StoSoutdoors
               

  You need to know how to use a compass if you spend much time in the wilderness. There are many unprepared backpackers out there who are carrying compasses with them, thinking these devices somehow will point their way out of trouble, if they get lost. They won't if you don't know how to use them. What good does it do to know which way is North if you don't know whether you are directly south of your car or whatever you want to reach?
Do you know how to use a compass? If you are not sure, get out and try it. Take a map of any wooded or wild place near home, go there, and navigate your way to some point using a compass.
Think your GPS will save the day? You may be right. A GPS can be used to guide you right back to your car or wherever you set it for. Of course, you still need to learn how to use this as well. A GPS also has the problem of batteries that can die on you.

 How To Use A Compass - Some Tips
Complete instruction on how to use a compass is too much for a small chapter in this book. If you need to learn from scratch, go to the bookstore or library and get a good book on the subject. If, however, you already know a little, here are some tips to help you out.
Bring A Map
Even a highway map with little detail is better than nothing. It has highways and roads you can aim for if you get lost. It may even show a mountain or two, so you can identify a landmark and figure out where you are.

 Head Off-Target
Often when people are lost, they still know where they are in relation to a road or trail. For example, you may know that the logging road your car is parked on is to your south. Use your compass to head south and you will find the road. However, now how do you know which way to go to reach your car? Did you come out to the East or West of it?
  The trick here, is to head to the west or east of where you want to end up. This way, when you reach the trail or road you'll know which way to go to reach your car, camp, or whatever point you are aiming for. Obviously this means going farther than if you head straight to your target, but going straight to anything is almost impossible with a compass in the wilderness. This keeps you from wasting even more time guessing which way to go.

 How To Go Straight

You may know exactly which direction you want to go, but even with a compass it isn't easy to go straight through a wilderness area. There may be swamps, cliffs, and thorn bushes to go around. How do you stay on that straight heading?
First use your compass to locate a tree, hill or other object far away in the direction you want to go. Generally, the farther the better easier here in the West than in the thick flat forests of the East. Now pick the easiest route there. Once there, pick another destination in the same way, until you get to where you are going - without swampy feet and ripped skin.
Here are a few of the things you should learn:
- What the "declination" is for the area you are in. True north will be to the right or left of where the needle points, depending on where you are. You need to know how many degrees, and in which direction to adjust your compass.
- How to read a map. A compass won't normally do anything for you without a map. In any but the flattest areas, you should also know how to read a topo map. Those contour lines will tell you whether you are heading towards a gentle slope or a cliff - if you know how to read them.
- How to use a compass with a map.
- How to take a heading using a compass.
- How to "triangulate" your position using two landmarks, a map, and a compass.
Learn and practice the above skills or you really don't know how to use a compass.
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  I've seen a poison ivy rash clear up overnight by using the juice from jewelweed. This plant grows in wet areas, and water dripped on the leaves beads up, looking like jewels, hence the name. The stems are translucent, and the plant has dangling yellow or orange flowers.
  Planning to have a fire at the end of the day? As you hike, collect some dead pine needles, dried moss, etc. This way you'll be ready to start a fire when you stop for the night, even if it is a bit wet by then.
Does the color of your clothing matter? Light colors attract fewer biting insects. Flashy bright colors have been shown to attract grizzly bears. On the other hand, having something bright and easily visible to rescuers from the air could save your life if you are lost.