How to use a Military Protractor for Land Navigation

Ойын-сауық

In this video I'll provide a description of a military protractor; how I set one up; how to use it to plot a grid coordinate; determine an azimuth as well as distance from one point to another.
If you need a protractor - here's one I recommend amzn.to/2VM1UpP
As an Amazon associate I may earn a small commission for my endorsement, recommendation, testimonial.
You can find me on Instagram at / stokermatic1976
If you enjoyed the content, please like and subscribe to stay up to date on all videos. I look forward to hearing your comments.
To view all land navigation video's check out this playlist:
• FieldCraft
Land navigation
Military protractor
Land nav
Landnav

Пікірлер: 88

  • @34ozzie
    @34ozzie Жыл бұрын

    Thank you Sir! I am 53 years old and never learned to use a compass. You’re a great teacher. I’m going to take things slowly, but your videos have increased my confidence level. Thank you again and keep up the good work!

  • @richardpalmer4471
    @richardpalmer44713 жыл бұрын

    I didn't learn this stuff as a Combat Engineer back in the day. Thanks. You may have saved my life.

  • @STOKERMATIC

    @STOKERMATIC

    3 жыл бұрын

    Appreciate your service brother!

  • @thomasbartlett3409
    @thomasbartlett34094 жыл бұрын

    Excellent map with protractor presentation and wonderful videos , thanks again STOKERMATIC!!

  • @STOKERMATIC

    @STOKERMATIC

    4 жыл бұрын

    Thanks Thomas!

  • @1959jimbob
    @1959jimbob2 жыл бұрын

    Thank you for taking the time to do this how to vid. I am in my 60s and have spent a LOT of time in the wilds both in the military, BSA and just being raised in the country, I wandered a lot. However, I have never been able to read a map, compass or use one of these little gadgets. You see, it's not a learning thing directly. I don't see in 3d, am colorblind and have very poor depth perception. So following along with these things has always been super challenging and I haven't been able to accomplish the mastery of formal land nav. Until, 0750 hours today. I came across your video and thought, "what the heck, I'll give it one more try." I must be honest, I did not expect anything more than a talking head. BUT, YOU opened up a world I have never been in before. I could follow your details with ease. Your little tips with the tape, and trimming the thing down, made my world become more exciting now. I am not exaggerating one little bit here, I have wanted to learn land nav proper for 50 years. I eeked through my outdoor life by instinct and sense of direction and learning the things nature has to teach, but I have never been able to read a map or follow a map or plot a course, UNTIL, 12 March 2022 at 0750 hours Midwest time. THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart. I can not thank you enough for taking the time and care to teach this old dog something I have wanted to learn practically my entire life.

  • @STOKERMATIC

    @STOKERMATIC

    2 жыл бұрын

    Tom, I’m so glad the content has resonated with you so deeply. All the best as you continue to explore. 🙏🇺🇸🥃

  • @minisynthcollective7822
    @minisynthcollective78227 ай бұрын

    Loved the way you responded so positive to all audio comments. Shows you have a good character. Nice one Mr Stoker.

  • @STOKERMATIC

    @STOKERMATIC

    7 ай бұрын

    It’s all a learning curve and I can’t do better without feedback. 👊

  • @minisynthcollective7822

    @minisynthcollective7822

    7 ай бұрын

    Yes but really decent and honest of you.@@STOKERMATIC

  • @whitemountainbucktrackers2499
    @whitemountainbucktrackers24995 жыл бұрын

    Great stuff Stoker. Excellent instructor. My son is taking an Opt 40 contract and wants to get a good handle on land nav, so he'll be watching all your vids. Then after, we'll be applying it in the woods. Thanks.

  • @STOKERMATIC

    @STOKERMATIC

    5 жыл бұрын

    Glad you found them useful. Have a few more planned - specifically on how to learn how to navigate by terrain association. Hopefully I can get those knocked out in the next few weeks.

  • @apprenticegilligan1635
    @apprenticegilligan16352 жыл бұрын

    This is absolutely epic. Thank you so much. I also saved the video so I can watch it over and over.

  • @mcleanac3000
    @mcleanac300012 күн бұрын

    14:48 especially in low light or night time when you can't see the terrain features to guide you! If you get this right you will walk right in to your target :) It might help to note that these scribbles you are doing should be in your navigation notebook. That way you can go back and figure out where you may have gone wrong. It can be a game changer.

