Since your compass has fluorescent markings on it, here's a quick tip, both for this type of compass, and for anything with fluorescent markings on it, such as wrist watches: The point of those markings is not to necessarily be visible in the dark. As a lot of people have probably figured out, the things seem useless. When you want to look at your watch, they're not charged. If you turn on the light to charge them, you might as well use the light to look at the thing. Actually, the point of those markings is to save your night vision. It takes quite a while to reacquire night vision, during which time you are virtually blind. So what you do is this: pull out your flashlight, place it on your watch or compass, close your eyes, look away, and turn on your flashlight for 1 or 2 seconds, then turn it off. Now the fluorescent dots are charged and you get to keep your night vision.

@fieldcrafting

2 жыл бұрын

Was a nav instructor myself and I never knew that. Learn something every day, thank you.

@AndyB254

Жыл бұрын

If you use a small UV flash light on the fluorescent markings they charge quicker and stay visible longer, a UV flash light also won't make you lose your night vision like a normal flash light does.

I JUST ARRIVED ON YOUR KZread site and subscribed with in first five minutes oozing forward to learning my land nav skills very informative and a nice site..

This is one of the best tutorials I have seen on You tube. Straight to the point. I always try to print out a route card when possible and photocopy it leaving one copy in the car if off into the hills or the sticks. In RM training I always thought I was pretty good at map reading but got lost terribly on a timed individual night nav on Woodbury common. Lost all bearings totally and very confused due to lack of sleep and fatigue and had to retrace bearing back to the start. That was a long night and training team were not happy but made me swallow my ego to stop being complacent. Great not having to map to grid to get rid etc now. Keep them coming Nick really enjoying your vids!

@CristiNeagu

2 жыл бұрын

I got massively confused once by a badly photocopied map, where the grid looked like roads. What was worse was that the place I was in actually did have grid like roads almost exactly aligned NS, EW. Couldn't figure out why what I was seeing around me didn't line up with the map.

We take it for granted too often in the UK, but we are truly truly spoiled to be able to use mapping from both Ordnance Survey and Harvey. 2 lots of the best mapping you can find anywhere.

@cameronbryan5195

2 жыл бұрын

Yeah got some maps abroad and I'm pretty sure I've drawn better maps when I was a kid looking for treasure :)

@mikeoglen6848

2 жыл бұрын

Agreed!

@lonewolfgeoff

2 жыл бұрын

exactly! imagine die hard gps users without their gps! whereas someone who can read an actual map could get there easily, probably taking in hidden by gps places and nice landmarks! i choose paper maps every time!

Been watching loads of your videos recently, really enjoying them and learning bits too. At 17:28 in when you say "red in the shed", it should really be aligning the bezel arrow to north on the map, then "red in the shed" to follow the bearing. I'm sure you know this and it was just an oversight, can't be easy doing it, filming it and narrating it all at the same time, but for people learning it could lead them astray. A good tip I have found is the simple sanity check, does 25deg seem about or when looking at the map should it be closer to say 45deg.

I love compasses but a word of caution for modern day backpackers as I have ruined two orienteering compasses by storing in my backpack near backup power packs for my mobile phone . The polarity was reversed on the needles .

@bob_the_bomb4508

2 жыл бұрын

I thought I was being clever on my course by protecting my Silva compass in a plastic sleeve that you can get for a pair of glasses. In the opticians in Camberley I was offered a really gucci sleeve that had a spring metal retainer at the mouth of the sleeve. “That’ll stop the compass falling out” thought I. Unfortunately because I also had the compass lanyard attached to the top right pocket of my combat jacket, the sleeve didn’t pull very far back from the compass. The effect of even such a tiny piece of metal (let alone the bonnet of a Landrover - cough -) was enough over the course of a long solo tab at night over Salisbury Plain to take me onto the wrong spur, such that at dawn I was looking down on the wrong *^%#%^* town and several k’s from the next checkpoint!

Again thanks fir a precise method of showing how to use pace beads in the field. I KEPT COMPLAINING TO PEOPLE THAT AN INSTRUCTOR has to take you out in the field and show how to properly used pass beads. But to also learn to traverse it with land navigation. Not just watch videos. Hear in Topeka Kansas got a lot of fake idiots who think by watching videos from the wrong people will teach them something. Thanks for using the meter marker. On how to measure it. Tried to tell them it’s different for each person and the stride. But the results were 5280. It tried to tell them that based on topography will determine the distance you travel. Keeping in mind the objective target. Even though measured on the make will make the difference between straight line to nautical miles in foot travel. You just proved my point. SEMPER FI brother

Excellent tutorial. Brings mback memories of Scouts.

