Navigation Supplies

Navigation supplies for the hiker, camper and survivalist. From this page you should be able to find the supplies for your navigation needs.

Knowledge – is the very first tool that everyone should have. Batteries can fail, compasses can break, but knowledge will never fail you.

Topographical maps – these maps are good for plotting your course around streams, cliffs, ridges and other terrain. Topographical maps, the compass and the GPS all go hand in hand.

Compass – has been the main means of navigation since the middle ages. This is something that every hiker, camper and hunter should have in their pack.

Global Positioning System – also known as a GPS. These are hand held units and are usually powered by AA batteries. They work by locating satellites in earths orbit and then triangulating your position.

Lets start out with a list of books. The first part of learning navigation is educating yourself on the topic and understanding basic terms. When you hear the words azimuth, bearing, heading, UTM – there should be no doubt as to what they mean.

After you have a basic understanding of “how” navigation works, how its time to move onto map reading.

Compasses – for real navigation purposes, they come in 2 basic flavors – lensatic and map. Some people call the map compass a “walkers compass.”

The Lensatic Compass – are mostly used by military organizations around the world and have a hard plastic case that protects the face of the compass. These are designed for rugged use, which a lot of hikers and campers like.

Map Compass – are usually flat, and have nothing to protect the face of the compass.

And finally, here we are at the GPS units. Everything before this point is a must have – you must have knowledge, you must have a TOPO map and you must have a good compass. A GPS is a luxury item. With experience, knowledge, map and compass, the GPS is not a necessity – most of the time that is.