Great series. I was trying to brush up after not doing much, or really any, of this for decades. Your explanations were great! I think my dog and I will head out to the bush and try it out. She tracks so surely between her and a compass we will make it back. Thanks for your time and continue making the series.
Why this just popped up after I had searched forever trying to learn about declination and finally understanding it I’ll never know, because this was probably the best explanation out there. After a few emails back and forth with a cartographer at USGS I was good. Great video
Over the last several weeks I have watched a lot of videos to re familiarize myself with navigation with a compass. I had to watch many of them several times as I kept getting myself confused with calculating the declination. For some reason “East is least” doesn’t make much sense to me. I think I get the idea, but then hit a wall when trying to apply it. I really wish I would have found this video first. It’s simple, straight to the point and practical with easy to understand examples and graphics. Great work and thank you!
Thank you for the kind words. I had a similar experience as you did, watching a lot of videos that purported to explain declination but left me more confused at the end and when I started. My goal was to try to keep it simple. Glad you appreciated it and have some fun out there.
Great explanation of declination! Everything you explained was in layman's terms and not confusing at all. I have watched countless videos on the science of declination; however, just like many folks here, I was left more confused than when I first started researching this phenomenon. What lead to my confusion with other youtubers, was that some would state that you didn't have to adjust for declination when taking a bearing if you first orient your map. Others would state you do have to adjust for declination no matter what. So I didn't know what to believe in the end until I watched your video. Thanks buddy and God bless! :)
I’ve just been binge watching your navigation videos and really enjoying them. I’m in San Diego and have a 13° easterly declination so if I was going to take a bearing with my compass I want to add 13°. However, one thing I find very strange is that no one on RUclips really talks about if I wanted to take a bearing from my map and transfer it to my compass I would actually want to subtract 13°. I think this is where people get confused with declination and East is least & West is best. I’ve been searching and hoping to find a video out there that explains why you need to reverse the declination whether you’re taking a bearing from a map versus a bearing on your compass. Can you offer any insight on that? Thank you!
Terry, what you just described, is probably the single greatest source of confusion when it comes to declination and applying it to using a map and compass. That is why I highly recommend a Compass with adjustable declination. All bearings get measured to true North, and there is zero confusing arithmetic.
@@johngo6283 Thank your for your reply. All 4 of my compasses have adjustable declination, my best compass is a Suunto MC-2G (a $70 compass). Here's where you lost me: " All bearings get measured to true North, and there is zero confusing arithmetic." Can you expand on that thought, or point me towards a resource?
@@terrystephenson984 Well, then, you definitely have a good quality Compass, so that’s a great start. Here’s an example that I will try to keep it simple. Imagine you have a map in front of you. You know your current position. The objective of where you want to go is due north of where you are, or 0°. If you have a compass that has declination adjusted for your local area, for San Diego, 13°, as you mentioned, you put the map away, and turn your compass dial until 0° or north is at the “Read bearing here” mark. Now, hold the compass flat in front of you, and rotate your body and the compass slowly in a circle, until you have “red in the shed.” You are now facing exactly 0° due north. Walk until you find your destination. If you did not have a declination adjusted, compass, after you did this, you would be facing 13 degrees to the right, or east of north. If you were trying to find a small objective over a fairly large distance, say a mile or two, you would be quite a large distance away from your objective. This is where the subtracting 13° confusion comes into play if you have a less expensive Compass. Basically, the declamation adjustment on a compass moves the shed to the right, or left from true north. That way when you put red in the shed, you’re compensating for declamation, and can read true North bearings without doing any math. Hope that made sense.
Good question. It's depends how closely your grid aligns with true north. If your location is somewhere in the middle of a UTM zone, and at a somewhat low latitude, then the grids should align very closely. However, if you get close to the edge of the UT MAs zone, and at higher latitudes, the lines start converging and do not line up with true north so well. If you're calling in an artillery strike, then grid north could be pretty important. For most civilian users, most of the time I think it can be safely ignored. Tip: If you find the UTM grid does not line up with the edge of the map very well, it's easy enough to use a ruler and draw and some true north pencil lines.