Great video Nick, I’m looking forward to the lesson in map folding that the Royal Engineers taught us on the map reading instructors course in the 80s 😂

Every aspect of your knowledge transcends through each and every tutorial what a great set of skills but to share those skills so others can better their experience is a truly great skill in itself thank you 🙏

Looking forward to more on this. Excellent as always thanks Nick.

Thanks for looking after my brother chris on your courses, dude. Your work outside of YT is spot on and I testify... you're making a difference. 👍🤙

Another great, informative vid Nick! Very much enjoyed yesterday's work fest! 👏👍 🙂

This video couldn't be better timed for me great way to refresh old lessons. Looking forward to more on this thank you 👍

This was an excellent video. It really brought back map reading on Dartmoor from Cubs and Scouts! I've heard of using pebbles to keep track of pacing but the beads are great. Keep up the great work. Subscribed.

Hi Nick , been looking forward to you making this video great work like the fact you bring up about C,F does make a difference. Brilliant buddy thanks

What a breath of fresh air your films are Nick. Refreshingly different from most. Nice one. 🏕🍻

As already said the best tutorial on this subject. Look forward to more as is a very fascinating subject. Thank you for your knowledge.

Wow Hi Nick I'm one of your big fans watching all your videos & how on earth did I even miss you & your family run woodland warriors I work for the flooring company who supports the programme just wow I never noticed it at all I'm ex military myself ex Reme & I also facilitate men's mental health here in the northeast of England fantastic work guys keep going it's great to put faces to a awesome programme we thrive to support 👍😁

Glad to see you're doing this next to the big lump of metal that is your Land Rover, always check to make sure you're at least 5+ meters away from anything metallic when using a compass. Especially a vehicle with things like an alternator or generator. Even being under a Pylon line will affect the accuracy of your compass.

Learned a lot again, Nick! Thank you very much

Superb stuff and a great piece of knowledge to share, highly practical. Thanks for sharing and all the best.

“ALONG THE CORRIDOR AND UP THE STAIRS (Army cadets 1968) Royal Scots Greys, Scotland. Pretty much what you have covered to this point is what I was taught back then, although I don’t remember pace beads till after I moved to Canada. We used to have to try and remember our paces, and or piece of paper, and or we had small and medium sized stones in our pockets and after every 100 yards (old school lol) move a small stone, then a larger stone every 1000 yards. Switch back and forth with the stones. Prefer my pace beads nowadays.

Such a great video, I am trying to teach myself map and compass reading for my wild camping adventure with my hubby and 3 girls on Dartmoor in April. I have been watching lots of your videos today and finding them very interesting. I home ed my girls and we are big on bushcraft and being out in the woods so your videos are going to be great for us. Jessy x

That's very good information, thanks for sharing.

Excellent video. Thank you. I learned a lot. Hope you are still offering classes by the time we get to the UK

Thanks for all the info you share

Another great video Nick 👏👏

Really useful reminder map reading was something I struggled with in basic training. Nice way of explaining it though never used ranger beads before but certainly something I would consider

Great video, well explained👍🏻

Very nice! More please my friend 🤠

Brilliant well explained thanks for sharing

that was awesome. thanks for sharing .

Just been out with my lad on a 5 mile hike, as an ex Army Map reading instructer I've just given him his 1st introduction on map orientation, grid reference and marching on a bearing. He's hoping to go to Harrogate in March. 👍

Cracking tutorial 👌, it can be a tough topic for some to get across to others, you did it brilliantly, cant wait forcthe nxt video on the subject, I'm very rusty on this subject, I'll be referring my youngest son to your videos as he has joined the CCF at his school and I want him to get ahead on these type of subjects, lovely video, good health and safe travels, cheers craig

Great intro to map reading Nick, as you said it’s a huge topic and only gets better with practice! Since moving down under, I really miss the old OS maps, I’m lucky to find a map of an area, and if I do it’s a 1:50! Do’able but not as nice as the 1:25’s!! A lot of the bush walks here too are tropical forest as well, making visual markers harder, but thanks to 8yrs Brit Inf (Guards) I’m more than happy to run around in the woods!! 😜 now to pass on the secrets to my son/daughter!

Terrific. Very informative.

Great vid bud.Most of the content I learnt as a Tom.But amazingly I was blissfully unaware of the agonic lineup!thankyou!

Fascinating video, I know nothing about navigation but after watching this I think I might have found another interest. 😀 Thanks for the video. You have a great way of teaching.

