Magnets and compasses don't go very well together!

In the ever increasing ways that manufacturers seem to have to come up with brigth new ideas to flog their wares, a cautionary tale. I was out with a group recently navigating around the fab little area around Tal y Fan in Snowdonia. One of the groups compasses seemed to be going a bit haywire, with the red needle determined to point south - it was a brand new compass but ok, could have been faulty.  And Tal y Fan is not renowned for being an area full of magnetic rocks that could interfere with compasses.A few frustrating minutes later we found out that the brand of rucksack being worn - can't say the name but something to do with a big bird - had a nifty little magnet that held the drinking tube of their water bladder onto the front of the rucksack. And this little magnet seemed to be of sufficient strength to interfere with the compass. For goodness sakes Os****, this is sold as a walkers rucksack; walkers use compasses (honestly, some really do), and a magnet just seems to be a bit daft to stick on the front of a rucksack where a compass may be near. As it was the lady concerned contacted the local emporium in Betws y Coed where the items had been bought and they responded absolutely brilliantly - replaced the compass and the bladder, personally delivered to the centre where the course was being held - and the little magnets were chucked in the bin. Well done CC and keep it slightly more simple Os****

These are the days that make it all worth while

View up towards the Scafells from Wasdale

Summit of Scafell Pike on a glorious day

The magnificent Striding Edge

Martin had never walked up a big hill before - in 3 days he did the 4 summits in the lakes that top 3000 feet, with a few white eyed moments on the Foxes Tarn route between the Scafells and on Striding Edge. What a fantastic effort. Skiddaw was climbed in a bit of cloud, the Scafells and Helvellyn in blue skies and glorious sunshine.

Navigation For Beginners 3

Ok, we've looked at the basics of what a map is and what a compass does and how to set a map. Couple of things before we move on. How many 'norths' are there? Not as daft a question as it sounds. There are 3 norths; True, Magnetic and Grid. And luckily they are all fairly self explanatory. True north is the north pole, where all the explorers go. Magnetic north is where the compass needle points to (that is, the red needle does NOT point to the north pole). It actually points to somewhere a little to the west of the north pole (something to do with the magnetic field of the earth), I guess if you wanted to research this there must be plenty of internet stuff that explains it. Anyway, suffice to say, if you followed the red needle for a long way you would not end up at the north pole. Lastly, grid north is where the grid lines point on the map. And if you think about it, as the grid lines on the map that run north-south are parallel, they cant ALL run to the north pole! The 2 that we're really interested in are grid north (as we have a map) and magnetic north (as that's where the compass points to). All we need to know for now is that the difference between grid north and magnetic north can be found on all ordnance survey maps and it's important to have an up to date figure for it - typically it is about 2 degrees at the moment, but changes over the years. So think back to what we did when setting the map. We plonked the compass on the map, held both together and turned around until the red needle pointed to the top of the map. The sharp eyed will have realised that because there is a difference between grid and magnetic north, that this can't quite be right. Correct, it isn't but the difference is so small that we can ignore ot for now.

Next, a really useful thing to be able to do is guestimate, or know, how far a bit of a route is. For a really rough guess you can count the number of grid squares that the route covers. Each grid square is 1km, and for the record the diagonal across a grid square is 1.4km (for the trig fiends it equals the square root of 2). For a more accurate measure we need to be a bit more precise. Look at the compass. It has a number of things that look like rulers on the sides. Indeed, one is a mm ruler so we could measure the distance in mm and then convert to metres or kms knowing the scale. WRONG. Who wants to work out how far 17mm represents on a 1:40000 scale map at night in a storm. So the clever compass people have put romers on the clear baseplate of the compass. The romer is a little ruler that is already to the same scale as the map being used and the numbers on the romer already represent, 100 metres, 200 metres etc. Clever, hey. But, and it's a big but. The compass baseplate often has 2 or 3 romers on for different scale maps. Have a look. Typically there might be a romer for 1:50000, 1:25000 and 1:63360. What?! What's 1:63360 all about. If you're old like me you'll know (?) that 63360 is the number of inches in a mile. And loads of compasses still have this romer on. Ignore it (unless of course you still have, and use, inch to the mile maps). More recent compasses have 1:50000, 1:25000 and 1:40000 romers on - all most useful. So, get your map, identify the scale and have a go at measuring the distance between 2 fairly close points. Use the wrong romer and you'll either be halving or doubling the distance you're measuring.

