| Hiking along the wilderness trail, you take in | | | | Who was the first person recorded in history to |
| everything around you. The sights of the colorful | | | | use a compass as a tool for finding locations? |
| wildflowers. The sounds of the chirping birds. The | | | | That was Zheng He, who lived between the 14th |
| feel of crisp autumn leaves underneath your | | | | and 15th centuries. In the first half of the 15th |
| boots. Then suddenly the sky darkens, thunder | | | | century, he made several trips on oceans, using a |
| echoes around you, and then rain douses you like | | | | trusty compass. |
| a football coach after a Super Bowl victory. To | | | | Bearing with bad weather |
| find your campground or Berlin Ohio Lodging, you | | | | With some exceptions, today's campers are |
| search in your camping backpack for your hiking | | | | landlubbers, but compasses can still function as |
| map. It's not there! So you pull out your digital | | | | helpful navigational tools. Here are some tips to |
| compass from your backpack, trying to | | | | use your digital compass in particularly bad |
| remember the coordinates that will get you safely | | | | weather: |
| to shelter... | | | | 1. Fire Away. Use a point at a middle distance and |
| Compass creations | | | | another point beyond that point, to help you walk |
| Today's camping digital compasses are more | | | | on a bearing. To get a more precise reading from |
| advanced than ever, to help you navigate in even | | | | your digital compass, line up the two points as |
| the nastiest of weather. But like any other piece | | | | you would line up a gun's sights. |
| of camping equipment, it's evolved from humble | | | | 2. Reading on the lines. Using a map and digital |
| beginnings. | | | | compass can be difficult to align your compass's |
| Historians generally believe that the Chinese | | | | edge alongside a bearing on the map. Utilize the |
| invented the compass during the Qin dynasty. | | | | lengthy black lines positioned inside the base-plate. |
| That period was roughly from 221-206 B.C. | | | | 3. Table for one. When you need a level surface |
| Fortune tellers used something called a lodestone | | | | for your map, bend your knees until they're |
| to build their fortune telling boards. Lodestone is a | | | | parallel to the ground. Voila! You have a table to |
| mineral that's created from a blend of oxygen | | | | help you take bearing. |
| and iron. | | | | 4. I Am Compass. When using the compass to |
| A lodestone is able to line up itself in a | | | | hike on a bearing, make the compass part of you. |
| North-South bearing. This innovation would | | | | Always turn your body, rather than your hand. |
| ultimately be related to using a digital compass | | | | Imagine that the compass is a laser beam that |
| today, in order to locate a campsite or Berlin Ohio | | | | links your line of sight, an imaginary line down the |
| Lodging when it's raining cats and dogs. | | | | middle of your body, and a line along ground. |
| Within time, someone made a vital discovery: the | | | | 5. Shelter from the storm. If your compass |
| lodestones could be used to show actual | | | | keeps icing up or the winds are high, get inside a |
| directions. The first compass was built on a piece | | | | location, such as a shelter, where you can take a |
| of material shaped like a square. It included | | | | vital bearing and recover from the elements. That |
| markings for the directions North, South, East and | | | | will allow you to get to your campground or Berlin |
| West; as well as constellations. | | | | Ohio Lodging faster. |
| The first compass's needle was a lodestone piece | | | | The elements are as old as the hills. Fortunately, |
| that was shaped like a spoon, and it always | | | | the invention and evolution of the compass gives |
| pointed Southward. | | | | today's campers a crucial tool in weathering the |
| Sometime during the 700s AD, the Chinese | | | | storm-literally! |
| ditched the lodestones for magnetized needles. | | | | |