A Step-by-Step Guide to Using a Compass

by Christopher O'Keeffe May 23, 2023

 

There are two kinds of people in this world. The first charges into the bush with nothing but a smartphone, a glint of optimism, and a tragically overconfident sense of direction. The second carries a compass. And the second, dear reader, gets home in time for tea.

The compass, that small and noble device, has been guiding wanderers, warriors, explorers, and eccentrics for over a millennium. It predates GPS, Google Maps, and that smug friend who “just follows the sun.” It is the gentleman’s lighthouse, the hiker’s confidante, the bushwalker’s North Star.

And while its workings may appear mysterious—a twitching needle, a spinning dial, a cryptic arrangement of degrees—the truth is that using a compass is not difficult. It simply requires a little learning, a touch of ceremony, and above all, a sense of reverence for the ancient art of orientation.

This, then, is your initiation into the lost (but not for long) art of how to use a compass.

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I. The Compass Itself: An Introduction to Your Most Loyal Companion

Before we even glance at a map or point dramatically toward the horizon, we must know the instrument in our hand. A compass is not just a tool—it is a promise. A promise that no matter how disoriented you feel, no matter how many trails you’ve misread, the earth’s magnetic field is still humming quietly beneath your feet, and it knows where North is.

Let’s examine the anatomy of this miraculous object:

• Baseplate: The flat, transparent slab of plastic. Often inscribed with rulers, magnifiers, and those wonderful little touches that suggest the Swiss were involved. This is what you align with your map, your route, and your destiny.

• Direction-of-Travel Arrow: Usually marked on the baseplate, pointing away from you. Think of it as the nose of your compass—the way you want to go.

• Rotating Bezel (or Compass Housing): This is the moveable ring with degree markings from 0° to 360°. By turning this, you set your bearing—a sort of geographical mission statement.

• Magnetic Needle: The red end points to magnetic north. Always. Unless it’s broken. Or you’re standing on a magnet. More on that later.

• Orienting Arrow: Found inside the bezel, this is the arrow you align with the red needle when setting your course. Some call it “the shed.” The red needle is “the dog.” You “put the dog in the shed.” That’s a real mnemonic. People have written books about less.

• Orienting Lines: These help you line up with the gridlines on your map, keeping everything squared to reality rather than your imagination.

A word of caution: Not all compasses are created equal. A cheap compass is a dangerous thing—like a dishonest friend, it tells you what you want to hear, not the truth. Buy a good one, I recommend a SILVA compass.

The key components include:

• Baseplate: The transparent plastic base of the compass that features rulers and markings.
• Housing: The circular portion of the compass that contains the magnetic needle.
• Magnetic Needle: A red or black needle that points to magnetic north.
• Direction of Travel Arrow: An arrow on the baseplate that indicates the direction in which you want to travel.

 

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II. Getting Your Bearings: How to Point Yourself in the Right Direction

Let’s imagine a scene. You are deep in the Karri forests of Western Australia. The sunlight slants through a green cathedral of trees, and the trail has politely vanished. You spot, in the distance, a peak—or a peculiar rock, or perhaps a friendly but immobile cow—something you wish to walk toward. Here’s how to find your way.

Step 1: Point the Compass

Hold the compass flat in your palm, chest-high, and point the direction-of-travel arrow at your target. Be dramatic about it. Look like you mean it.

Step 2: Rotate the Bezel

Turn the bezel until the orienting arrow inside the housing lines up with the magnetic needle. Red in the shed. Dog in the kennel. Fire truck in the garage. Pick your metaphor.

Step 3: Read the Bearing

Look at the number that’s now aligned with the direction-of-travel arrow. That number—say, 225°—is your bearing. It’s the precise direction, in degrees, from where you are to where you want to be.

Step 4: Follow the Bearing

Turn your whole body until the needle is again in the shed. Now walk in the direction of the travel arrow. Pick a landmark in the distance that’s along your bearing (a tree, a rock, a large confused emu) and walk toward it. Then repeat.

And just like that, you’re navigating.

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III. Map and Compass: A Love Story for the Ages

Using a compass without a map is like having a wine cellar with no key. But using both together? That’s where the magic happens. Here’s how to plot a course from point A to point B without getting diverted by every inviting goat track.

Step 1: Lay Out Your Map

Spread your topographic map on a flat surface (preferably not a windy one). Orient it with north roughly at the top.

Step 2: Draw a Line

Find your current location and your destination. Use the edge of the baseplate to draw a straight line connecting the two. This line is your path, your purpose, your thread through the labyrinth.

Step 3: Line Up the Compass

Place the compass on the map so the edge of the baseplate runs along the line you just drew. Ensure the direction-of-travel arrow points from your starting point to your destination.

Step 4: Rotate the Bezel

Turn the compass housing so the orienting lines inside the bezel are parallel with the north-south grid lines on your map. The orienting arrow should point north—upwards on the map.

