Do not orient a map - when using with a compass

Never change! A minutes worth of your waffle teaches us more than an hour's worth of some other YouTube channels! Thank you.

Don't worry any worry about editing out "irrelevant" material, the waffle is part of the charm of your videos!

I quite enjoy the inclusion of the medieval history references. In fact, combining map reading and these locations, especially considering most travel shows dealing with medieval history, never get more than a few meters away from roadways really adds to your commentary.

You absolutely don't have to orient your map but it doesn't hurt to do it. I always do it becaue it makes life a little easier🙂 I find it's easier to teach map skills to newbies when you orient your map as they can visualize whats happening along with the explainations they are given.

that last bit on the origin of the word "orient" was by FAR the most fascinating! Bravo!

I understood what you meant from the start. I was taught map reading by the Army, and use whatever method ‘works’ best. Taking a bearing from the map is not affected by the direction the map points in. How you hold a map when you’re walking, hiking or running, in inclement weather, is important. If you want to minimise your time scrutinising your map, it’s worth developing a method whereby a quick glance at your map keeps you on track? That might mean orientating your map, holding it in position, your thumb on your destination or target enabling you to make quicker navigational decisions. It isn’t rocket science, but as you point out map reading in itself is enjoyable, gaining the skill is great fun, it’ll spur you on to other adventures as your confidence increases. Your explanations are clear and concise, much better than mine could be. I like that you count contours, a profile tool so often missed by so many people. Thanks for a great vid.

I was trained old school, stumbling out in the woods, with stones and sticks in my pocket to count my steps on a bearing I checked over and over as the terrain changed only to end up exactly on the road or landmark I was aiming for at exactly my pace count. This stuff works!

You present your videos brilliantly and please don’t stop adding the “off topic “ history information as it’s very interesting! Thank you 👍🏻😎

I don’t care what anyone says, I love the history tidbits and would miss them if they weren’t included. It appears that so many others enjoy them as well! I say we all give a very strong thumbs up in hopes that you start a second channel that is exclusively about history (and a few science tidbits too!)

I was taught to orient maps to north in Scouts, as a way of helping figure out where I was. Find north with the compass, turn around until you're facing north with the map pointing north, and work from there. I think rotating on the spot was a way of making sure the expensive maps didn't get dropped into mud. I even do it with road maps now, when trying to solve the issue of where I've ended up while trying to find somewhere else, in an area that looks exactly the same as where I was 50 miles ago. Useful when google isn't cooperating. There's nothing wrong with the waffling. Education is always good!

Hello from Ohio in the USA. Fairly new to the channel and very much enjoying it. You are a good teacher and I appreciate the time and effort you put into your content! If you were to ask me, I’d encourage you to keep waffling and sharing the history and your insights. I enjoy learning, not only land navigation, but history. I had no idea what the cross was that was your destination. And then you pointed to the remains, a pole standing by a wall in the middle of nowhere…Then your history lesson made it all clear and I thank you for that

Fascinating waffle indeed, please keep it coming. I learned more in your 15 minute video than at any other map lesson that I have ever attended. 👍

I attended an orienteering course where this was the most difficult concept for some students to grasp. We were in a classroom setting plotting a route and yet they were fixated on the needle. They couldn't understand that they just needed to measure the angles.

As a small child, I remember a poem referencing Banbury Cross. By far you have the best videos on land navigation.

Boy am I glad to see your video on this topic! Ever since I started watching navigational videos It bugged me whenever someone would start out by saying that you need to orient your map when you first start doing anything. You explained this perfectly! I absolutely love watching your videos so keep on waffling.

Do NOT stop "waffling" as you so charmingly call it. I absolutely enjoy every "waffle". Nothing so enhances a trip or journey as looking for what came long before! An "Over-The-Road" Trucker in the States. Greetings and best wishes from Tennessee, USA.

Imagine if the navigator on an aircraft carrier had to swing the ship around to the north every time he wanted to take a bearing from his chart. Love the channel, you've inspired me to dig out my old topo sheets and compass. Good luck!

Most military use lensatic compass, which can’t be easily used to determine an accurate azimuth to follow. One uses a protractor, then inputs that number on their compass and off you go. The Silva you had eliminates that extra steps. I learned to read maps without turning them 95% of the time (only turning on especially complicated areas). I also often used a compass calibrated in Mils (6400 Mils in a circle). The Artillery uses that simpler measurement instead of degrees, minutes, and seconds. (Much like the metric vs imperial).

I personally think this channel needs to go viral or this video at least - anybody with 1 million followers😅?! This is the absolute best channel on this topic especially with the added history lesson and very charming waffle😂 we have all learnt so much from this master! He deserves credit and recognition. I've shared it to my contacts... let's all share it!❤🎉🎉

The reason the army does how it does, is because of lowest common denominator. Its easier to visualize for any recruit, if you point everything to the north. So a compass will help you find north, but if you lost it, you only need another way to estimate north, but the rest of procedure is basically the same. What I'm trying to say is, having a similar standard for orienting in under all circomstances, is easier to remeber when under pressure.