in: JennyJ; JennyJ > 2007-05-07;
| # Posted 2007-05-11 00:11:28 | |
| Kat: | I've been thinking of trying out a base plate compass, but I have no idea how to hold one. Do you hold yours in your right hand? If so, does that mean you look at the map and compass completely separately (other than to set bearings)? And what happens when you run in areas where the vegetation is thick? I usually use my right hand to push branches out of the way (since I hold both map and thumb compass in my left), but if you hold your compass in your right hand, this seems like it would be trickier...
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| # Posted 2007-05-11 16:29:16 | |
| candyman: | I can see that baseplates might be good for vague featureless terrain but surely much slower for anything with complex detail. Why change - maybe you just need to improve your direction with thumb compass? |
| # Posted 2007-05-11 16:53:56 | |
| Kat: | I think I rely on map-reading too much and only use the compass to ensure I am going in the general right direction, which works fine in Sweden, but isn't so good for open runnable areas in England. At the JK in April, where the woods were very runnable, I kept veering off the straight line and then having to correct and I would lose at least fifteen seconds per control each time this happened.
I don't think I will officially change from a thumb compass to a base plate (unless I really, really like it) but I think using it every now and then will force me to concentrate on direction more and this mindset will hopefully carry over to the times I use my thumb compass as well. |
| # Posted 2007-05-11 19:32:40 | |
| JennyJ: | Hey Kat, yep I have my compass in my right hand (with my SI card) and then my map in my left which can be awkward. Some do switch dependent on area eg Steve Palmer but I don't know how easy that is. It seems we should merge as I don't look at the map enough and rely on my compass. You should maybe just try it with a moscow compass in some training/local events just to see what you think. I don't have a problem knocking trees out of the way but using emit is quite tricky...
Oh and don't worry too much about veering off at the JK - I heard lots of people say that and apparently the north lines were possible questionable??? |
| # Posted 2007-05-11 20:32:17 | |
| OJ: | Steve Palmer occasionally took it one step further and used both on the same course - one in each hand. He used the base plate for vague bits then the thumb for detailed bits...not that I would ever recommend that. |
| # Posted 2007-05-12 04:52:31 | |
| walk: | Kat, Make sure you are holding the compass pointing straight ahead. I found that some thumb compasses sat with a natural veer to the Left in my hand (hold compass, map and SI in left). I changed to a suunto which seems better but still must be sure to point it correctly. |
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