Compassing 101

Ahhh, the compass. It's a simple device, hardly more than a strip of magnetic steel swinging on a pivot, but—in the right hands—a compass can lead one across thousands of miles over land and sea virtually anywhere in the world. We won't be doing anything quite so ambitious as sailing around the world, but mastering the compass is a vital skill every letterboxer should have in their toolbox.

The focus of this tutorial is not, however, about using a map and compass. Map reading is certainly an important part of letterboxing, but that will be left for another tutorial on another day. Here, we're just focusing on the compass. This tutorial is divided into several lessons, each progressing to a higher level of skill and sophistication.

"No, I'm telling you, north is that way!"

• Compass Terminology
  This section will describe the parts of a compass, and what letterboxers should look for in a compass they are planning to purchase.
• Following & Finding Bearings
  If there's one skill a serious letterboxer needs, following a bearing is it. But if you need to provide bearings for a clue of your own, we'll cover that too.
• Triangulation
  For a more challenging compass experience, a clue might require you to triangulate the position of a letterbox. It takes a little extra work, but you're well on your way to mastering the compass with this technique.
• Declination
  Rarely does a letterboxer need to worry to about declination—the difference between true north and magnetic north—but knowing it exists and when to account for it is a useful skill.
• Improvised Compasses
  It happens to every letterboxer eventually. You're out on in the field, hunting down your prey, and then you realize: No compass. You forgot your darned compass. Don't give up hope just yet, though. Sometimes, you can improvise!