The Cheap Baseplate Compass And Why I Like It
Okay. Before we do anything else, we need to talk about the actual tool in your hand.
If you went and bought something for this class, I hope you bought cheap. If you haven't bought one yet, go cheap. I'm serious. This is maybe the one class where I'm actively telling you not to spend more money.
What you actually need
A basic baseplate compass. Clear plastic base, rotating dial (called the bezel), a needle that floats in liquid, some hash marks. That's it. You can get one at the sporting goods store for well under 20 bucks. Mine cost less than dinner out.
You do not need:
- A sighting mirror
- A built-in thermometer
- Glow-in-the-dark anything
- Bluetooth. Yes, that's a real thing now. No.
Why I'm not just being cheap for the sake of it
I bought the fancy one once. Sighting mirror, the whole deal, thinking it would make me better at this. It didn't. It made me fussier. More parts to line up, more steps between "I want to know where I am" and "I know where I am." I went back to the cheap baseplate one and I've never looked back.
Here's my actual opinion on this, and I'll die on it a little: the cheap baseplate compass beats the expensive one for beginners. Fewer parts to fumble means you'll actually use it instead of leaving it in a drawer because it feels complicated. The mirror compasses are for people who already know what they're doing and want to shave off a little precision at long range. That's not you yet. That's not most of you ever, honestly, unless you get way into this.
Simple tools get used. Complicated tools get admired and left at home.
The parts you'll actually touch
Three things matter on this compass:
- The baseplate. The clear plastic ruler part. You'll lay this against the map.
- The bezel. The dial you twist. It's got degree marks, 0 to 360.
- The Needle. Floats in a little liquid-filled housing. Red end points to magnetic north, always, unless something's actively messing with it. Which brings me to a warning.
Metal will wreck you
Keep your compass away from metal. Water bottles, car keys, your phone, belt buckles, all of it. The needle reacts to metal like it's got a personal grudge.
I learned this teaching my sibling Amber a bearing on a hike years ago. She held the compass flat right next to her big steel water bottle and the needle just spun. Wouldn't settle. I stood there for a solid ten minutes trying to figure out what was going on before I realized what was six inches from the housing. Nobody tells you this going in. I'm telling you now. Get your metal stuff away from the compass before you trust a reading.
Why we're standing in a parking lot for this
This whole module, we're doing this flat, in a boring lot, on purpose. No wind, no elevation change, no pretty view to distract you. I like teaching it here because if you can only use a compass when the conditions are calm and nice, you can't actually use a compass. You've just got a nice paperweight.
Practice in a parking lot before you need it up the canyon. That's not me being unromantic about the outdoors. It's me wanting you to build the motion into your hands somewhere low stakes, so when you're actually up a trail and a little rattled because the fork in the path doesn't match what you expected, your hands already know what to do without your brain having to think hard about it.
What we'll do today
I'll talk for a few minutes, then I'm putting a compass in your hand and you're going to do it wrong a couple times. That's normal. That's actually the plan. I'd rather you mess up a bearing here, in a lot, with me standing right next to you, than mess it up for the first time somewhere it actually matters.
I'll walk around and help people one at a time rather than lecture at the whole room, so if you're stuck, just wave me over. I won't make a thing of it.
One quick gut check before we start
Look at your compass. Find the Needle. Is there anything metal on you or near you right now? Keys in your pocket, phone on the table, that kind of thing. Move it a couple feet away before we take our first bearing. Small habit, saves you a headache.
Before next time: if you haven't bought a compass yet, grab a basic baseplate one this week, nothing fancy. Bring it, and bring the map if you've got one from last session.
Thanks, Jason