Another good one! Thank you!

Excellent info.

Great video, to many people say pace yards/meters and go with it. You showed that doing it three time give an average to base the paces. Maybe not so much in the UK, but in other places in the world people need to keep in mind that as they go up or down in terrain the paces will increase or decrease due to weight and inclination. Also to point out that as you hike and the weight of your "pack" the stride of the pace will decrease.

Walking between two minefields, probably get the GPS out. Great line👍

A easy way to explain the basics of map reading I look forward to seeing more video's atvb jimmy 😎😎

Thanks Nick, very helpful. Mag to grid - got rid at last.

Another great information video Nick, one thing I would add is most people's fitness drops as the day goes on, my little tip would be checking your pacing after a half day hike with pack, and again after a full day hike, your strides will shorten meaning after a full day you could be a kilometre short of your target, which can be a bit demoralising when you have been looking forward to a brew, a meal and your bed for the night, 🤔☕🍴⛺ Take care everyone 👍👍☕☕☕

Thank you Nick, You answered a few questions I had forgotten about. Great content here. Waiting on a present for myself, A KSF Predator 45. I have been wanting one for ages... The 80-130 is almost too big. Be well and Thanks again.

Brilliant presentation Nick; up to your usual very high standard. I would suggest that your pacing distance be something like 500 metres. Walk it once and divide the number of paces by five. It will give you a more accurate number of paces in one hit with your day sack/bergen. Like the blade of grass. Would that be a natural GPS (Green Pointy Stick?). Do you remember DDCRAPS? It is a mammoth subject to put into 25 mins, not easy. Look forward to more Enjoyed watching it.

I'm planning on joining the Royal marines in the future when I'm fit enough. This has helped me massively towards gaining better knowledge. Thanks for explaining it so well :) keep up the great work!

@Roadrunner9321

2 жыл бұрын

@@hiddenvalleybushcraft5683 Already on it! His haynes manual is brilliant😁

This is all good stuff . I went on a course of compass map and pace counting . When you worked out the number of paces per kilometer on different terrain it was surprisingly accurate, which was good because the second day of the course was a real pea souper of a fog on the top of Kinder Scout in Derbyshire England.

@davidcann6021

2 жыл бұрын

Was that with Woodland Ways? Got that course booked for next month.

Nice one, skill fade can be massive with map reading. I can relate to others comments on fog, I spent a week in Brecon practicing my Nav and never bothered with a night time practice...Every day was like a night nav the fog was so think

Thank you for the info

Pacing with various loads is all well and good, but have you tried pacing with a toddler? "Over 2000 steps and we're nowhere near our 100m mark. We had to go back to get a different identical water bottle, then over there because we thought we saw a squirrel, then in a circle because the wind was making a noise, then back because we needed a wee....". Also, relieved to hear that "never eat shredded wheat" is the official mnemonic! Cheers Nick, always look forward to your vids 👍

Used to love my prismatic compass and working in mils for super accuracy but don't miss the magnetic variation calculations....Grid to mag add...mag to grid rid ...made me laugh when you picked up your blade of grass...big hand, small map my old Sgt Major used to say !!! Well done Nick, great video...maybe do one on night navigation and walking on a bearing in the dark..that was always interesting in my unit...

A good solid skill most of haven't got a clue about. Including myself. I'll endeavour to learn more. Cheers mate

I did struggle with Nav. The best thing I ever got taught was to properly read contours. I went from struggling to complete a navex by day to going for a night nav and not needing to touch my compass more than twice.

Good information thank you

Thanks Nick, that was really interesting. I learned most of it years ago, but not the pace beads. Seems the mnemonics have chenged as finding a grid square for my time was "walk before you climb" same principle as yours and the others for finding magnetic deviation were MUGS and GUMA "Magnetic Unto Grid Subtract" and "Grid Unto Magnetic Add" but as we are now AGONIC, which I didn't know, I guess it doesn't matter.

The rhyme is helpful but I always found LONGditude easy enough to remember. Thanks again for the tips though mate! Always appreciated.

Nice and to the point tutorial. You are lucky with the Agonic. Where I am in Southern Ontario, it's a bit over -10° which I manage though my Silva's offset screw (which I updated after the video). Excellent tip on the pace counting with and without kit. I think I need to go out and measure again - even though my Garmin watch does the job, always good to have a back up. :) Edit: expanding on why it's bad to shoot bearings in the hood of a vehicle or with a slung rifle would be good in a subsequent video.

Great wee vid , I’ve got a bit of skill fade on my map reading , going out for a trek in a couple of weeks , the hardest place I’ve ever map read was Jungle in Belize .

