Compass

Using a compass with a map

The page walks you through four steps; the bar at the bottom says what to do in each.

1. Route. Tap the map where you start and where you want to go. “Start at my position” puts the first pin on you. Drag a pin to move it; tap it to remove it. The line between pins shows the bearing and length.
2. Lay. The compass is laid with its arrow from the start towards the goal, as you would lay a real one with its long edge along the route. Drag the plate to move it, and turn it with the round handle at its tip (or Shift and the mouse wheel).
3. Set. Now only the ring turns: drag anywhere on the compass, or use the ↺ ↻ buttons for single degrees, until the lines in the capsule run parallel with the blue north lines on the map, with the N on the ring towards the top of the map. The number at the mark above the ring is your bearing.
4. Follow. The compass is now fixed to the map. Turn on the phone compass and hold the phone flat. Turn yourself until the red end of the needle sits inside the red outline (“red in the shed”): the arrow now points where you should walk.

Tap a step’s name to go back to it, or tap a line between two pins to lay the compass on it.

The edge of the plate is a ruler in the map’s current scale. The needle points to magnetic north, which is a few degrees off the map’s north. Set the difference (declination) for where you are, east positive; the north lines and the needle follow it. Look it up at NOAA’s calculator.

Maps © OpenStreetMap contributors, with Kartverket and OpenTopoMap as other layers. Drawn with Leaflet.