>>2868921
the red part points up and the bottom points down
you can find little gnomes inside metal if you get too close to the refrigerator or big knives

>>2868921
I think 99% of people can read a compass. I think maybe 80% could use a compass. And I think maybe 15% could 'properly use' a compass.

>>2868921
in can read a compass but i cannot into the adjustments to find true north

>>2868921
Yes, I autistically try to navigate as little as possible with gps.
A quick search suggests 3/4 of people think they can. That's frankly an absurd number.
Yes, always bring a compass.

>>2868923
You're way, way overestimating that. Even amongst my sailing friends >>2868924 is the standard and that's people that should know.

You're "skilled" at compass and map navigation if you can sustain 2° or less at night over land.

I raced offshore yachts and served as navigator on Maxis when I was seventeen. Loran C was a backup to traditional techniques and we didn't have gps. Today, I backpack long distances using map and compass, and I own no gps.

All /out/ should own a Suunto MC 2 global needle, or a baseboard second-best, with clear base and learn to use it. The batteries never fail.

- gramps

>>2869083
I don't think that most people even know that magnetic declination is a think so they just assume that all they have to know is that the compass points north

I can read different kinds of compasses and apply them to maps. I know the stars in my part of the world by month and can navigate with them. etc. As others have said, the number of people who think they can is obscenely high compared to those who actually can, which is percentage wise probably in the very low teens.

>>2868921
I can read one, but I can't triangulate anything even with a map. Never learned how.

File: Compass.jpg (3.6 MB)

>>2868921
I'd guess 95% of people know that a compass "points North".
Of those, I'd say if you handed them a compass, maybe 60% would be able to tell that North is where the red part points. Unlike the one in OP's picture, most compasses I've seen have the needle and the degrees on separate pieces. It's fairly common for people to open a compass and just assume N points to North, even if the N doesn't move when they turn around.
Halve that number again for people who would know how to hold it flat and away from metal.
Of those who can accurately find North with a compass, probably 10% would be able to accurately take a bearing. Not even going to factor in declination.
So my guess is about 3% of the population.

I regularly use my compass for work and the amount of my coworkers who refuse to carry one because they prefer just using the one on their phone (which really means just walking in a random direction until the gps indicator moves North) is astonishing. Not that we actually need precise bearings most of the time, but being able to whip out a compass and see which general direction is North in a fraction of a second is more useful than you might think a lot of the time.
Trying to do something which does require a precise bearing (like laying out boundary lines) is infuriating, because I'm the only one who can actually use a compass to find a straight line. This is in an industry where how to use a compass should be standard knowledge.

>>2869115
I'd say anything in the double digits is probably overestimating.

File: compass-face-wind-rose-dial-260nw-1442881595.jpg (16.6 KB)

>>2868924
Navigation maps have an annotation of how many degrees true north is off from magnetic (since it varies depending where on the planet you are).
So instead of lining the needle up with N (or 0°) you just line it up with however many degrees the map says to compemsate for.

File: Magnetic-North-300x297.png (58.8 KB)

>>2869726
So if I was at blue X on this map, I adjust the needle (previous pic) to point at how many degrees my map says magnetic north is off from polar north (true north) and now the N S E W markings on my co mpass are aligned correctly.

>>2869726
>>2869727
And ya I know thats kind of a shitty set of pics to illustrate because shit gets weird when you start getting close to the poles (everything just becomes "south"), but it should be clear enough to understand. If not then you probably shouldnt be allowed away from camp by yourself to begin with.

File: ss012100013-a-30-nh-usgs-compass-front-1280x1280px.jpg (113.5 KB)

>>2868921
I learned how to navigate with map and compass last summer, I wouldn't call myself an expert or anything but I can pretty confidently navigate in the daytime at least. If "read a compass" means being able to use a map and compass to take a bearing, account for magnetic declination, and successfully reach a destination, my guess is it's less than 10% for sure. More would be capable if you taught them, but not everyone for sure.

I think they're important to have in the backcountry. I still take a Garmin eTrex just to mark important locations and have as a backup, but GPS can easily become a crutch and crutches make you weak if you cling on to them.

>>2868921
The needle points north and you orientate yourself in the direction you need to go knowing that?
Is there something I'm missing?

>>2869838
magnetic declination. it will throw you off by potentially miles over a long enough travel distance. solution: memorize roughly the declination for your area, or keep an atlas with the compass which should have the declination either printed or hand-scrawled on it

>>2868921
>Can you read a compass?
Yes
>What % of the population do you think can read a compass?
Of the outdoors crowd maybe 10%
>Do you think they are important to have innawoodz?
Depends what you are doing. In winter they are absolutely essential but in the summer I have been fucked over too many times by magnetic rocks to use them for navigation and find it's better to just learn to read a map.
>you can do triangulation using a map and compass without ever knowing what the numbers on the compass are or which way is N

the little arrow thing points north right?

>>2869933
if you never hike long distance though, is it worth knowing or keeping in mind?

>>2870329
Well....
When you get lost and dont know what direction to go "only 50 meters from the trail" turns into "body was found in a ravine 3 miles away" pretty damn fast.