  • @JDJD-hg9hu
    @JDJD-hg9hu Жыл бұрын

    Really great work. You break down the information perfectly. Always enjoy watching your videos. Thank you Stay happy healthy and fluid

  • @billybennett7307
    @billybennett73075 жыл бұрын

    I don't trust myself cutting a protractor (to make a straight cut) - but I kind of dig using the tape - never thought of that, and dang! That makes it easy to read!!

  • @STOKERMATIC

    @STOKERMATIC

    5 жыл бұрын

    Thanks!! Glad you found something useful in the vid!

  • @ThePainterr

    @ThePainterr

    3 жыл бұрын

    @@STOKERMATIC Could a person just draw a thick red line around the protractor with a red permanent marker to make the edge and digits stand out? Your videos are so valuable....thanks for sharing!

  • @flexmasterson4297
    @flexmasterson4297 Жыл бұрын

    Thank you for sharing your expertise. I appreciate it.

  • @andygable7504
    @andygable75042 жыл бұрын

    Thank you. That is a great video. Great refresher for me. I haven't used a protractor since I was a kid.

  • @STOKERMATIC

    @STOKERMATIC

    2 жыл бұрын

    Glad the content was helpful!

  • @duckman12569
    @duckman12569 Жыл бұрын

    Very thorough overview, thanks

  • @jaseholroyd2683
    @jaseholroyd26832 жыл бұрын

    That was kool, loved it, cheers

  • @josephcrotty968
    @josephcrotty9685 жыл бұрын

    Some things we learned in ROTC is to put a small hole in the center of the protractor and string a single strand of 550 cord innards through it. This helps to find the azimuth if the two points are too far to draw a line between or if you don’t want pencil lines on your map.

  • @STOKERMATIC

    @STOKERMATIC

    5 жыл бұрын

    Joseph, that’s a great technique that I’ve used and have taught others in the past as well. Just gotta make sure you pull the string tight and be sure of it, else it can end up getting snagged or giving a false reading. But it’s certainly a way to determine your grid azimuth and it’s well worth keeping in mind!

  • @ThePainterr

    @ThePainterr

    3 жыл бұрын

    @@STOKERMATIC what about using a pieve of fishline for this purpose? Thin enough, not? Thanks for posting your clear and understandle vids....brilliant content!

  • @eddie1v
    @eddie1v5 жыл бұрын

    Background music makes it hard to hear your voice

  • @STOKERMATIC

    @STOKERMATIC

    5 жыл бұрын

    Eddie, I appreciate the feedback. I’m still working on refining my process and sometimes after putting it together you think it’s okay only to find out afterwards it could have been better. I have a few lessons learned in that regards over the past month or so and will work on tightening up my shot group. Hope it was still beneficial even with the discrepancy.

  • @eddie1v

    @eddie1v

    5 жыл бұрын

    STOKERMATIC but great video!

  • @maggiealena

    @maggiealena

    Жыл бұрын

    I could hear it either.

  • @AbsoluteyAmerican
    @AbsoluteyAmerican4 жыл бұрын

    Perhaps you can do a video on where you access the maps and how you print them out to have the numbers and the squares. I did go to the USGS website, but there is so much content I couldn’t sift through to find what I needed.... or I am just missing it. Thanks again. Day two of watching your videos and loving everything!

  • @STOKERMATIC

    @STOKERMATIC

    4 жыл бұрын

    Daniel, sounds like a good idea, I dig it. For your situational awareness, while the USGS is one of the owners of maps, different agencies will use different...overlays. In this case, the DOD places grid lines out and uses specific scales. But, I will try to create a vid on using what’s publicly available to all of regardless of wheee. And thanks for hanging out on the channel! Glad you enjoy the content. Stoker

  • @1959jimbob

    @1959jimbob

    2 жыл бұрын

    I have the same issue.

  • @jehster
    @jehster4 жыл бұрын

    Great video. Very informative.

  • @STOKERMATIC

    @STOKERMATIC

    4 жыл бұрын

    Glad it was helpful!

  • @BrianRios26
    @BrianRios264 жыл бұрын

    Hi. I have a question. I’m trying to convert grid to magnetic and my grid convergence on the map I’m using says 0.18 ( 5 and a half mils. I’m trying to ad to convert it to magnetic but I don’t know how to use that number to add. The 0.18, I don’t know if i need to add less than 1 or remain the the same

  • @STOKERMATIC

    @STOKERMATIC

    4 жыл бұрын

    Ive never seen a GM angle of 0.18 degrees. If you want you can snap a picture of it and email it to me Stokermatic@gmail.com

  • @BrianRios26

    @BrianRios26

    4 жыл бұрын

    STOKERMATIC Thanks I will

  • @dsbiddle
    @dsbiddle3 жыл бұрын

    The military protractor makes it very difficult to plot a precise coordinate due to the offset of the plastic and the scale axis. Do you know why they designed it that way? Normal civilian UTM protractors have cutouts so you can accurately plot the point. Great GREAT idea to just cut off the MILS scale on the outside. That was another annoyance I had was that the mils scale made it difficult to mark an accurate declination line.