Navigation For Beginners 2

Ok, hopefully you've had a glance at a map and now know all about its scale, grid lines and what contours look like. So, what about this compass thing? It has several bits, but all we're interested in at the moment is the compass needle (often coloured red and white). Left alone and not interfered with, what does the compass needle do? All the time? It points North. With the red bit of the needle pointing to the North. That's all. Till the end of time. Wherever it's put down (except next to something metal or electronic that may affect it of course). Additionally this simple and wonderful instrument can be used to help us find our way around the hills but what it essentially does is point North.

Ok, to a bit of real nav action. Get a map and a compass. Open the map right out and put it on the floor (not to be recommended outdoors in a high wind though!). Put the compass on the floor next to it. Ok, remember the compass needle points North, always. But, think back, where is North on the map? At the top, always. So, if you leave the compass alone (don't touch it!!) and turn the whole map around until the top of the map is pointing in the same direction as the compass needle, what have you just done? It's called setting or orientating the map. It means that the map is now exactly the same way round that the bit of ground that it represents is in real life. Ok? Or, if you were in a helicopter hovering above the ground, the map and ground would line up exactly. This can be difficult to imagine, but is a crucially vital skill to learn. In reality, when on the hill we don't open the whole map out, lay the compass on the ground etc. So, more practically, fold the map up to a reasonably small area, hold the compass anywhere on the map that is convenient (under a thumb on either the left or right side of the map?) and then turn your whole self around (keeping the map and compass firmly held together and flat) until the red compass needle points to the top of the map. Now do this over and over again until setting the map is as familiar as brushing your teeth. Don't worry about twiddling the dial around on the compass or what the numbers are for or anything. Get used to plonking the compass on the map, holding it firmly and turning yourself around until the red needle points to the top of the map. Done.

Navigation For Beginners 1

Ok, before we even set foot on the hill, I reckon it's a good idea to have a really good idea in your mind of what a map and compass are. Sounds obvious, but it makes some of the later stuff make more sense, and how many people look at a map without really seeing what it is and how many people carry a compass but hardly knows what it does. Ok, firstly The Map. It's a drawing. Of the ground. Looking from directly above. Drawn to scale. In 2 dimensions (ie it's flat). But the real ground is lumpy bumpy so it has squiggly brown lines drawn on it on called contours that are used to represent hills. And it's covered with vertical and horizontal lines with numbers on called grid lines. So far so good.

The scale of the map is the figure found on the cover, something like 1:50000 (1 to 50 thousand) or 1:25000 or 1:40000. All it means is that, for example on the 1:25000 map, 1 unit on the map equals 25000 units on the ground. 'Units' because a ratio like 1:25000 doesn't have any set units - it could equally be inches, mm, miles, km. So, 1 inch measured off the map equals 25000 inches on the real ground, 1mm measured on the map equals 25000mm on the ground. Ok? Grid Lines are the light blue horizontal and vertical lines that divide the map up into a lot of squares. They are based on a system that ultimately divides the whole country up into little squares. And the distance between grid lines is 1km (or 1000m). Always. Whatever the scale. As the scale changes the size of the squares change but the distance between grid lines is still 1km (or 1000m). All map stuff is now done in metric so no 'inch to the mile' stuff. The grid lines are also numbered and these numbers allow Grid References to be taken so that any location can be identified (kind of like longitude and latitude). More of that next time. Lastly North is always at the top of the map. Always. Think about it. Map of the UK, Scotland at the top, that's North. And generally the top of the map is easy to identify because writing on the map tends to be the right way up. If a map had no writing on it, it would not be possible to tell which way was up. So, get a map out and find out what scale it is, where the grid lines are, and identify some contours.

First Post

Well, it's a foul day outside, back to the weather we know and love so well in the Lakes! Training for 2012s triathlons going well - although only 3 weeks in so still breaking into a new season gently. If you fancy a go at a multi sport race next year, let me know - I may be able to help. You only need between 5 and 15 hours a week to train! Mostly training indoors at the moment which gives good specific sessions but does get a bit tedious after a while. Oh well, only 6 months before the sun comes out again! I've also run a couple of really successful navigation courses over the last few weeks, including a couple of night nav sessions on Loughrigg Fell. Good luck to all the folk that now have The Knowledge, and hopefully you'll never get lost again (or if you do, you now know what to do!) - and I don't mean phone me at 3 in the morning wanting to know how to get off of Scafell Pike! On that note I thought it might be an idea to put together a set of posts over the next few months covering some of the stuff that I include on nav weekends - I reckon there's loads of folk that go on to the hill who don't really know how to read a map or use a compass; some I guess are lucky and others end up being rescued. Shame on you. If you go on to the hill you should be able to navigate. And that doesn't mean turning on a gizmo, that means with a piece of paper and a magnetised needle! So, stand by for Navigation For Beginners, a complete course in 85 weekly parts, starting from the very beginning, a very good place to start.