I just finished up about an hour of a very unpleasant meeting because someone claimed to know what they were doing, and didn't.
My neighbor and one of his bosses who both work for a national defense contractor came over a little over a week ago and asked if I had a good compass the boss could use during the muzzle loader Deer season up around Flagstaff, AZ. Told them sure and dug out a old military M-2 compass I had liberated from the Army about 40 years ago. A M-2 is called a hand transit in civilian life and can be used to run rough surveys if necessary. Very accurate!
This particular compass was unusual in that it was calibrated in Degree's, Minutes and Seconds where most Military are calibrated (at least in the Army) in Mils. Asked him if he had a good map and he told me he did, so gave him the compass and showed him how to set off the declination with the little screw in the back. Asked him again if he knew how to use it and he got a little huffy, said he'd used them in the military, and said again, he had it handled.
The next day I asked Brian about his boss and it appears that the boss had dropped, then ran over his GPS in his driveway the day before. Great. Now, you have to realize that this guy is a real life Rocket Scientist. Well, I'd already let him use it, so just forgot about it.
Brian and his boss came over tonight and after they came in the boss literally threw the compass at me and called it a worthless ***. Then started a rant about having to walk 6-8 miles out of his way in near freezing weather, etc, etc, etc. If some other hunters hadn't found him, he would probably be still out there. He started getting loud and I Finally told him to SHUT UP! I opened the compass and looked at it and when I gave it to him, it had been set a a little over 11 Degrees for Tucson AZ declination which being in the West is a negative declination. It was now set at about 12 degrees Positive declination which is a East coast declination. Started asking him about why he had changed it so radically, and come to find out he knew NOTHING, absolutely nothing about declination so he had gone home and looked it up on line, found out that the declination at Flagstaff was about 12 degrees and then HE SET IT THE WRONG WAY! The compass was set about 22 -23 degrees out of alignment.
Because he was Brian's boss and I didn't want to cause any friction at work for Brian, by calling him a stupid A** in front of Brian, I asked Brian for some time alone with his boss and then sat down at the kitchen table and drew a schematic showing him exactly what he had done. Once he realized what had happened, he calmed down immediately, apologized, and then finally left. The thing that PO'd me was that he had immediately blamed the compass.
A great tragedy could have unfolded here, just by not knowing what he was doing. The thing that crosses my mind is that he could have gotten more lost than he was, died from exposure and I wouldn't have gotten my compass back until they found his body!
Anyway, for all you great unwashed, declination is basically the measurement of the angle of difference between True North or Grid North and Magnetic North. Magnetic North is not a constant. Magnetic North is created by a large ball of Magma, moving under the earths crust from West to East just North of central Canada right now. It changes every year by a small amount, but that amount is cumulative. If you check the bottom of any good Topographic map, there is a "V"shaped declination diagram symbol showing the difference between Grid North, True North and Magnetic North, based on the date the Map was printed. There are also notes telling you of the amount of change each year. If you take your dad's old familiar map from the 1950's the declination is not the same as it is 60 plus years later, but the adjustments at the bottom and declination notes will tell you how much to add or subtract for each year since the map was printed, and it can be significant.
Generally for land navigation in situations you'll find yourself, you can ignore True north and orient the map and compass to grid North. By offsetting the declination difference between Grid and Magnetic North, you will be able to align the grid lines along the side of your compass because the magnetic North arrow on the compass and the grid lines will be parallel., Then you can determine a true MAP azimuth to the set of coordinates or land feature you are aiming.
If aiming for a road or river where you know your camp is located, rather than come across it and wonder which way to go, right or left, set your azimuth a few degrees left or right when you start so when you hit the road, you know to turn right, or left.
Anyway, the point I want to make is lto learn to use the equipment you have and learn to use it RIGHT. As bad as it may sound, buy a book, take a course, and if you are relying on a GPS, always carry at least 2 Sets of extra batteries for it. I've been in a hurry, didn't check it, and had the GPS go down and more than once I've put a new set of batteries in equipment that were dead from the start.
Anyway, I wanted to say this to his face, but didn't:, IT AIN'T ROCKET SCIENCE!....ROFL.
