DofE Gold Practical Map Skills

1. DofE Gold Practical Map Skills <<Your Name>> <<Your Position>>

2. Aim To introduce you to practical map-reading techniques to enable you to apply them when on Expedition.

3. Method • Relating Map to Ground and Ground to Map; • Navigational Techniques; • Navigational Strategies; • Relocation.

4. Relating Map to Ground and Ground to Map • Stop ! • Look around; • Set / orientate the map; • If you can, identify where you are on the map; • Identify outstanding physical features on the ground; • Find them on the map; • Identify outstanding physical features on the map; • Find them on the ground; • Identify where you are on the map NO COMPASS IS INVOLVED AT THIS STAGE!

5. Navigational Techniques • Slope, Shape and Aspect; • Distance Estimation; • Timing; • Pacing; • Following a bearing.

6. 3. Move the compass around the area you're in until the edge of the baseplate is at right angles to the contours of the slope you think you are on. Make sure you keep the bearing set on the compass Aspect of Slope 1. Let's assume the bearing we took of theslope on the ground was 30° 2. Without moving the compass housing, turn the whole baseplate until the parallel lines in the compass housing line up with the grid lines on the map 4. Make sure you line up the parallel lines in the compass housing with the grid lines. Only move the compass baseplate, don't turn the compass housing because this will change the bearing you have taken

7. Distance Estimation • Timing • Normally 4 km per hour; • Naismith’s Rule: Add I minute for every 10 metres climbed; Nothing added for descent; • Pacing Check how many paces you take to cover a Measured 100 metres.

8. Navigational Strategies May be needed where you cannot see where you are going: • Rough ground; • Trees; • Bad weather; • Slope.

9. Ticking Looking at the map, if you mentally move along a handrail make note of all the things you are going to pass. You may cross a wall, pass a tarn and end up at a sheepfold. All these points are tick features. Identifying tick features and mentally ticking them off as you walk past them is the key to fair weather navigation.

10. Transit Points Having decided on your bearing, with a leg of 600m, you cannot see the ultimate destination; but on the bearing, at about 100m, is a large boulder – walk on the boulder. Once there look for something else also on the bearing, a tall tree for example, and walk on that. Progress in this way until you reach the end of the leg. Another advantage of this method is that you do not have to concentrate , all the time, on the compass.

11. Aiming Off When walking to a specific point there is a danger, if you miss it, that you will not know whether you are to the left or right of it. If you select a point that you know is to the right, when you hit it all you have to do is turn left.

12. Boxing The secret to ‘Boxing’ is that you MUST count the paces. If both ends can be seen then an alternate is to leave one of the party on the original line.

13. Relocation • STOP !!! • Look around and then look at the map; • Set the Map; • Look for a ‘Line Feature’; • Consider the Contours and visible slope; • Back Bearings from visible features - triangulation; • If you cannot see any prominent physical features - MOVE until you can; • Retrace your journey until such a point where you can recognize your route.