Compasses are essential in discovering direction in cities, seas or even in the middle of forests. They are very simple gadgets that are based on the magnetic field of the globe and have been present for quite a number of years. There are many compass types ranging from the ones normally attached to maps to the ones attached to people’s thumbs.
To use the compass, people seeking to find direction need to:
- Place compasses flat on the palm of hands and then the palms in the front part of the chest.
- Point the travel bearing arrow so that it points to the intended bearing.
- Turn around the housing of the compass to the point where orienting arrows lines in an upward direction with the northern ends of those magnetic compass needles.
- Go through all the bearings that are marked at the compass edge housings that align with the travel arrows aiding in direction.
- At this point, people using the compass could be able to plot the bearings that they have just taken using the bearings that are provided on the maps.
- Take off differences between the magnetic and the true north by turning around the housings of the compasses
- Put the compasses on top of the maps, grasping both the maps and compasses in a horizontal manner then alternate the entire compasses so that travelers line up orienting lines and arrows using north lines of these maps.
- The next step would be moving the compasses to make sure that their edges pass via their existing positions and while at that, maintain alignment using the north lines of the maps.
- Draw lines from side to side using the clue of the region they will be at, at that time and down the edges of the compasses.
- To get the path from their current positions, travelers will also have to follow directions of the lines by the side of the compass edges.
- Now that compass users would have determined their bearings, they have to ensure that users maintain accurate directions.
- Primarily, users of the compasses ought to look for suitable targets within terrain regions for instance bushes, trees and boulders. The targets must be in the arrow bearings.
- Without making confirmations to their compasses, lost people/any kind of people must walk in the region of the selected objects.
- After reaching their targets, compass users have to find objects that are aligned with their bearing and go over the same process.
However, everyone using the compasses should keep in mind dissimilarities between magnetic needles that constantly point towards magnetic North Poles and also arrow bearings that illustrate travel directions.