A good practical intro to map reading and navigation. When teaching magnetic variation to cadets usually you here the cry ' but I'm not good at maffs ' 😁. I once did a navigation exercise walking on bearings. 10 points all set out dead pleased with myself I was. The problem was I used someone else's compass. I'd left mine in the billet. Imagine my shock when the first individual set off in exactly the opposite direction to my first marker. The the second individual did the same and the third. I then checked the compass error. It was 178 degrees 😩😩 luckily the course I'd set was within the camp and not outside it on the Moors. Always made a point of carrying a spare calibrated compass In my back pocket after that.

Awesome. 🤙

For any climbers, if you have a 50m rope handy, lay it out on the ground somewhere and you can use that a yardstick for your 100m distance.

For me, the most important symbol on an Ordance Survey map is PH (public house). But when I pick a piece of coastline to explore (IOW, Dorset and Devon), I start with a geological map. From a geological map I can pretty much tell what the terrain is going to be like. i.e. Cretaceous Chalk == dry ground. Triassic sandstone == red cliffs. Nautical maps are also handy for reading the extent of the tide.

Great video. I love your channel - been a fan for a while now. It would be brilliant if you could do some more navex related videos 👍 Take us on a RM style navex 👍

Nicely explained, great explanation on how to navigate using a map and compass. If I could maybe offer just one piece of constructive critisim (specifically targetted at viewers who are not used to using a compass). Never take a bearing or orientate your map using your compass near a metallic object such as a car bonnet. Again great video I've just subscribed and am looking forward to your future releases!

The Custom maps make a brilliant personalized present, and for a smaller sized map, the OS Yellow Map is also great.

@JulianHarris

2 жыл бұрын

Where do you buy these custom maps?

Great video, I remember how to read a grid ref in a slightly less cleaner way lol. Well at least it’s a good way of making a Young soldier remember lol

Nice start to the Nav series Nick. Another roughie for your 100m is a local Rugby pitch

@trevorday7979

2 жыл бұрын

Fat fingers…didn’t finish typing…🤣 Goal line to goal line is generally 100m ( or close enough as you-know-what is to swearing). Again, just a rough guide (or ballpark measure pardon the pun 🤣🤣🤣) as can be between 94 - 100m.

Another great video, many thanks. Out of interest, would a compass reading be affected when using it to align the map on top of a steel car bonnet (Landie is alumnium I guess so less of a problem)?

Awesome video. My map reading and navigation has become really rusty and I'm off on a trip in a couple of weeks. This video has really helped me brush up. Also to find out magnetic and true north are pretty much the same is an absolute win! Out of interest how long does this shift last? Again awesome video. Thanks

Omg we've gone Agonic!!!

Looking forward to this series if your going to do that as walking to a bearing etc has never been a strong point.

Can you do a video on that air mattress and a video on what your sleep system in the commandos and did you balance the weight vs the warmth

Excellent information. I look forward to the rest of your series. Do you know of a company here in the United States that makes maps similar to Custom Made? Those look to be fascinating. Keep breathin'.

Fantastic video. Very educational. Appreciate the effort that you had put in the making of this video. Do you know where I can get a manual of map reading and land navigation used by U.K. forces, No.71874. The older editions are no longer in print and for on sale. Could you advise? Cheers mate.

Hi Nick, great start to the series, however, please get the focusing sorted before the next one! ATB from deepest Dorset 👍

🤠👏👏👏! Pace beads cannot be overlooked when in heavily wooded/ jungle areas and featureless terrain- there are no 'ranging' landmarks in places like that. Like the others have already commented, great instruction. Agonic state!🤔now what am I supposed to do with 'Mag to grid-get rid.....' 🤣👍

I'm rateful for this one especially over the years I've forgotten how to use a compass but as you was explaining it was coming back to me Thank you Nick I would like to support your channel can I purchase a map & compass from yourself .Have a Awesome Day...🙏🙏🙏

@mrspudly1

2 жыл бұрын

@@hiddenvalleybushcraft5683 Annother great video, like Dean says it's amazing how quickly you forget stuff when your not putting into practice the basic skills learnt, and blindly following a footpath or the route on your mobile phone. Absolutely great at the moment that there's no more fumbling around with mag to grid get rid and vice versa, keep up the great work.

@deandunbar8856

2 жыл бұрын

@@mrspudly1 I will get those skills sharp again... 👍👍

Didn't know that GN and N are now practically on the same bearing, I heard that there was a shift in N though, makes it a bit simpler without having to get rid and all that, got a weekend yomp coming up in the Beacons soon, cheers Nick and atvb to you and your family.