Step 5: Adjust for Magnetic Declination

Ah yes—magnetic declination. The difference between true north (what maps use) and magnetic north (what compasses use). Depending on where you are in Australia, the difference could be negligible—or as much as 15°. Your map will tell you the local declination. Adjust your bearing accordingly.

For example, if your map says “10° East Declination,” subtract 10° from your bearing. If it says “10° West,” add 10°. Easy.

Step 6: Take Your Compass and Walk

Lift the compass, hold it flat, rotate your body until the red needle is once again in the shed. You are now facing your bearing. Step boldly into the wilderness, safe in the knowledge that geometry is on your side.

 

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IV. Advanced Skills for the Suave Navigator

So you’ve got the basics. You can point, rotate, and follow a bearing. Excellent. Now let’s go deeper.

Re-Sectioning: Find Yourself on the Map

Let’s say you’re in unknown territory, with visible landmarks but no clear idea of where you are on the map. Time to use the art of resectioning.

1. Identify two visible landmarks around you that also appear on the map.

2. Point your compass at the first landmark and take a bearing.

3. Rotate the bezel until red is in the shed.

4. Note the bearing, subtract 180° to find the reverse direction (this points back from the landmark to you).

5. On your map, place your compass with the baseplate edge starting at the landmark and draw a line back along that reverse bearing.

6. Repeat with the second landmark.

7. Where the two lines intersect is (approximately) where you are.

Do this with three landmarks and you’ll get a triangle of uncertainty—your location lies within it. The tighter the triangle, the better your accuracy.

Boxing and Dog-Legging

If your path is blocked (say, by a river, a cliff, or a particularly territorial kangaroo), you can use boxing or dog-legging—short detours at 90° angles, using your compass to precisely step around an obstacle, then return to your original bearing.

1. Walk 90° off your path for a set number of paces.

2. Walk parallel to your original path until you’ve cleared the obstacle.

3. Walk 90° back for the same number of paces.

4. Resume your original bearing.

It’s geometric. It’s accurate. It makes you look very clever.

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V. A Few Words on Etiquette and Maintenance

A compass, like a good umbrella or a polished pair of boots, rewards the considerate owner.

• Keep it away from magnets: Your phone, car speakers, even some power banks can wreak havoc on the needle. Store your compass sensibly.

• Check for bubbles: The compass housing should be filled with damping liquid. A bubble means it’s leaking, old, or too hot.

• Replace if demagnetised: A compass that no longer points north is not mysterious. It’s broken.

• Test regularly: Hold your compass and slowly spin in a circle. The needle should stay fixed, unwavering. If it shudders or flutters near certain objects, remove them.

Finally, don’t lend your compass to someone who licks it or shakes it like a dice. Some tools should be treated with reverence.

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VI. A Compass Is Not Just a Tool, It’s a Philosophy

To walk with a compass is to reject the passive helplessness of the digitally dependent. It is to reclaim your right to know where you are—not because a satellite told you, but because you told yourself.

A compass does not beep at you. It does not reroute. It does not assume you’re lost or foolish. It simply points—quietly, calmly, endlessly. It waits for you to catch up. It trusts you to be clever.

More than that, using a compass teaches how to think. It requires awareness, discipline, and observation. You start looking at the world differently—angles, lines, slopes, sun positions. You become a reader of the land. A listener of the wind. A civilised human in a wild place.

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VII. In Summary: The Ten Commandments of Compass Craft

1. Buy a good compass. Not a novelty one. Not a watch with a gimmick. A real compass.

2. Learn its parts. Baseplate, bezel, needle, arrows. Know them as you know the contents of your favourite cocktail.

3. Practice taking bearings. Do it at home. In your yard. In the park. Don’t wait until you’re lost.

4. Use it with a map. A compass without a map is like a sentence without a verb.

5. Adjust for declination. It’s real. It matters. Google it if you must.

6. Avoid metal and magnets. They will lie to you.

7. Use landmarks. Don’t just stare at the compass—look up. The world is full of clues.

8. Maintain your compass. Store it flat, dry, cool. Check it often.

9. Learn advanced skills. Resectioning, boxing, triangulating. Impress your friends. Save your life.

10. Enjoy it. The compass is a marvel. Honour it.

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Conclusion: A Needle Toward Confidence

In the end, using a compass is not just about navigation. It’s about competence. About knowing that even if the trail disappears, even if the clouds roll in, even if the phone dies and the map tears and your hiking partner says “I think we’re meant to go left,” you have within your grasp a calm and unwavering guide.

There’s something rather heroic in that. Or at the very least, stylish.

So the next time you wander into the bush, into the mountains, into the wide open spaces of this continent or another—bring a compass. Know how to use it. And walk tall.

You are no longer lost. You are navigating.

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