Why have an Orienteering Course?

Every day of our lives, every time we travel somewhere, we orient ourselves by the street signs, and landmarks that we see in our field of vision. That is ever so prevalent when visibility is low as in a fog or blizzard, or at night. We watch the side of the road, until we get to a street sign or a landmark, then we know where we are at.

Orienteering is practicing those abilities until we can navigate a relatively new area quicker and quicker, and not get lost. Every move we make is in a specific direction and distance. We don’t measure them because we see our relative position from objects around us (triangulation) and we know we can turn after we get to the side of the chair for example.

Everyone talks of the importance of the compass, however the only ones that seem to use and depend on them are aircraft pilots and sailors.

We are told to take a map and compass with us when we go hiking, or off-road, or snow mobile riding, but how many do?

May I suggest that when we have used the basic compass it has never really been that accurate. That compass course we did as scouts we didn’t really get that close! Besides who can go in a straight line anyway, except aircraft and boats?

At the beginning of my courses whether a compass course or an orienteering course I have a Compass Deviation Station, so that you can determine the total deviation that your compass and you have. The total of the earth’s magnetic variation, local magnetic fields, and magnet attractors like belt buckles, pens, keys, pocket knifes, watches, rings, fences, cars, nails, rebar, etc.

There is also a length where you can pace a known distance and divide that known distance by the number of steps (paces) that you took to get there, an that is your feet per step you walk. Walk normally so you don’t look like an ostrich.

Compass courses;

My compass courses have however many points you would like, and the course is set up with the order that you would like visitors to visit those points, then a true course (+- 1 degree) and distance (+- 1 foot) is determined between each point.  I use true course because then the visitor just has to add their compass deviation, and head on their way.

My true bearings are actual true bearings, not magnetic bearings and then calculated back to true bearings. Therefore my true courses are accurate to +- 1 degree. My distances are measured and triangulated to also have a high accuracy. Making for a much more successful course, and much more rewarding. 

Orienteering courses;

My orienteering courses are set up as you request. They can be training courses or competitive, and they have the same accuracy of true bearings and distances. My points are not determined by GPS alone, because the GPS inaccuracy gets added the further into the course you go. So GPS gets me in the area then triangulation pinpoints the points to within one foot.

So my Points and true bearings and distances are accurate to within 1 degree and 1 foot. Only a surveyor or military surveyor can get more accurate.

 Orienteering Equipment:

All you need for a compass course is a compass, and a map. Compasses are pretty standard and most organized compass courses have compasses available to rent. The map is made by the sponsors of the event and can be anything from copies of map made with a pen and pencil to computerized maps made with some kind of CAD software. Of course shoes that fit well and are made for a little bit of the hard work only add to the experience. Once you are an orienteering pro there are all kinds of ways to make your orienteering experience more fun.

Skills for Orienteering;

Probably the most important skill in orienteering is being able to orient the map. Not only able to orient the map to north, but to orient it to the direction you want to travel. So that it becomes that mini screen that shows you the big picture.

Probably the next most important skill is being able to know your feet/pace and be able to count your paces so you go the correct distance. Remembering your count is harder than you think.

You also need to be able to sight a bearing into the distance and pick a good visible point to run or walk to.

Being aware of the relationships (bearings) between you and the landmarks around you, makes it easier to be position aware. Which helps you make a passable route to your control point.