  • @STOKERMATIC

    @STOKERMATIC

    3 жыл бұрын

    So when it’s cut you still have a solid vertical and horizontal line - even with a UTM protractor, you need to be cautious and understand the impact of even a 1/32” error.

  • @talpollard975
    @talpollard97511 ай бұрын

    Being just a degree off when plotting your path, isn't this where a compass comes into play, to make sure that you stay on the original path???

  • @charlesmckinney
    @charlesmckinney Жыл бұрын

    Need more training in this

  • @tbrown1352002
    @tbrown1352002 Жыл бұрын

    Where would you recommend looking to buy a 1:50,000 mgrs map?...having a heck of a time finding one for my local area. Thanks for the videos, extremely helpful!!!

  • @STOKERMATIC

    @STOKERMATIC

    Жыл бұрын

    USGS website. Products. Topo maps.

  • @shadow0966
    @shadow09663 жыл бұрын

    this video is so easy to learn map & protractor BUT the volume is really low and hard to hear and yes i still enjoyed the video

  • @STOKERMATIC

    @STOKERMATIC

    3 жыл бұрын

    I've got a couple more on plotting where the volume is good to go. Appreciate the feedback!

  • @stevenjohnson7086

    @stevenjohnson7086

    2 жыл бұрын

    I agree. The music is distracting and seems to drown you out. This topic requires me to really focus on your lecture and the music makes that tough to do. I could not finish watching.

  • @jamesmasters1381
    @jamesmasters13812 жыл бұрын

    I asked this question before, but apparently not clearly enough. The question is: we know the declination changes between magnetic north and truenorth; does it also change between grid north, magnetic north (GMA), and/or truenorth? If my map is several years old, am I going to have to change the difference between grid north and magnetic north, and/or truenorth; and if so how do I make that adjustment? I am particularly interested in any difference between grid north, and the other two over time.Thank you for your prompt reply to my previous question.

  • @STOKERMATIC

    @STOKERMATIC

    2 жыл бұрын

    Gotcha. So yes, while grid north doesn’t change (always at top of map) the variation between GN and MN will change because the pole is moving. The way to stay up to date on it is to check NOAAs website. You can find up to date info here and then use that to make your adjustment for declination. www.ngdc.noaa.gov/geomag/calculators/magcalc.shtml?useFullSite=true

  • @tooterplumber1128
    @tooterplumber11285 жыл бұрын

    sure wish I could have heard your voice

  • @STOKERMATIC

    @STOKERMATIC

    5 жыл бұрын

    Lessons learned - I’m not sure what happened...but I have hopefully solved a few equipment issues. Feel free to check out How to Plot 8 Digit Grid Coordinates kzread.info/dash/bejne/gYuIxpKMpLLbopM.html While not as detailed, I go through the process of plotting and determining azimuths in it. Thanks for taking a moment to leave a response!

  • @judezain23

    @judezain23

    3 жыл бұрын

    not sure if you guys gives a damn but if you guys are bored like me during the covid times then you can stream pretty much all the new movies and series on instaflixxer. I've been streaming with my girlfriend lately :)

  • @donovancash4661

    @donovancash4661

    3 жыл бұрын

    @Jude Zain Yea, have been using InstaFlixxer for years myself =)

  • @jamesmasters1381
    @jamesmasters13812 жыл бұрын

    Does grid north change relative to truenorth as declination changes?

  • @STOKERMATIC

    @STOKERMATIC

    2 жыл бұрын

    No. Grid north doesn’t change. It’s always top of map.

  • @caseykelso1
    @caseykelso12 жыл бұрын

    Can I use my protractor with a 1:24k map ? Is there any Tricks to be able to plot a utm grid corr. ?

  • @STOKERMATIC

    @STOKERMATIC

    2 жыл бұрын

    You can use the protractor. Will get you close enough unless your trying to actually plot a 10 digit. UTM can be plotted just like mgrs. UTM just puts in additional numbers - similar to a UTM zone and 1000 meter grid designator. So UTM might read 370823 4315291 - the MGRS would be 70823 15291.

