While on expedition you will be expected to navigate through wild country using a map and compass, no GPS navigation allowed here!
Navigation is taught by your trainers while preparing for expedition, it will then be reinforced by your supervisor while you are on your practice expedition, you should be taught everything you need to know about maps and compasses before you go out on the hill and then have it clearly demonstrated and perform different methods of navigation while in wild country by your supervisor.
Compasses all work in the same way, they have a magnetic needle that always points north but some are better than others. You can buy compasses for as little as £2 but you will struggle with them, they will be difficult to read and likely fall apart by the end of your expedition.
Silva make a great range of compasses and although they are more expensive will last well and be easier to use and read, be careful to avoid the ‘military’ compass as this reads in a different scale and is not really suitable.
I would always choose a Silva type 4 for myself, it is one of the more expensive ones but has a very useful ‘romer’ scale built into the compass, this makes accurate pinpointing on the map much easier.
Whatever compass you get for your navigation make sure it has the 1:25000 and the 1:50000 scales on the side, some compasses also have a 1:40000 scale which is useful if you are using the Harveys walking maps.
When buying a map there are a few choices, I would always buy the Ordnance Survey maps as I believe these cover pretty much everything required on D of E.
- 1:25000 Paper (explorer)
- 1:25000 Laminated (explorer) (weatherproof)
- 1:50000 Paper (landranger)
If you use the 1:25000 Laminated maps then you will not need a map case, while using these I always remove the cardboard cover as this will then allow them to be folded to the section you require with the minimum of fuss and bulk.
The 1:25000 paper maps are lighter and need to be used in a weather proof map case, I would also remove the cardboard cover to reduce bulk and make folding easier, I also cut these maps down to the area required, not much weight saving there but they are much more manageable. This is my personal choice and would always go with this option.
the 1:50000 maps have less detail but cover a much larger area for their size, this may be a good option if the navigation is not so difficult and you are covering a large area.
If you decide to use a paper map then the map case will need to be big A4 size and light enough that you can fold the whole thing in half with the map inside to put in your map pocket. Some people like to carry them around their neck, this is down to personal preference, I find it irritates me and will always keep it in a pocket while not using it.
