setting+a+map+using+a+compass

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setting a map with a compass
"Setting" a map means to orient it to match the orientation of the ground. A map that has been set is much easier to use to identify/confirm your current location or to plan movement.

Ignore jokes about people who have to turn the road atlas upside down to use it - if you are walking south, you will navigate better with the south edge of the map away from you.

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How to set (orient) the map using a compass
(NB this will work OK provided there is little difference between grid north and magnetic north - if there is a significant difference between these two norths then adjustment will be needed).
 * 1) Stand with the map in front of you and place the compass on the map (with both horizontal). This is easiest if you use both hands with your elbows bent but at your sides.
 * 2) Rotate yourself and the map **as a unit** until the north end of the compass needle is both parallel with the vertical grid lines on the map //and// pointing to the north edge of the map; it is easy to be 180 degrees out
 * 3) Compare features on the map and the ground to confirm your position - do not rotate the map further; if the features do not fit with the map your position is not what you thought it was. This is demonstrated well in the video below.

[|setting a map with a compass] This shows a slightly different approach in which the orienting lines of the compass are first aligned with the north-south grid lines on the map and the map/compass rotated until the red end of the needle is pointing to north on the compass housing - I think this slows down the process. The can be helpful, though, when there is a significant difference between magnetic and grid north - if the orienting lines are aligned with a line drawn on the map to indicate magnetic north, and the map & compass then rotated until the "red is in the shed" the map will be aligned.

 video showing basics of [|setting a map with a compass]



 magnetic declination, inclination and deviation explained