  • @caseykelso1

    @caseykelso1

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@STOKERMATIC thanks for the reply bro. Alot of you tubers you tubers dont,and we really appreciate your time. .ya i normally use 6 digit for hiking and hunting, I'm not trying to find a buried treasures or anything... 🤣🍺

  • @danielhutto8387
    @danielhutto83874 ай бұрын

    Awesome video but im wondering, if i have a 1:200,000 map, do i need a special protractor with a 1:200,000 scale or is there a trick to use the standard protractor on this unusually scaled map

  • @danielhutto8387

    @danielhutto8387

    4 ай бұрын

    Or wait could I use the 1:100,000 scale on my protractor, then just double all the measurements I get since my map is 1:200,000 scale?

  • @STOKERMATIC

    @STOKERMATIC

    4 ай бұрын

    Yup!

  • @danielhutto8387

    @danielhutto8387

    4 ай бұрын

    @@STOKERMATIC awesome thank you!

  • @NobodyOwesYouAnythin
    @NobodyOwesYouAnythin11 ай бұрын

    Nice presentation. I'm wondering if you could repost this video and maybe turn your sound Up. I had to turn My sound up almost all the way to hear what you were saying at all. Just trying to help. Thank you sir.

  • @STOKERMATIC

    @STOKERMATIC

    11 ай бұрын

    BOOM kzread.info/dash/bejne/fqGJlZSlc7C_gbw.html

  • @kohnbonn9744
    @kohnbonn9744 Жыл бұрын

    I always find my points

  • @ronhanish
    @ronhanish Жыл бұрын

    OTHER VIDS SAY THE 99 IS THE FIRST # AND THE 37 IS THE FIFTH AND SIXTH # ???

  • @user-rp1nk3jj5h
    @user-rp1nk3jj5h6 ай бұрын

    Greaaat. My protractor was made in China and all the triangles are on the opposite side yours is 2 small ones on the right and the big one is on the bottom left corner..who does that crap..

  • @ralphdavis4819
    @ralphdavis48193 жыл бұрын

    Sorry, could not hear your presentation! Shame because I look forward to your instruction!!

  • @STOKERMATIC

    @STOKERMATIC

    3 жыл бұрын

    Check out my more recent plotting video. Thanks for your patience!

  • @virgobro2025
    @virgobro20253 жыл бұрын

    damn, you forgot to put in audio lol

  • @charleskeenom9481
    @charleskeenom94813 жыл бұрын

    Sorry I wanted to watch your video but it has bad audio I cannot hear it

  • @STOKERMATIC

    @STOKERMATIC

    3 жыл бұрын

    This one got a little sideways Charles - hope you're able to check my other content out.

  • @shazadkhan121
    @shazadkhan1214 жыл бұрын

    No music plz

  • @STOKERMATIC

    @STOKERMATIC

    4 жыл бұрын

    Have used very little in the past - forgot most of the ones I did. If you check my navigation playlist, you'll find plenty related content without. cheers

  • @mikeperry3958
    @mikeperry39583 жыл бұрын

    Can’t hear you

  • @STOKERMATIC

    @STOKERMATIC

    3 жыл бұрын

    my bad.

  • @ralphmickle1771
    @ralphmickle1771 Жыл бұрын

    Sound too low

  • @raulwillem1
    @raulwillem1 Жыл бұрын

    could not hear. Voice was to low.

  • @STOKERMATIC

    @STOKERMATIC

    Жыл бұрын

    try this one: kzread.info/dash/bejne/fqGJlZSlc7C_gbw.html

  • @ronhanish
    @ronhanish Жыл бұрын

    your scale was 1 to 50k your protractor is 1 to 25k.... does not compute, lol?

  • @edyhega9570
    @edyhega9570 Жыл бұрын

    Your video it's hard to hear

  • @smokijo3163
    @smokijo31633 ай бұрын

    Probably good info here. Pity I can't hear you over the damn music. 😡

  • @eddiemoss5703
    @eddiemoss57032 жыл бұрын

    Volume is terrible

  • @STOKERMATIC

    @STOKERMATIC

    2 жыл бұрын

    It was. Hope you catch some other content

  • @andrei2023iareu
    @andrei2023iareu3 жыл бұрын

    Do not use music, it is awfull to try to understand what you are saying

  • @STOKERMATIC

    @STOKERMATIC

    3 жыл бұрын

    Lesson learned.

  • @timothygibson2330
    @timothygibson23302 жыл бұрын

    Poor quaility as far as vocals

  • @STOKERMATIC

    @STOKERMATIC

    2 жыл бұрын

    Indeed. Check this one out - kzread.info/dash/bejne/fqGJlZSlc7C_gbw.html

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