@neanderthaloutdoors9202

2 жыл бұрын

@@hiddenvalleybushcraft5683 Will do 🤔

I use a similar system for walking up hills by looking at just above head height and counting to calculating altitude, it has been 2% accurate on a hill that was 1000m high, the biggest problem was remembering the numbers so I will have to steal that bead idea from you.

Me: Walking to the shops. My brain: 43, 44, 45... Me: Stop that!

This such a worth while skill! with all the gps a whole generation of people will never learn this!

It amazes me how different things can be. Your map elevation goes up in 5s. My maps here in washington state (united states) each line is 100 feet (30 meters). Then again my home has no real flat land. The elevation difference between my home and my work is about 500 feet. The difference between my home and my last camping spot is about 4000 feet.

When I learned the cardinal directions, it was Never Eat Soggy Waffles. I actually like shredded wheat, so I'm deciding whether to be offended or not. 😃 Great video! Question: Did your Silva come with that lanyard?

I miss orienteering... It's been at least 15 years since I've been on a proper hike with only a map to guide me... I should try it again, but not really sure how to go about it in England.

What do you think about using a pedometer in place of pace beads?

19:41 where do you get pace beads from?

That's quite a long stride you have. I am 63R, 'clean fatigue', as you would call it. Another enjoyable video. Thanks. I love the English countryside where you are. Those brick-built country houses evoke feelings of nostalgia from times when I visited your part of the world or close to it. Could I just correct you on one point. In Scotland there are no trespass laws and our right to roam the countryside is well established into Scottish law, that includes wild camping rights. Of course, the country code applies. However, we can't just wander into someone's back garden and pitch a tent, but that really should go without saying. That said, the absence of common sense in people these days is kind of scary.

In the ‘micro’ part of ‘micro’ navigation it’s also worth thinking about ‘cartographic licence’. The conventional sign for a road on a 1:50,000 map is about 100m wide! It’s impossible for the map maker to fit everything in… …one famous example of this is the road through Llamberis Pass in North Wales. There’s a road AND a river* passing through a gap no bigger than about 25m. * and, if memory serves, a power line? There’s no way to draw this accurately. When you add in the +/- 4m variation in a GPS reading, and also the fact that buildings etc aren’t shaped exactly the same as their conventional sign, those last few metres of a leg can be quite interesting. There’s really an art to interpreting a map at that stage. Now try teaching that in Pashtun** through an interpreter who themselves doesn’t know how to map-read :) ** Other languages are available…the last time I taught this stuff (about 2 years ago), the native language of the class was Hausa.

Agonic ... Lucky bugger, come over here to NZ & we'll hike that outa ya ;-) along the corridor & up the stairs ... that's not the military version!. ... and I tell my scouts you've got to jump over the fence before you run up the paddock :)

So, the hood of your vehicle doesn't hinder your compass needle from pointing North ?

Pull up a sandbag and swing the lamp, When we breached into Iraq my troop commander and me were in a vehicle following pathfinder platoon who were on quad bikes, chucking out cyalumes to mark the route. My troop commander in her wisdom decided to go off course and head off into the desert, and farmland, and drainage ditches. At one point she ignored the four pathfinders waving at her to stop. My staffy and I at this point threatened to bungee her to the bumpers, we were in the middle of nowhere, no GPS and angry. So with dead reckoning, and myself running out front with a compass and using the stars (which were stunning) I managed to find a MSR and hand rail it back to the the pathfinders, we pulled up and the hairiest one of the lot pulled the troopy to one side and explained that our vehicle had gone behind enemy lines and were in front of the recce screen with lots of expletives!. We did not bungee her to the front as promised, instead we put her in the back where she sulked. How me and the staffy did it was me running out front using my beads and compass do resection technique. Then trying to find a feature and doing basically a relay to get to safety. With a fully laden bergen I am 62 paces to 100m dead. 4 km is a long way to keep count, but it worked. Troopy was sacked eventually.

👍👍👍

@phuaphua4301

2 жыл бұрын

@@hiddenvalleybushcraft5683 Thanks you, have a blessing weekend or day. Take care 😊

👍

Daft question, but where can I buy suitable pace beads? All I've found so far are wooden, or girly plasticity ones! 😂

Good video. Now we only need to know where we are on the map.

@alfonsmuller2318

2 жыл бұрын

@@hiddenvalleybushcraft5683 Nice

The big question though. Is that a screwfix or IKEA pencil?

is that you on that map cover?