Thank you so much for your reply. I have always dreamed of calling in an artillery strike and… I would love to achieve that precision which is why I asked the question. I figure, if you’re going to do something, do it precisely. Your response was really helpful. Thank you.
Because of the coming micronova, declination is moving much farther, and much faster and so declination information is likely incorrect My up-to-date declination is 30 degrees, 15 degrees off from the official declination for my area. but there is still a way to recalibrate magnetic declination using the shadow of sticks recording the path of the sun---rotation of the earth has not yet changed. First stick will show East. Mark it with a sharp stick pushed in. After a few minutes you can mark sun shadow travel where the shadow has moved - Push another stick in to mark West. Lay a straight stick from the E mark to the W mark. Geographic north or True North is 90 degrees from the E-W line. With your compass pointing toward True North, note how far off your compass is now. That is your true up-to-date declination. More on micronova in my 2nd book, Surviving the Micronova: This Train Is on the Tracks is available now.
However a good demo, i still didn't find any video ( a this video is no exception) or book that really explain, step by step, in detail how to make the maths (it is more tricky than it seems at a glance) to calculate declination correctly, and not only how to manage it on the compass.
Declination is only important when using a map. I have a compass, with no adjustable declination setting. On a topo map I just lay the compass on the true north line, then carefully turn the map for the declination of the area. I can get a true bearing anywhere on the map. Easy!!!
![Seungmin "그렇게, 천천히, 우리(As we are)" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/kAzmhLHePqU/mqdefault.jpg)
Great series. I was trying to brush up after not doing much, or really any, of this for decades. Your explanations were great! I think my dog and I will head out to the bush and try it out. She tracks so surely between her and a compass we will make it back. Thanks for your time and continue making the series.
Great explanation of declination, and great series on map, compass, and GPS usage. Thanks for your terrific work on these videos!
Why this just popped up after I had searched forever trying to learn about declination and finally understanding it I’ll never know, because this was probably the best explanation out there. After a few emails back and forth with a cartographer at USGS I was good. Great video
Thanks for the kind words, I’m glad you found this useful. I put a lot of time into this video so glad it helps. 👍
Over the last several weeks I have watched a lot of videos to re familiarize myself with navigation with a compass. I had to watch many of them several times as I kept getting myself confused with calculating the declination. For some reason “East is least” doesn’t make much sense to me. I think I get the idea, but then hit a wall when trying to apply it. I really wish I would have found this video first. It’s simple, straight to the point and practical with easy to understand examples and graphics. Great work and thank you!
Thank you for the kind words. I had a similar experience as you did, watching a lot of videos that purported to explain declination but left me more confused at the end and when I started. My goal was to try to keep it simple. Glad you appreciated it and have some fun out there.
This whole series is top notch
Helpful series. Thanks a bunch.
Great explanation of declination! Everything you explained was in layman's terms and not confusing at all. I have watched countless videos on the science of declination; however, just like many folks here, I was left more confused than when I first started researching this phenomenon. What lead to my confusion with other youtubers, was that some would state that you didn't have to adjust for declination when taking a bearing if you first orient your map. Others would state you do have to adjust for declination no matter what. So I didn't know what to believe in the end until I watched your video. Thanks buddy and God bless! :)
Excellent explanation!
Gracias, excelente video para comprender declinación!!!
Marco, de nada, espero que tienes muchas adventuras!
Fantastic. Thanks for the great content.
Very Important information. Clear and Concise. Thank you!!
Tim, thanks for the support.
This one is very good.
High Five, thanks for your help.
Appreciate the detailed explanation, nice job!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Well done, this is great! Subbed!
Just a note, some compasses have the adjustment screw on the front side ( not all are on the back).
