Land navigation is a core skill for anyone who spends a great deal of time outdoors. And if you’re Army or Marine Corps infantry, search & rescue, a game warden, or a park ranger, it’s a critical part of your job.
But it’s also one of the outdoor skills that people struggle with the most. There’s almost an air of mystery that surrounds land nav. Like it’s this alchemical magic that’s pulled from the aether and you either have the gift or you don’t, like dowsing for water with a divining rod. (Maybe it’s because there’s magnetism involved?)
I’m here to inform you that isn’t the case. Land navigation with map and compass is a skill set like any other, with defined parameters and individual components. And as such, it can be learned and improved.
I’ve been doing land navigation for more than half my life, as both trainer and trainee, in addition to countless hours doing it for real in the field. In that span, here are the three most common mistakes I see people make time and again that set them up for failure. If you have a grasp of the basics but still consistently suck at land nav, you’re probably doing one of them.
1. Your map work sucks
If your map work is sloppy, you’re starting off on the wrong foot (literally), and there’s not much that you can do once you’re in the field to fix yourself. Even if you follow your azimuth like an arrow and your pace count is on point, if what you drew on the map regarding distance and direction is wrong, it won’t matter.
The most common map mistakes I see are failure to account for declination, not knowing how to use a protractor/grid reader, and improper placement of said protractor/grid reader when making marks or drawing lines.
Declination doesn’t have to be scary. I know when you’re first starting out, it can be a weird concept to wrap your mind around (at least it was for me), but once it clicks, it’s not hard to account for. Military maps in particular are as soldier-proof as possible – they literally tell you what to do. Even if your course has short legs, or the declination in your area is minimal, do it anyway. It reinforces good habits and makes it much more likely you’ll nail it when it really matters.
Like declination, when you’re first starting out, using a protractor isn’t very intuitive. It’s easy to second guess yourself and get one side of the square mixed up with the other, which means the point you plotted will be a few hundred meters off. A great way to reinforce how to read and then plot points is to use known points with known grids as training wheels. Say you know X mountain is at 16 S GC 5427 8349. Have a buddy read you off the grid, and if you correctly plot the mountain on the map, you’re good. If not, always remember right and up – that is, know you’re in the grid square to the right and above the grid line numbers in your coordinates.
The last common map work mistake I see is simply poor attention to detail. Protractors not centered on grid lines, which leads to incorrect azimuths being drawn. Not applying even pressure to a straight edge when drawing a route, so the line is off. Not double checking your work. Guessing rather than verifying. And so on. Tiny errors on a map lead to big errors in the field. Take a little extra time and do your map work correctly, and you’ll save yourself a magnitude of heartache on the ground.
2. You can’t stay on an azimuth to save your life
Even if you’ve done your map work correctly, if you can’t properly follow a heading, you’ll still end up hopelessly lost in the sauce. This manifests itself in a few common ways.
One is drift. If you’re in thick woods, you need to consciously go around trees to the left and right in equal measure. If you’re on a slope, you need to check yourself and make sure you’re not drifting downhill. And if you’re in open terrain, you need to ensure you have a solid, recognizable landmark to aim for or check your compass often so your dominant foot doesn’t push you off course.
Another common pitfall is failure to terrain associate. If you are navigating in distinctive enough terrain with plenty of recognizable features, roads, waterways, and other landmarks, you don’t have to stay nailed to your azimuth. To be fair, in some terrain – flat boreal forests, sandy deserts, or polar tundra – there’s not enough distinct terrain to associate, and you really have to dead reckon. But in most areas, terrain association is a cheat code you can and should use to your advantage to verify your location and stay on track.
Lastly, another common gotcha with staying on azimuth is cutting corners when navigating around obstacles. While you don’t necessarily have to use the box method (although it is the most accurate), if you don’t, you 100% need an identifiable landmark on the far side of the obstacle that’s in line with your heading (for example, a very unique dead tree on the far side of a lake you’re trying to get around). So as soon as you set off, be aware of your steps, check your compass regularly, take note of the terrain around you, and make sure you do the right thing around obstacles – and you’ll do great.
3. Your pace count is off
The third main reason why your land nav may suck is an inaccurate pace count. Distance is a critical factor in accurate land nav, and if it’s off, you will be, too.
Usually where this manifests itself is students stopping short of a point or named area, freaking out because they can’t find it, and then casting about trying to locate it while losing their bearings. Chaos ensues, as they usually either get totally lost or at best have to go back to their last point and re-shoot.
Overshooting points is not typically as much of an issue as long as you have a clear idea of what your destination looks like (such as a well-marked point on a course or a distinct terrain feature) so you know to stop when you see it.
I believe that the reason for pace count being such a common failure point is students simply don’t train on it enough. If the only time you’ve taken your pace count is on a flat grassy field or worse, a parking lot (sadly common in the Army) you don’t know how it changes for steep uphills or downhills, thick brush, swamps, or other weird terrain. Check your pace count and check it often, on a verified pace lane that you can trust, on as many different types of terrain as you’d normally navigate in.
After a while, you’ll get a natural feel for what 100 meters feels like for you, and how many steps your pace varies. Pace counters are also a lifesaver. It doesn’t matter how well you know your pace if you forget your count. For tactical environments, ranger beads are the standard and just fine for real-world navigation in the field, but for competitive courses, I like a pace clicker for the sake of accuracy if they’re allowed. If you have nothing else, the field-expedient backup is to slip either a pebble or a broken twig in your pocket for every 100 meters.
Conclusion
If you can eliminate the pitfalls listed above and do quality map work, stay on your azimuth, and keep a good idea of your pace count, it’ll be almost impossible for you to fail at land navigation.
Whether on a graded course or in the real world, you’ll be a rockstar with a map and compass and never have to second-guess yourself again.
Of course, there’s no substitute for practicing land nav with an experienced instructor in a real-world, hands-on environment. If you’re a true beginner or have minimal experience, Land Navigation Essentials will teach you all the basics you need to know to get around in the field. If you’re already pretty confident with a map and compass and want to get better, or are shooting for an elite military selection and want to make sure you’re squared away, Advanced Land Navigation is what you’re looking for.
We offer both of these courses regularly – you can check them out here, as well as all of the other useful skills courses we offer: https://sarcraft.com/available-courses/
Alex
