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Also has, map and compass navigation and how to follow a course. I'm very happy with the book, as it was just what I needed. I purchased this book to learn how to Navigate in a wilderness area using Map & Compass. How to use a compass and understanding declination. A great book on wilderness navigation. Has lots of info on Maps, understanding maps, how to hold and handle maps, map scales and etc. A whole lot more. a great book.
However, they say more than once that among its advantages is that almost all baseplate compasses offer built-in declination adjustment. It's only ~170pp but there's scarcely a wasted word or unnecessary idea in it. My limited experience with others isn't enough to say this is the only one for you, but I can say that by a wide margin it's the one for me. Not one of them realized it. You can ignore those bits without penalty, and you can merely read pages that examine peculiar difficulties with generic solutions, or recount illustrative anecdotes. Of a large class I once took, nearly half the students had bought new baseplate compasses that could not compensate for declination.
(That's the "Essential" part). This book mentions each, says about it what pertains to the subject at hand and moves on. The subject at hand is not getting lost, or if necessary getting unlost. So it spends half its column-inches explaining how to use a map, how to use a compass, and how to use them together, in a progressive, logical, concise style. I can't compare to similar books because I chose carefully and bought one. So most of the other half of its column-inches are devoted to navigating without, or in conjunction with, map and/or compass using sun, stars, watercourses, topography etc., how to think graphically and accumulate data, and how to behave sensibly. It espouses a cogent philosophy I'll sum up in three aphorisms: pay attention to where you are and visualize where you've been; practice and theory are both essential (more of one doesn't make up for less of the other); and, if lost, thinking is a better strategy than hoping.There's the obligatory cursory examination of GPS and a nod to Orienteering, each blessedly brief because neither can be properly addressed in anything less than more than this entire book.
What's left, though, demands close and repeated attention as it's precisely to the point. Declarative statements, simple illustrations and prescriptive exercises will get you thinking and navigating expertly, if you're willing to do the work.One small note: the authors recommend, correctly, acquiring a baseplate compass. It's an intelligently organized instruction manual for the use of our basic tools.Where this book excels, though, is that while embracing technical assistance (map & compass) it begins and ends with a deep appreciation of the myriad clues available for determining position without technical assistance if we learn to see and understand them. Others wander through extensive desultory discussions of compass design, magnetic anomalies, map projections, tables and graphs. My experience is that dealers nearly always offer compasses with and without this feature that look almost identical.
That's what I bought it for and I think it performs that function admirably. (That's the "Wilderness Navigator" part). Above a certain price, perhaps, their statement is accurate, but novice shoppers can't count on it. Unless you live in Wisconsin, or eschew maps, or can do the math flawlessly in your head, declination compensation is well worth requesting.
The book is well organized and informative. Although I have not yet finished reading the entire book, the parts I have read were well written. There were numerous illustrations to help explain the text. The appendix lists other books and sources of related information.
I find that what I think I have learned is easily wrong when out in the field so I now carry it with me and practice the stuff I am unsure of. I went to using GPS for all my navigation a few years ago. I have been using a compass for many years but I always thought there was much more than I knew. Some people think this book is wordy but I find it fascinating. I purchased 3 books on compass usage a couple years ago after my wife and I broke my GPS during a snowstorm in the mountains of Colorado leaving us in a bad mess.I quickly ran through the other 2, and although they were good they were not as complete as this one. I have carried it with me for 2 years now. I reread certain chapters over and over, finding I have glossed over something that is more important than I originally thought.If you want to trust a compass this is the book for you, but plan on spending some time with it.I am buying this book for my son-in law as he relies exclusively on a GPS.I guess the only thing I disagree with is a statement that a compass almost never breaks, as I have several that have been retired over breakage. I carry 2-3 with me now as I guess I'm not disposed to trust any one navigational instrument.
For those looking for a concise guide to map and compass use, look elsewhere. This book is rambling and wordy.
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