When you take compass bearings, you are usually given the distance to travel and direction in a straight line. Often however, you will encounter obstacles that prevent you from doing so.

 How would you overcome them and stay on course? Below are the steps to take. On the ground, you would often find this method impractical, so suggestions are given on alternative methods you could apply to travel in a straight line.

An obstacle, in this case, a fallen tree lies in your path. In this example, lets say your course was 110 degrees.

Step 1:

Make a decision to travel either to the right or the left of the obstacle. In this case, going around from the left seems easier. You must turn at right angles to ensure accuracy. So I will now set my compass bearings to 20 degrees (110 degrees - 90 degrees).

Step 2:

Walk following the new bearing. Keep track of how far you are walking. Keep an eye to your right. Once you see that there is a clear path to your right, stop. This indicated a clear way through and around your obstacle. In the example, I have taken 15 double paces.

Step 3:

Set the compass back to the original bearing (in this example, 110 degrees). Now walk until you have cleared the obstacle.

Step 4:

Set the compass 90 degrees to the right or 200 degrees (110 + 90 degrees). Walk the same distance you did in Step 2. So for this example, I would need to walk 15 double paces.


Step 5:

Set the compass back to the original bearing (110 degrees). Continue with your course. You have successfully maintained a straight line by clearing the obstacle.

Notes:

This method seems pretty nifty in theory, but you will very seldom find such nice situations where you can practice this. A more practical approach to travelling in a straight line would simply be to take your positioning with a prominent distant object that is in line with the course you are heading. Once you note the bearing (which should also be the bearing you are travelling in), break course and circumvent the obstacle. Now to get back on course, make sure the distance object is still at the same bearing you were on previously and continue with your course.