Anyway, sorry this is so long, but had to get it out of my system.
My neighbor and one of his bosses who both work for a national defense contractor came over a little over a week ago and asked if I had a good compass the boss could use during the muzzle loader Deer season up around Flagstaff, AZ. Told them sure and dug out a old military M-2 compass I had liberated from the Army about 40 years ago. A M-2 is called a hand transit in civilian life and can be used to run rough surveys if necessary. Very accurate!
This particular compass was unusual in that it was calibrated in Degree's, Minutes and Seconds where most Military are calibrated (at least in the Army) in Mils. Asked him if he had a good map and he told me he did, so gave him the compass and showed him how to set off the declination with the little screw in the back. Asked him again if he knew how to use it and he got a little huffy, said he'd used them in the military, and said again, he had it handled.
The next day I asked Brian about his boss and it appears that the boss had dropped, then ran over his GPS in his driveway the day before. Great. Now, you have to realize that this guy is a real life Rocket Scientist. Well, I'd already let him use it, so just forgot about it.
Brian and his boss came over tonight and after they came in the boss literally threw the compass at me and called it a worthless ***. Then started a rant about having to walk 6-8 miles out of his way in near freezing weather, etc, etc, etc. If some other hunters hadn't found him, he would probably be still out there. He started getting loud and I Finally told him to SHUT UP! I opened the compass and looked at it and when I gave it to him, it had been set a a little over 11 Degrees for Tucson AZ declination which being in the West is a negative declination. It was now set at about 12 degrees Positive declination which is a East coast declination. Started asking him about why he had changed it so radically, and come to find out he knew NOTHING, absolutely nothing about declination so he had gone home and looked it up on line, found out that the declination at Flagstaff was about 12 degrees and then HE SET IT THE WRONG WAY! The compass was set about 22 -23 degrees out of alignment.
Because he was Brian's boss and I didn't want to cause any friction at work for Brian, by calling him a stupid A** in front of Brian, I asked Brian for some time alone with his boss and then sat down at the kitchen table and drew a schematic showing him exactly what he had done. Once he realized what had happened, he calmed down immediately, apologized, and then finally left. The thing that PO'd me was that he had immediately blamed the compass.
A great tragedy could have unfolded here, just by not knowing what he was doing. The thing that crosses my mind is that he could have gotten more lost than he was, died from exposure and I wouldn't have gotten my compass back until they found his body!
Anyway, for all you great unwashed, declination is basically the measurement of the angle of difference between True North or Grid North and Magnetic North. Magnetic North is not a constant. Magnetic North is created by a large ball of Magma, moving under the earths crust from West to East just North of central Canada right now. It changes every year by a small amount, but that amount is cumulative. If you check the bottom of any good Topographic map, there is a "V"shaped declination diagram symbol showing the difference between Grid North, True North and Magnetic North, based on the date the Map was printed. There are also notes telling you of the amount of change each year. If you take your dad's old familiar map from the 1950's the declination is not the same as it is 60 plus years later, but the adjustments at the bottom and declination notes will tell you how much to add or subtract for each year since the map was printed, and it can be significant.
Generally for land navigation in situations you'll find yourself, you can ignore True north and orient the map and compass to grid North. By offsetting the declination difference between Grid and Magnetic North, you will be able to align the grid lines along the side of your compass because the magnetic North arrow on the compass and the grid lines will be parallel., Then you can determine a true MAP azimuth to the set of coordinates or land feature you are aiming.
If aiming for a road or river where you know your camp is located, rather than come across it and wonder which way to go, right or left, set your azimuth a few degrees left or right when you start so when you hit the road, you know to turn right, or left.
Anyway, the point I want to make is lto learn to use the equipment you have and learn to use it RIGHT. As bad as it may sound, buy a book, take a course, and if you are relying on a GPS, always carry at least 2 Sets of extra batteries for it. I've been in a hurry, didn't check it, and had the GPS go down and more than once I've put a new set of batteries in equipment that were dead from the start.
Anyway, I wanted to say this to his face, but didn't:, IT AIN'T ROCKET SCIENCE!....ROFL.
Anyway, sorry this is so long, but had to get it out of my system.
