Be Expert with Map and Compass [Paperback]

Bjorn Kjellstrom (Author), Carina Kjellstrom Elgin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 9, 2009

The classic map and compass navigation guide-revised for the age of GPS

GPS devices are great, but they can break, get lost, or easily be hampered by weather conditions, making basic map and compass skills essential for anyone who spends time outdoors. This popular, easy-to-use orienteering handbook has been helping people find their way for more than fifty years. Now updated to include information on GPS as well as current Web sites, references, sources, and photographs, it remains the book of choice for professional outdoorsmen, novice orienteers, and outdoor organizations as well as teachers, scout leaders, recreational hikers, hunters, and others around the world.

Coverage includes understanding map symbols; traveling by map alone, by compass alone, or by map and compass together; finding bearings; sketching maps; and traveling in the wilderness.

• Explains basic map and compass skills clearly
• Fully updated edition, including information on GPS
• Includes up-to-date Web site addresses, references, and sources
• Features a fresh, rugged design
• Ideal book for beginners

If you're looking to feel more comfortable in the wilderness, this updated guide is an indispensable reference.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

The classic map and compass navigation guide—revised for the age of GPS

"Required reading for the beginner in map and compass work, as well as for those interested in serious orienteering. In simple, clear, concise terms the basics of map and compass work are described and illustrated."
—George T. Hamilton, Appalachia

GPS devices are great, but they can break, get lost, or easily be hampered by weather conditions or physical obstructions. That's why basic map and compass skills remain essential for anyone who spends time outdoors today. This popular, easy-to-use handbook has been helping people find their way for more than fifty years. Updated with current Web site information, photographs, and more, it covers traveling by map alone, by compass alone, or by map and compass together. It features:

• Clear, concise instructions for using a map and compass effectively

• Exercises to help you learn and practice your orienteering skills

• An introduction to the basics of competitive orienteering

• Useful references for further information

• Tips on using your GPS device in concert with map and compass techniques

If you're looking to feel more comfortable in the wilderness, this book will teach you the skills you need for safe outdoor navigation for hiking, hunting, or just for fun.

About the Author

The late Björn Kjellström was a Swedish champion in orienteering who loved to share his passion for the outdoors. His writings on the subject have been published in several languages. He helped invent the modern protractor-based compass and cofounded the internationally renowned compass company Silva. He is credited with introducing orienteering to the United States. He was also one of the founders of the Swedish and U.S. Orienteering Federations.

Carina Kjellström Elgin developed her love of nature and of orienteering by literally following in the footsteps of her father, Björn Kjellström, on daily childhood excursions.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 3 edition (December 9, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470407654
• ISBN-13: 978-0470407653
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (43 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #29,726 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #34 in Books > Sports & Outdoors > Hiking & Camping > Excursion Guides
  • #63 in Books > Sports & Outdoors > Hiking & Camping > Instructional
  • #78 in Books > Sports & Outdoors > Nature Travel > Adventure

More About the Author

Björn Kjellström, an enthusiastic outdoorsman, experienced wilderness traveler, and cross-country skier, is a former Swedish champion in Orienteering. His writings on the subject have been published in several languages. He was one of the founders of the Swedish Orienteering Federation, the first of its kind in the world, and also of the U.S. Orienteering Federation. He was a director of the U.S. Orienteering Federation for several years and was vice president of the International Ski Federation from 1951 to 1979. He was born in Sweden and now lives in Pound Ridge, New York.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

194 of 201 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Vastly Overrated and Outdated, December 3, 2004

By 

Peter - See all my reviews

This review is from: Be Expert with Map and Compass: The Complete Orienteering Handbook (Paperback)

This was the first book I ever bought on the subject of using a map and compass. It was recommended by everyone I knew, as there wasn't a whole lot else out there at the time, and it had been in print since 1955. Today, about the best I can say for Kjellstrom's book is that it is better for beginners than the rambling "Sierra Club Land Navigation Handbook" (revised edition or not), but that's about it. The illustrations in "Be Expert With Map and Compass" are few and small, and the book has an ancient feel to it, with outdated references and quirky language (it's been in print for nearly 50 years, and the author died over 10 years ago when in his nineties). A smaller criticism is the tiny format and paperback-size pages - difficult to lay flat and read while attempting to orient the map or set the compass (you'll have to practice this stuff in the field, remember).

The age of Kjellstrom's book is revealed in the obsolete recommendations on adjusting the compass for declination, where the hoary old methods of memorizing rhymes or worse, of drawing magnetic declination lines all over your map with a pencil (usually inaccurately) and obscuring important detail is advocated. The latter method, still practiced by orienteering or adventure racing competitors (who get nicely pre-marked magnetic-oriented maps or draw their lines at home on a draftsman's board with a protractor), it's not easily accomplished without error using only a ruler. And if you have to improvise in the field, imagine doing it in the wind on some rock with only a compass baseplate for a straightedge! Modern books recognize better methods: either buy a compass with adjustable declination, or else tape a separate pointer for local east or west true declination for your area onto your compass baseplate. Simple, easy, and virtually error-proof.

A more serious problem is that fully half the book doesn't even deal with real-life wilderness navigation, but is instead devoted to the unrelated sport of orienteering and the setting up of orienteering races (a fine sport, but with little relevance to practical backcountry navigation with its use of special large-scale maps and simplified compasses used only to orient the map to north). Learning how to set up control points and course lines for orienteering races ISN'T going to teach you how to navigate in remote backcountry! Worse, this emphasis on orienteering means that the book completely omits important material: advanced map/compass navigational techniques, sun/star navigational methods, position-finding, latitude/longitude and UTM grid systems, navigating in certain specialized environments and climates, etc, etc. - information a wilderness navigator ought to know.

To conclude, the book is simply outdated, inadequate, and slow-reading in comparison to modern map/compass guides (my first recommendation: 'The Essential Wilderness Navigator') that will teach you much more, and more quickly.

43 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very easy to use and understand orienteering book, July 14, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Be Expert with Map and Compass: The Complete Orienteering Handbook (Paperback)

Completely foreign to this subject I was searching for a book to use to teach our homeschool group about orienteering and map reading. The book has an excellent method of learning about mapping and using the compass with hands on projects for a group. The kids had a grand time with the classes and the parents learned a lot, too. Loved all the references that were included to order maps and supplies.

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Introduction, May 8, 2001

By 

Bukkene Bruse (Iowa) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Be Expert with Map and Compass: The Complete Orienteering Handbook (Paperback)

Be Expert with Map and Compass provides a good introduction to land navigation and the sport of orienteering. The first two sections discuss how to navigate with a map alone and a compass alone. Separate discussions of these two components give the reader a strong understanding of how they work and how they can be useful. The third section then deals with the combined use of map and compass. These sections gently move up in difficulty and make navigating with a map and compass easy to learn. The last section is an introduction to the sport of orienteering and provides information on how to get involved, the rules of the game, and how to set up a competition. Even if you are not interested in competitive orienteering, the book is a good way to learn how to get about with a map and compass.