Geocachers Invited To Orienteer
Orienteering New Brunswick puts on orienteering meets in the Moncton, Saint John and Fredericton areas each spring and fall. There are many similarities between geocaching and orienteering, and geocachers are invited to come out and give orienteering a try. Instruction is provided for newcomers.
You can check out the calendar of events on Orienteering New Brunswick’s website. There will also be a night orienteering event with instruction during the Victoria Day long weekend in Fundy National Park.
Come on out and give it a try. If you have any questions, contact heathtree at hj@orienteering.nb.ca.
superwife & i are QUITE interested in this.
should be fun!
I forgot to mention there will be an orienteering event on Mother’s Day at the Hopewell Rocks at low tide. You’ll be racing to find controls hidden in specific caves and outcroppings. It’s a fantastic event and it only takes an hour. You can also grab an earthcache and complete a challenge while you’re there.
that sounds really fun.
Didi and I are really looking forward to attend this in Fundy. Hate to say it, but there is a lot I need to learn about a compass. Heathtree, I should buy myself one were you can use that little tool to adjust the declination, right? I was at MEC yesterday, and looked at the Silva Ranger (who now has bad reviews compared to the original Ranger) and the Suunto MC-2. Just don’t know enough about compass to make a decision. Any one out there who can help us in our purchase?
Hey Nemo. There are many different kinds of compasses out there, so it depends to a certain extent what you plan to do with it. For orienteering, we use what’s called a thumb compass, so called because it has an elastic band that wraps around your thumb so you don’t lose it while you’re running in the woods. They run around $50 and unless you get competitive at orienteering, that’s probably not what you want.
The two big brands in compasses are Silva and Suunto. I wouldn’t really say that one is better than another, as I’ve bought both and found both worked very well. A good compass has a liquid bezel with the needle floating in it – the ones that have a needle in an air-filled or vacuum chamber simply aren’t as accurate. An inaccurate compass is worse than having no compass at all, because then you have a false sense that you’re going the right way.
You want to get a compass with a baseplate (the circular bezel is mounted on a rectangular piece of plastic) as this is extremely helpful when using a compass on a map and trying to plot a course between two points. This is where an adjustable compass is handy, because you can set the declination. As you may know, there are 2 Norths: True North, which is the pole on which the Earth spins, and Magnetic North, which is a constantly moving spot currently located on an island in the western Northwest Territories. Most maps point to True North, while your compass points to Magnetic North. Declination is the difference between the two, and it’s a figure that is constantly changing and is different depending on which region of the country you’re in. Being able to set the declination right on the compass is handy, and I’d recommend it.
So, after saying all of this, for a good starter compass, you don’t need to break the bank. I think the Silva Trekker 420 from MEC (http://bit.ly/IQk7WJ) is a good way to begin. It’s not too fancy, but still accurate, allows you to set the declination and has a sighting mirror.
At the Fundy Night Orienteering Event, I will spend some time teaching people how to use map and compass. That will mostly be for orienteering, and if there’s interest, I may host another strictly map and compass event in the Moncton Area this spring.
Does this help, Nemo?
Awesome sir! Thanks! Exactly what I needed. I am looking forward to your event in Fundy. We may not do the competition or whatnot, but we will certainly attend your lesson. Tks again!
One last point: if a compass develops a bubble in the liquid bezel, it becomes garbage. The bubble interferes with accuracy. And even with a bubble, they’re still better than the compasses that are air-filled.