, injured victim, or prisoner.

The other big advantage of a full-sized compass mounted on your wrist is you don't have to search for it, grasp it, and bring it into position repeatedly. Instead, you just bring your wrist compass up to a level position--while you're still underway and looking elsewhere--quickly glancing at it to check your current azimuth. This process becomes an instinctive, reflexive action before long. While no high-quality, full-size, wrist compasses are currently available on the market, it's relatively easy to fabricate one from a conventional, high-quality baseplate compass, as shown below.

For maximum accuracy, durability, and reliability, make sure you fabricate your wrist compass from a high-quality, name-brand--Silva, Sunnto, Brunton, etc-baseplate. Good compasses have liquid-dampened vials. For night operations, make sure the compass has an luminous marking on the north end of the magnetic needle as well as two luminous markings straddling the orienting "needle box" or meridian lines in the rotating housing.

The Silva Explorer 203 baseplate compass with Suppliers of the Silva Explorer 203 Baseplate Compass (at right) used to fabricate the Bushwhacker Wrist Compass pictured and illustrated above include Silva at www.silvacompass.com or 1-800-572-8822, and The Compass Store at www.thecompassstore.com. Suppliers of the Velcro hook-and-loop and Fastex hardware used to fabricate the Bushwacker Wrist Compass include Outdoor Wilderness Fabrics, Inc. at www.owfinc.com or 1-800-693-7467, and Quest Outfitters at www.questoutfitters.com or 1-800-359-6931. Facebook logo Top of Form

Email or Phone

Password

Keep me logged in Forgot your password? Bottom of Form Sign UpFacebook helps you connect and share with the people in your life.

Michigan Backcountry Search and Rescue (MiBSAR): Special Operations Blog's Notes Get Notes via RSS Land Navigation--How to retrofit a baseplate compass for long-range wilderness SAR operations by Michigan Backcountry Search and Rescue (MiBSAR): Special Operations Blog on Wednesday, June 15, 2011 at 11:38am To more efficiently and effectively calculate and cut azimuths with a baseplatestyle compass--hour after hour, day after day--on long-range, multi-day, wilderness SAR operations, consider retrofitting your compass. Improve its utility by adding a functional-length lanyard, UTM roamer scale, distance-measuring scale, and fixed index lines.

Make sure your baseplate compass is a high-quality, liquid-filled, precision unit. The best are manufactured by: Brunton Silva U.S. Silva Sweden AB Suunto Recta Kasper-Richter (K&R) Tip: Longer baseplate compasses are easier to use for calculating long azimuths on quads and they're more accurate for cutting azimuths in the bush.

Attach a looped lanyard Make sure your compass has a sufficiently-long, looped lanyard so you can semipermanently attach it to a sewn-in lanyard loop in your shoulder-strap-mounted compass pouch, while at the same time place it atop a quadrangle for calculating an azimuth and hold it in your hand for cutting an azimuth through the bush--all without unfastening the lanyard.

1.5 mm, 100-pound test Mini Cord from the Sterling Rope Co., is also excellent for rigging tarp bivouacs. Since most manufacturer-provided lanyards are too short for regular use while underway in the bush, add a 32-inch-long (18 inches when looped) piece of 1.5 mm, 100-pound-test accessory cord from the Sterling Rope Co., 1-877-412-7467. If you don't have a dedicated compass pouch, a long lanyard will allow you to wear the compass around your neck or carry it in a pocket attached to a sewn-in lanyard loop. Don't have a lanyard loop? No problem. Create one with a safety pin. While belt loops, button holes, and zipper pulls can also double as lanyard loops, they may expose lanyards to snagging when bushwhacking, crawling, swimming, or climbing. Being able to quickly stow a baseplate in a secure, but easily-accessible, location is essential for preventing loss or damage when underway in the bush.

All of your other essential items--particularly your Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape (SERE) gear--should be similarly tethered for both easy access and loss prevention. During a survival situation, the lanyards themselves will come in handy for snare making and shelter building--like lashing a ridge pole between two trees for a leanto or brush-hut shelter. Add a UTM roamer scale Baseplate-mounted roamer scales make quick, on-the-go, calculating and plotting of UTM coordinates very easy. If you don't have the appropriate, two-dimensional roamer scale on your baseplate compass, simply add one (see annotated image below). Fold pieces of 1/2-wide, white, water-proof, first-aid tape over the front edge and the right-hand edge of your baseplate compass (as held in front of you and viewed from above, with the business end pointed away from you). The tape should be folded equally along the bottom and top of the compass, with one end of both pieces meeting at the common corner, the right front. Next, using a black indelible marker or write-in-the-rain pen, lay the top edge of the compass up against the kilometer scale on your topographic map and simply transfer the 100-meter hash marks onto the tape on the top side of your

baseplate, starting at the common corner, until you have plotted 1,000 meters worth. Do the same along the right edge of your compass. Note: remember to change this scale if you use a different-scale quadrangle in the future.

