Even an experienced hiker will forget about gear that is carried in the field that potentially impacts a digital electronic compass. by Blake Miller  While teaching a community college class on land navigation, a student asked me what affects a GPS receiver’s electronic compass? This is a great question and offers an opportunity to assess [...]

Topographical maps have many parts, and if you’re going to use one effectively, understanding how the pieces fit together is really important. In this article, navigation expert and teacher Blake Miller discusses the map scale information, and makes some suggestions about what scale is best for your needs. By Blake Miller Dictionary.com defines map scale [...]

To many beginners, a topographical map is a mass of squiggles, lines, colors, graphs and confusion. Land navigation expert Blake Miller explains how to read the three norths diagram at the bottom of the map, and how to adjust your compass accordingly to use this information.

Ever wished you could find someone to answer your land navigation questions? Like some of the most basic starter queries, such as How Do I make Sense of a Topographical Map? or  How do you find your way around, when there are no roads? Land navigation is the topic of this special SurvivalCommonSense.com weekly update. [...]

There is no substitute for a good compass, and the ability to use it. Since getting lost is generally the causal factor in most wilderness emergencies, it just makes sense to stay found to stay out of trouble!

Before technology entered the backcountry world of the outdoors, the primary and proven tools of navigation were a map and compass. Compass navigation remains an important component of the “Ten Essentials” for wilderness travel. Knowledge of how to use map and compass takes education and practice. Further, such knowledge will enhance GPS navigation as many [...]

How many times have you said to yourself or have heard others say, “I am just………” as in “I’m just going to walk up the ridge and see if I can see a deer,” or “I’m just going to be out for fifteen minutes”? This sentiment can cause a survival situation, and here is how you can avoid that.

When you hear or read that your GPS is accurate to 15 meters, just what does that mean to you in the backcountry? Land navigation expert Blake Miller explains.

  I met survival expert Peter Kummerfeldt during one of his “Myths of Survival” presentations at the Central Oregon Sportsmans Show several years ago. With no idea of who this guy was, or his abilities, I sat in on the seminar out of curiosity. At the end of the hour-long session, I followed Peter back [...]

Sign up for our Email Newsletter A 68-year-old man died in a sleeping bag in his truck after he got stuck in the snow while camping in February and kept a log of nearly 70 days spent apparently stranded in east Linn County’s high country, authorities said today. To read the complete story, click here. [...]