Hiking through the woods is fun . . . until you lose your way! Most of us
think we'll follow the path to the top and follow it back down again. But when
the path gets hard to see, having a compass is a great tool to have, as long as
you know how to use it.
"Every compass is different," cautions Stan Knowles, staff member at
the NH Division of Forests and Lands' Urban Forestry Center in Portsmouth.
"It's important to know how to use yours before you're lost."
Most simple compasses share similar features including a magnetic needle,
circular housing, and a base plate. The magnetic needle has a colored end that
always points magnetic north.
The circular housing has the bearings or direction printed on the circumference.
In the middle is a printed magnetic north arrow along with some declination
lines.
The base plate has a printed arrow on it indicating your direction of travel.
You want to point this in the direction you want to go. There is also a
measurement scale printed on it in inches and millimeters.
The circular housing can rotate on the base plate, allowing you to set a
specific "bearing" or direction of travel.
Compasses work very well, until you put them near metal, says Knowles.
"Don't ever have metal near the compass when you're trying to get a
reading. Chances are it'll be wrong."
There are two different kinds of compasses, azimuth and quadrant. They work
in much the same way but look a little different on the circumference of the
housing. An azimuth compass is divided into full circle degrees, whereas a
quadrant compass is divided into four quarters, 0, 90, 180 and 270.
"It's a matter of which one is easiest for you to use," says Knowles.
"You'll save yourself a lot of trouble if you know this before you go out
and buy a compass."
In
addition to using your compass, knowing your pace can help you determine how far
you've traveled. A pace is a rough estimate of measure to determine your length
of travel. To find your pace, walk a 100 foot strip three times to get an
average number of times one of your feet contacts the ground (one pace equals
right-left-right). Divide 100 by the number of paces you took and that gives you
the number of feet in your pace.
When determining your pace, it's important to walk as normal as possible,
explains A.J. Dupere, community forester at the Urban Forestry Center.
"Walking your own pace is key in accurately measuring your length of
travel."
If you're walking up hill or down hill, your pace may be different than what it
is when you're on flat ground. "The terrain you learn on may affect what
your pace is," says Knowles.
Safety is important when venturing into the woods. Always tell someone where you've gone and when you'll return and try to leave your destination in time to return before dark. Dress for a change in the weather, bring a map and compass, plenty of food and water, a first aid kit, and wear hunter orange. You never know what you may run into in the great outdoors.
