Discussion: Alexei's articles about compass use

Alexei had what I thought was a nice article in ONA about compass use. I remember reading something by him in the past about teaching beginners to run the W&Y courses without compass. In both articles he emphasizes that the map is primary and compass is secondary. Is there an online version of the articles? I would like to post them on our NTOA webpage.

Folks down here are, in my opinion, a little compass happy. And then it trickles down to our juniors. It seems like when I ask them how they ran a leg that 50% of the time they say, "Well, I shot an azimuth...." If the leg becomes the least bit difficult, then "shoot an azimuth." I'm probably exagerating but it happens enough that hearing "shot an azimuth" causes me involuntary shudders, cringes and convulsions.

So, as I said, I like Alexei's "map first, compass second" approach and would like to be able to post the articles on NTOA's webpage.

(And don't even get me started on pace counting.)

A slogan for Tom: Save the endangered azimuths! Stop shooting them.

In my ONA, the only article about compass use is by Robin Shannonhouse. It's been around for a number of years and gets frequently reprinted. We put it in our club newsletter every few years. Contact Robin to get a copy and permission to post it.

Tom is talking about a new article in the most recent ONA, which you may not have received yet. I just got mine a few days ago.

Yes, the new Aug. issue. And I suppose it is true that as a very tree-hugging, non-gun-toting sort of guy, living in a "shoot first, ask questions later" sort of state, I'm probably a little bit more sensitive than others to the wanton slaughter of azimuths.

I agreed with 'no compass' on W&Y until I shadowed a group of three bright 10-11 year olds on a White course. They successfully kept track of which trail and which direction they were going on the map. But when they got to a trail junction, 2 of the 3 could not grasp the concept of using the trail they were on to orient the map and dtermine which trail to take. The third grasped the concept, but still struggled to execute it. So I agreed to become their "compass" - whenever the wished, I would point 'north' for them. That was all they needed! They would use my north to orient the map and thereby figure out the trail junction

Lessons learned from a sample of N=3. First, instead of compasses confusing W&Y orienteers, they might find using the compass the easiest way to orient the map (that's why we do it that way!). Second, my role as 'north-pointer' meant that they couldn't try shooting an azimuth or otherwise abuse or rely on the compass.

Also, note that 'shooting an azimuth' is not an everyday term or skill. That is, even though they are beginners, someone has 'polluted' their minds - and the seduction is unfortunately very effective because the beginners lack confidence and skill and someone has offered a majic wand - "It always works!" It's like learning math, cooking or music by rote - such learners can handle only the simplest examples, they lack confidence, and often 'get it wrong'.

Perhaps my accidental finding could become an effective training exercise. Provide no compasses, but provide a shadower as a 'north-pointer' only. It promotes safety and the shadower will learn a lot about how beginners think.

BTW, I an not defending "shoot an azimuth" as a primary mode of navigating for beginners and agree that it is a hard habit to break.

The worst part of the "shoot an azimuth" thinking is that it can get into course setters heads. I've heard more than one course setter brag about how they found a point feature that was completely isolated from all other features so you couldn't just read the map and follow features to the control. Funny, I thought that was rather the point of this sport.

You guys. You shoot azimuths across the field. You shoot azimuths down to the stream. You shoot azimuths in and out of trail junctions! You know what that makes you? Larry!

"Azimuth Shooters."

The online version of the article is
http://www.alexplace.com/Orienteering/2004/Camp030....
It is a part of web page about junior training camp in spring 2004

I've been teaching an O class as part of the Chester County Adult Night School program for several years now. The class includes 3 2-hour classroom sessions and the last session is a group map hike at one of our local events on a Sunday. The 1st 5 hours of classroom work are about reading and understanding the map. We break out the compasses for the 1st time in the 6th and last hour of classroom work. And then only to orient the map.

Adults who had boy/girl scout experience have a difficult time breaking the compass addiction, but I do my best to help them see a better way :)

The first thing boy scouts do when they come to our meets, is "shoot an azimuth"! It's ingrained in their manual and impossible to break.

I don't shoot azimuths. I do the compass hokey-pokey!