🧭 Learn Your Weapon: The Compass

• Hold It Flat, Einstein: That needle’s not just decorative. Keep it level or it acts drunk.

• Red In The Shed: Turn the dial until red lines up inside the orienting arrow—“red in the shed” means you’re heading the right way.

• Set Your Bearing: Pick your direction and lock that sucker in. That’s your holy line—stick to it.

• Sight Along That Line: Find a distant landmark on your path. March straight. Rinse and repeat.

🗺️ The Map Ain’t Just Pretty Paper

1. Topo Maps Rule: Look for USGS-style maps with contour lines (aka “squiggly elevation spaghetti”).

2. Orient It Like A Pro: Match the map to the real world using your compass—lines up North to North.

3. Find Your Freakin’ Location: Use terrain features like rivers, peaks, or weird-ass rock formations to find your spot.

4. Plot A Course: Mark checkpoints, use your compass to walk from point A to B like a backwoods badass.

🔄 Compass + Map = Pure Navigation Mojo

Use your compass to shoot a bearing, then transfer that to the map. Or flip it: take a line on the map and shoot the bearing to hit it in the wild. This ain’t Hogwarts—it’s just smart geometry with a splash of dirt.

💀 Watch Out For These Rookie Screw-Ups

• Using magnetic instead of true north without adjusting (hint: declination matters, dummy)

• Forgetting to check your six and ending up back where you started

• Trusting your phone’s GPS more than your own two eyeballs

🧠 Pro Tip: Tie Paracord To Your Compass

Not for looks, slick. A wrist loop keeps it from becoming bear bait when you're crawling through brush, cussing up a storm.

🍻 Bear’s Parting Shot

You can’t Google your way outta the woods. But you can strut out like a damn warlord with a compass and some smarts.

Stay Sharp, Stay Savage,
Conrad “Bear” Becker

P.S. Ever actually used a compass to save your own hide—or just carryin’ it for the ‘Gram? Hit reply and gimme the dirt.