New Tramper, looking for gear list?

I found this document on the MSC website that explains that demonstrates clearly the "grid bearing method" that @Honora mentioned earlier, where you rotate the compass so that the needle points at the magnetic declination angle (i.e. both red arrows on the compass match the mag dec diagram on the map) to give the bearing to follow. I agree that it seems the easiest way to get a bearing to follow off a map, or vice versa. http://www.mountainsafety.org.nz/Files/Firearms-Navigation.pdf This website also gives a good overview of using the map and compass together. http://www.princeton.edu/~oa/manual/mapcompass.shtml

Good link. Nice simple method & the one I've always used. Others keep trying to explain other convoluted ways to me, but simply 'dial up the grid bearing you need and point the red needle at 21degrees' (or whatever declination your map speifies) is so simple its hard to beat. That said if I was really at Waipawa Forks hut heading for the roadend, think I might just follow the river!

That's my favourite, too, just leaving the needle on 20 or whatever the offset is. But it's necessary to be really careful if in a group if communicating bearings with other people. Even if I shout out X degrees off Grid North (which is the only number I care about with that system), people don't always get it straight away. I've always struggled to understand the benefits of adding and subtracting all the time, but it's already so popular that simply that alone makes it worth learning, and perhaps using if it's what everyone else is already using.

There are mnemonics for the magnetic bearing method: where you need to convert the map (grid) bearing from the map to the magnetic bearing for use in the field. Machine Gun Annie: Magnetic bearing conversion to Grid bearing- Add the magnetic declination figure. and for the Grid to Magnetic bearing conversion: take the compass off the map means you take off (subtract) the magnetic declination figure e.g. a bearing of 0 degrees grid, would become a bearing of 340 degrees magnetic! Blimey, you wouldn't want to make a mistake...and this only works for eastern magnetic declinations of course such as what we have here in NZ. Geez, it's been so long since I taught this stuff, I'm surprised I can remember it.

"Blimey, you wouldn't want to make a mistake" For sure. So is there some kind of history or reason why people do this instead of simply letting the needle point at the magnetic declination of the grid and using grid bearings, thus not needing to add or subtract anything?

@izogi I wonder if the "magnetic" bearing method comes from orienteering where I believe the map grids used on the course maps are aligned to magnetic north not grid north like the topo maps are. Then you can use the standard silva 1-2-3 method - align the baseplate edge then turn the crown to align it to the grid north, then rotate the compass until "red in the shed" for your bearing. With the map grid aligned to magnetic north there is no need to allow for magnetic declination. Any orienteers out there who could confirm this? I was helping on a club bush nav course on the weekend and we only taught the "grid" bearing method used in the link above. Everyone seemed to pick it up easily and were quite proficient at taking bearings from the topomap to follow and also the reverse using this method. I'm taking a group of families on a junior bushcraft course over the next two weekends and the "grid" bearing method will be the one taught, but I'll will mention the magnetic bearing method.

According to the "International Specification for Orienteering Maps" orienteering map gridlines are aligned to magnetic north, hence eliminating the magnetic declination.

@nzbazza: yeah, I'd mention it but only just mention it in passing. I've seen the neophytes start to fuse the techniques horribly if taught both! I think the advantage of the magnetic bearing method is the boxing around where you can park the red needle at right angles to the red striped orienting arrow. I've very seldom done these manoeuvres, only on courses. On actual trips, I just go through the bloody obstacles if I can't sight on something on the other side of the obstacle. This is when travelling in featureless terrain e.g. Stewart Island.

@Honora, thanks for the advice. I also agree on the boxing around, never used it for real. If I'm going around some obstacle it's usually on some handrail such as a ridge or river so its usually easy enough to return to the handrail without worrying about following bearings.

@Honora I've been following this discussion around map and compass use with interest, as I teach this stuff to groups, mostly teenagers, most other weekends. I was taught and always teach what you've been calling the 'magnetic bearing method', so I was intrigued to come across people talking about the 'grid method' and how it differed. I found this confusing, as I hadn't come across this different method before, so I just got out a map and compass to figure out the differences, following the instructions @nzbazza posted above. Anyway, I think I've got it. The key thing to understand is there really isn't any theoretical difference between the two methods, they both do exactly the same thing in exactly the same way, but the magnetic method has a distinct advantage over the other, in my opinion. Without going too much into detail, the only cosmetic difference between the two is the turning of the dial at the end. Doing this has a few key benefits: for boxing (as mentioned above), but the key one in my opinion is that keeping the needle in the orienting arrow is just easier to follow than keeping it at 20 degrees or whatever. There is also the benefit that doing the opposite, taking a bearing in real life and putting it on the map is much harder to do using the grid method (not going to go into why right now). Now, the chief complaint about the magnetic method seems to be the difficulty in remembering which way to turn the dial and having to do the mental arithmetic. There is a very easy answer to this problem, and here I talk about taking a bearing off a map and then following it in reality, so the same situation that the link above describes. Follow that method exactly, so line up the baseplate along the bearing you want, turn the dial to line up with the contour lines, then take it off the map and turn the whole compass until the needle is pointing at 20 degrees or whatever the variation is. Now, keeping the compass in that position, simply TURN THE DIAL until the orientating arrow is lined up with the needle! No mental arithmetic or silly acronyms required.