SAR Fundamentals/Compass practical and pacing

From PCSAR

SAR Fundamentals Manual: Ch.13 "Navigation"

Basic SAR Skills Manual: Ch.7 "Navigation"

Aids

• Pacing and bearing exercise

Outline

Material Covered:

  Navigation - section 3 - compass use and exercise

Objective:

  * know cardinal directions
  * know compass degrees
  * know what affects a compass
  * magnetic declination
  * shooting a bearing with a compass
  * pacing
  * exercises: bearings
      pacing / bearing
  * backbearing
  * offsets

Aids:

  SAR Fundamentals - Chapter 13 - Navigation

Plan:

1/ Review past material

  Give sample UTMs, find elevation
  Give sample UTM pairs find bearing relative to True North

2/ discuss Magnetic Declination

  Where needle points

  Reading declination from map (add grid N)

  North pole moves
    - currently moving north about 40 km / year

Magnetic declination for Pincher Creek, 2010: 14deg 58' E. according to http://geomag.nrcan.gc.ca/apps/mdcal-eng.php

• Adjusting declination on compass

3/ shooting a bearing with a compass

  using compass
     - avoid metal
     - avoid magnetic fields

  holding compass
  
  sighting

  reading bearing

  walking a bearing
    - how far to look

4/ Pacing

  slide: step vs. pace

  counting your pace

  calculating distance from paces

  calculating paces from distance

5/ Exercises: bearings

  hand-out: Pacing and Traverse