Knowing what your bearing should be is key when using your compass. You will become a pro at bearings after your first couple of orienteering events while working on the Orienteering Merit Badge along with working on your Second Class rank.

Steps on taking a simple bearing:

1. Hold the compass, flat in one hand, centered on your body.

2. Rotate your body and compass until the direction of travel arrow points where you want to go.

3. Rotate the bezel of the compass until the north bearing (0°/360°) lines up with the red / magnetic north arrow.

4. Your bearing of direction is indicated on the bezel where it meets the direction arrow.

In this example our bearing is 240°

Your smart phone’s compass or car’s compass works this same way. Instead of you turning the bezel, your phone or car automatically indicates where magnetic north is and only gives you the bearing degree of travel.