The author's high-quality baseplate compass retrofitted with a long, functionallength lanyard; a 1:24,000-scale UTM roamer scale; a 2,500-meter-long,1:24,000scale, distance-measuring scale; and fixed index lines at the cardinals points of west (270) and east (90) and the intercardinal points of northwest (315) and northeast (45). Add a distance-measuring scale Long, baseplate-mounted map scales make quick, on-the-go, calculation or plotting of linear distances very easy. If you don't have a one-dimensional map scale on your baseplate compass, add one (see annotated image above). Holding the right edge of your compass against the kilometer scale on your map, continue marking 100-meter hash marks beyond the 1,000 meter position of the previously-marked UTM roamer scale. Mark as many 100-meter hash marks as you can, hopefully to the 2,000 or 2,500meter interval. To make the 1000-meter intervals easier to distinguish, make their hash marks darker and wider. You could also add a dot or arrowhead to make them stand out. To prevent the hash marks from rubbing off during extended wear and tear as well as exposure to sweat, rain, or DEET, or water current when swimming rivers or lakes, cover each length of first-aid tape with clear scotch tape. Add fixed index lines to compass bezel If the rotating bezel on your baseplate compass lacks fixed index lines at the 45-, 90-, 270-, and 315-degree cardinal and intercardinal points, add them (see annotated image above). Fixed index lines are essential for working laterally around obstacles such as ponds, pocket wetlands, cliffs, private property, hazardous areas, etc., that prevent you from cutting an azimuth. These four radius index lines will allow you to

quickly add (or subtract) 45 or 90 degrees to (or from) an active azimuth, without having to stop to do the math. When you're cutting an azimuth with an index-line-marked compass and you need to work your way around an obstacle, you simply box the compass needle (or compass card) under the appropriate index line for each leg of your re-route, keeping track of each leg's distance with U.S. Army Ranger pace-counting beads. To add index lines to a compass bezel, simply draw four lines with a red indelible Sharpie on the face of the bezel, each emanating from the common point directly over the jewel movement--which supports the compass needle or card--to the 45-, 90-, 270-, and 315-degree cardinal and intercardinal points along the rim of the compass bezel. If you find these index lines handy, consider permanently scratching each index line into the face of the bezel with a sharp scribe. On long, difficult operations, the fine, scribed lines will continue to retain a red tint, keeping them visible long after the wider, surface-level red lines have been faded by exposure to the sun or rain, worn-off from bushwhacking and swimming, or dissolved by sweat or DEET. And with permanently-scribed index lines, its a snap to accurately refresh them between operations with a Sharpie!

In a future article on land navigation, we'll discuss how to convert a baseplate compass into a very durable and accurate hands-free unit--a wrist-mounted compass--for combat and tactical trackers who need their hands free for other tasks, but still need to cut accurate azimuths in the bush.

Technical land navigation: How to waterproof maps and charts by Michigan Backcountry Search and Rescue (MiBSAR): Special Operations Blog on Wednesday, April 27, 2011 at 10:26am

Map Seal by AquaSeal. To protect your all-important topographic maps on wilderness trips, always waterproof them. For extra protection, carry them in a map case or, alternatively, a heavy-duty, freezer-grade, ziplock plastic bag. Wilderness trippers have a couple high-quality, commercial products to chose from when protecting their maps, charts, and other paper products. Map Seal is a water-based, high-polymer coating manufactured by AquaSeal: http://www.aquaseal.com/map-seal.html. It is available in both 4-oz. dauber and 8oz. foam-brush containers.

Map Proof by Nikwax. Map Proof is a water-based coating manufactured by Nikwax: http://www.nikwax.com/en-us/products/productdetail.php? productid=255&activityid=-1&itemid=-1&fabricid=-1. It is available in a 4.2-oz. sponge-on container. While not as durable and protective as either AquaSeal's or Nikwax's products, I have had good results protecting my quads with a brush-on, wood waterproofer from Thompson's WaterSeal: http://www.thompsonswaterseal.com/products/product_detail.cfm?prod_id=3. Available in one-gallon cans, it is handy for treating large quantities of maps. I often treat both sides of my maps, suspending them from a horizontally-run rope with clothespins until they're completely dry. Use caution when attempting to treat maps printed on ink-jet printers as the ink may smear or run. A light, sprayed-on coating may reduce problems. For backup--in case of loss while underway in the bush--always bury a second, similarly-protected quad in your rucksack. Bottom of Form