Navigation Videos

Learn to use Purple Pen software to set an orienteering course. An Ocad map file of your area is very nice to have as a base layer, but you can use an air photo or other graphic as well. The software is available for free.

Caltopo offers FREE high-quality detailed topographic maps. Learn about map layers, shaded relief, drawing marker points and lines, importing and exporting GPX files, and printing.

This is a tutorial covering the 3 main functions of the app Gaia GPS: importing a track, downloading map layers, and adding a waypoint and navigating to it. Gia GPS works on both iPhone and Android platforms. For most recreational users, this $20 app can replace an expensive GPS receiver.

This video covers the main features of the Suunto M3 compass. As of 2014, this compass is about $35 and is one of the best choices for wilderness navigation. Buying a compass can be confusing. Your local outdoor store might have many different models, from a cereal box toy to an $80 top of the line version.

The single most basic step in using a compass is to align the magnetic needle to the orienteering arrow on your compass. A little memory jog to remind you to do this is "put red in the shed". What's that all about? Let's have a look.

Taking a compass bearing to a landscape feature is an important basic navigation skill, and it's really easy to learn. Here's how to do it. First, we'll go over the correct way, and then I'll show a few common mistakes that you want to avoid.

One of the primary compass skills is walking on a particular bearing or direction. You can think of a bearing as a direction expressed in degrees. You could say "I need to walk east" or you could say, "I need to walk on a bearing of 90 degrees".

One of the main times when map and compass are used together is when you want to measure a bearing between two points on a map. It;s easy to do, but there are also two common mistakes you want to be sure and avoid. Here's an example of when you might need to do this.

This video covers the fourth of the four core compass skills: measuring a bearing to an object in the field, and then plotting that bearing on your map. There are two reasons why you might want to do this. One is to identify a landscape feature.

This video coves how to orient your map, using two different methods. The term "orienting the map; has two slightly different meanings. Many people hold a map the same way all the time, with north at the top, just like you're reading a magazine.

Today, you'll learn a great way to measure distance on a map - with your fingers. Any decent map should have a scale bar. There's various ways to measure distance using the scale bar, but I think fingers are the best.

Learn to adjust the declination on your compass. Trying to add or subtract your declination is needlessly confusing! I highly recommend using a compass with adjustable declination, because it makes using a compass a LOT easier. For a long time, compasses simply didn't have adjustable declination.

Learn all about magnetic declination and compass use. Learn what it is, why it changes in different locations and over time, some examples of when you do and do not need to worry about it, and finally what's the best way to deal with it.

This is the clearest and most concise explanation on Youtube about the UTM coordinate system. We start with an overview of how the UTM system works, then you'll learn how to read coordinates from a map, how to plot coordinates onto a map, and we'll finish with a few good mapping and smartphone resources.

Learn how contour lines show elevation on topographic maps. We go over definitions and examples of contour lines, index contours, and contour interval. This video is part of a series on wilderness navigation and orienteering. See the complete series on our YouTube channel, or at our website, www.croc.org

Learn to read contour lines to see terrain features. You may know that contours are lines of constant elevation on a map. But contour lines can show more then height.

This video is the clearest explanation you'll find on YouTube about map scale and measuring distances on a map. Learn about the three different types of scale (and the pros and cons of each), using unusual objects such as a twig and your finger to measure map distance, and using printed grids to quickly estimate distances on your map.

Here's the most comprehensive video you find on YouTube covering both web and a smart phone tips for wilderness navigation.

Learn how to use free web tools (Peakbagger, Caltopo, Google Earth and Gaia GPS) to do pre-trip navigation planning for wilderness travel. Our example is for mountaineering, but the basic techniques work for mt. biking, hiking, XC skiing, or just about any other kind of backcountry trip. Here's what we'll cover: 1.