I’ve just been binge watching your navigation videos and really enjoying them. I’m in San Diego and have a 13° easterly declination so if I was going to take a bearing with my compass I want to add 13°. However, one thing I find very strange is that no one on RUclips really talks about if I wanted to take a bearing from my map and transfer it to my compass I would actually want to subtract 13°. I think this is where people get confused with declination and East is least & West is best. I’ve been searching and hoping to find a video out there that explains why you need to reverse the declination whether you’re taking a bearing from a map versus a bearing on your compass. Can you offer any insight on that? Thank you!
Terry, what you just described, is probably the single greatest source of confusion when it comes to declination and applying it to using a map and compass. That is why I highly recommend a Compass with adjustable declination. All bearings get measured to true North, and there is zero confusing arithmetic.
@@johngo6283 Thank your for your reply. All 4 of my compasses have adjustable declination, my best compass is a Suunto MC-2G (a $70 compass). Here's where you lost me: " All bearings get measured to true North, and there is zero confusing arithmetic." Can you expand on that thought, or point me towards a resource?
@@terrystephenson984 Well, then, you definitely have a good quality Compass, so that’s a great start.
Here’s an example that I will try to keep it simple.
Imagine you have a map in front of you. You know your current position. The objective of where you want to go is due north of where you are, or 0°.
If you have a compass that has declination adjusted for your local area, for San Diego, 13°, as you mentioned, you put the map away, and turn your compass dial until 0° or north is at the “Read bearing here” mark.
Now, hold the compass flat in front of you, and rotate your body and the compass slowly in a circle, until you have “red in the shed.”
You are now facing exactly 0° due north. Walk until you find your destination.
If you did not have a declination adjusted, compass, after you did this, you would be facing 13 degrees to the right, or east of north. If you were trying to find a small objective over a fairly large distance, say a mile or two, you would be quite a large distance away from your objective.
This is where the subtracting 13° confusion comes into play if you have a less expensive Compass.
Basically, the declamation adjustment on a compass moves the shed to the right, or left from true north. That way when you put red in the shed, you’re compensating for declamation, and can read true North bearings without doing any math.
Hope that made sense.
for best accuracy while using and plotting on a map, is Grid North better than True North?
Good question. It's depends how closely your grid aligns with true north. If your location is somewhere in the middle of a UTM zone, and at a somewhat low latitude, then the grids should align very closely. However, if you get close to the edge of the UT MAs zone, and at higher latitudes, the lines start converging and do not line up with true north so well. If you're calling in an artillery strike, then grid north could be pretty important. For most civilian users, most of the time I think it can be safely ignored.
Tip: If you find the UTM grid does not line up with the edge of the map very well, it's easy enough to use a ruler and draw and some true north pencil lines.
Thank you so much for your reply. I have always dreamed of calling in an artillery strike and… I would love to achieve that precision which is why I asked the question. I figure, if you’re going to do something, do it precisely. Your response was really helpful. Thank you.
Are you sure you don’t want the declination from GN to MN and not TN to MN?
Because of the coming micronova, declination is moving much farther, and much faster and so declination information is likely incorrect My up-to-date declination is 30 degrees, 15 degrees off from the official declination for my area. but there is still a way to recalibrate magnetic declination using the shadow of sticks recording the path of the sun---rotation of the earth has not yet changed. First stick will show East. Mark it with a sharp stick pushed in. After a few minutes you can mark sun shadow travel where the shadow has moved - Push another stick in to mark West. Lay a straight stick from the E mark to the W mark. Geographic north or True North is 90 degrees from the E-W line. With your compass pointing toward True North, note how far off your compass is now. That is your true up-to-date declination. More on micronova in my 2nd book, Surviving the Micronova: This Train Is on the Tracks is available now.
However a good demo, i still didn't find any video ( a this video is no exception) or book that really explain, step by step, in detail how to make the maths (it is more tricky than it seems at a glance) to calculate declination correctly, and not only how to manage it on the compass.
Declination is only important when using a map. I have a compass, with no adjustable declination setting. On a topo map I just lay the compass on the true north line, then carefully turn the map for the declination of the area. I can get a true bearing anywhere on the map. Easy!!!
Yep, that's one way to do it.