The Universal Transverse Mercator Grid System

Philip Werner of www.sectionhiker.com invited me to write a navigation post for his readers.

To read my post go here .

Calibrating a GPS' Electronic Compass

Check out my latest post with www.seattlebackpackersmagazine.com about calibrating your  GPS receiver's electronic compass.

To read the complete post go here.

Navigation With The North Star

The North Star is a beacon that we can use to guide us in the backcountry.

Few hikers use the celestial bodies in the night sky to navigate by.  But on a clear night, the night sky provides a feature that is an excellent source of direction.  It doesn’t matter if it is June or November, if you are in Wyoming or Oregon.

The North Star or Polaris is the principle star that I will focus on. 

For the backcountry hiker consider that Polaris is fixed in position over the northern pole.  Unique from other celestial stars and planets, Polaris is very closely aligned to the earth’s axis.  Stars and planets rotate around Polaris.  And like the sun, this rotation is from east to west through the sky.  Polaris will be found approximately half way between the northern horizon and straight overhead.  In the northern hemisphere, Polaris can found in our northern sky and is never more 1° from true north – the North Pole. 

Constellations help locate Polaris.  Cassiopeia and the Big Dipper point to Polaris.  Uniquely, Cassiopeia, the Big Dipper and Little Dipper can be seen in relation to Polaris year round.  In winter, the constellation of Orion will also help locate Polaris.

To read the rest of the post go here.

Making Sense of The Declination Diagram

Topographic map users are familiar with the small diagram at the bottom of the map. 

The diagram is located at the bottom center of the map.

Let’s zoom in to the diagram itself.

The graphic and information presented relates directly to the declination of the map area, orientation of magnetic north, orientation of grid north and true north. 

Let’s discuss what that all means.

The line on the left with the star on top is the reference to true north.  True north is the principle geographic reference on all maps.  True north is oriented to the North Pole, the top of the earth.  The left and right borders of a topographic map are aligned to true north too.  True north is the principle compass orientation that the backcountry traveler will use with compass navigation.

Care should be taken when looking at the other grid lines on a map.  For example, not all township and range lines are oriented to true north.  The red lines on the map below

represent township and range.  The red numbers refer to each of the 36 sections found in a township. (A section is a square that is one mile by one mile on each side.)  Determine if these red line are oriented to true north in advance of your trip.

The next line over is “grid.”  Grid in this case refers to Universal Transverse Mercator Grid (UTM).  UTM is a derivative of the military’s grid reference system and came about after World War Two.

Some maps come with UTM grid lines laid out in a shade of light blue.  Many topographic maps only have UTM tick marks (color blue) along the four sides of the map.  The map above has those tick marks.  Small they can be seen as numbers ⁶ 21 and ⁶ 22 at the bottom.  If one was to use a straight edge to connect the ⁶ 21 at top and bottom the line drawn would be in relation to grid on the declination diagram.  (For more information on UTM Grid check out Lawrence Letham’s book GPS Made Easy from library.)

The last line refers to magnetic north.  This data is circled in red (below.)

The line with the partial arrow head points to magnetic north (MN.)   Without getting bogged down in the pole’s location, the key thing is to understand is that magnetic north is what a compass’ red magnetic needle point to. The numerical value of 19° refers to the declination; the angular measurement between true and magnetic north.  In this case, the declination is 19° East.  It is this value that the hiker will compensate for in navigation. 

To keep things simple, I use a declination adjusted compass so that I do not have to calculate compass values.  For example, if the hiker is using a standard compass, 19° East declination (from the West Coast) would be subtracted from a bearing/azimuth of 100° True to get the correct magnetic heading.  This gets a bit sticky and that is why an adjustable compass is so valuable.  With an adjustable compass, you adjust the compass housing once for the local declination.  Once adjusted you are set and won’t need to worry about adding or subtracting the declination value.

The declination value on older maps has probably changed from what is printed.  Declination changes over time.  As a matter of routine I visit www.magnetic-declination.com to get the correct value before leaving home.

Remote Survival

My friend Leon had Peter's video posted on his site and I thought I would pass this one on to my readers too.

Do check out Leon's outstanding site by going to www.survivalcommonsense.com.

Peter Kummerfeldt is a true authority on wilderness survival.  Check out his site at www.outdoorsafe.com.

New GPS from Garmin with iPhone Connectivity

From GPStracklog.com - a new GPS with Glonass capability and has iPhone connectivity.

Garmin has announced the GPSMAP 64 series, updating the 62 series (of which the 62s is currently my go-to handheld). Let’s dive right into the improvements…

GLONASS

First up is GLONASS support, which should allow for improved accuracy, especially in northerly latitudes and urban canyons. Garmin says that with GLONASS you’ll average 20% faster satellite lock than with GPS alone.

To read the rest of this interesting post go here.

The Ten Essentials - What You Should Carry

In a recent post, a news article highlighted the rescue of two stranded hikers.  These folks were lucky; they were not carrying the right gear for the climate.  The following is  post I wrote last fall.

In my Map and Compass class yesterday one fellow asked what should you carry in your day pack.  I start with the Ten Essentials and the foundation of my pack.

Check lists for hikers and hunters abound on the Internet.  You can find suggested equipment checklists on forums and chat rooms, retailer’s and outfitter’s websites. 

Personally, I build my gear check list on the foundation established on the “Ten Essentials.” From the ten essentials I’ll add items that specifically work for me.  Here is what I use as my baseline:

1. Navigation (map, compass & GPS)         
2. Sun protection (Sun screen, sunglasses, a hat)
3. Insulation (extra clothing, gloves, knit hat, a sit pad)
4. Illumination (head lamp, flash light)
5. First-aid supplies (Check with the Red Cross’ web site or McCann’s book listed below)
6. Fire starting material (metal match, cotton balls soak with petroleum jelly, REI’s storm proof matches, BIC lighter)
7. Repair kit and tools
8. Nutrition (extra food)
9. Hydration (extra water) & filtration system
10. Emergency shelter (not a space blanket but a windproof water proof shelter, and a blue poly tarp)

I’ll then add a few selected items to the list by including:

11.  Communications (signal mirror, a SPOT or ACR locator beacon, cell phone)
12.  Knife and small folding saw
13. A small ensolite pad shaped to become a sit pad.

I’ll take this list a step further by checking two of my favorite references:

1. Surviving a Wilderness Emergency by Peter Kummerfeldt
2. Build the Perfect Survival Kit by John D. McCann

The intent of carrying all this gear is that should you have to spend the unintended night or nights out you will be prepared. You may not be comfortable but you'll have far better odds at surviving.

I also recommend you involve children in the development of your family’s gear check list.  Listen to their recommendations.  Have them carry their gear too.  Start them early and teach them what you know.  Let them participate.

Have fun and be safe.