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UdemyLifestylePaid courseBeginner levelCertificate

Basic Land Navigation: How to Find Your Way and Not Get Lost (Udemy.com)

Practical ways to find your way across the terrain using only a map and a compass to guide you.

4.6
713 reviews

Created by: Reid Tillery

Last updated November 2019

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What you will learn

  • Use a topographic map for orientation and a compass for direction to find your way across the terrain.

How it compares

Against the other 418 rated Udemy courses in Lifestyle on CourseDuck:

  • Rating4.6 out of 5higher than 47% of them
  • Reviews713#118 of 419 by number of reviews
  • Length4 hourslonger than 69% of them
  • Last updatedNovember 2019earlier than 74% of them

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Course Description

The specific purpose of this course is to provide you in easy-to-learn chunks the information you need to become a competent map-and-compass land navigator. You'll find useful information on path finding, compass use, and map reading.

Lectures include how to use any lengthy terrain feature as a "catching" feature or a "handrail." Plus, you'll see how to use a compass (including a military lensatic compass and protractor), including how to work with magnetic declination. You'll see why "aiming off" makes such good sense. And you'll see why dividing your trip into numerous legs, each ending at a "checkpoint" can help you find your may across great stretches of terrain.

We'll go over the time-honored navigation practice of dead reckoning, and how to use it under conditions of limited visibility, such as at night, or when you're fogged in or "greened in" by thick foliage.

We'll also cover USGS topographical maps, including how to read contour lines, measuring distance on the map, and interpreting depictions of terrain features.

You might be asking yourself "Why do I need to know all this stuff if I have a GPS?" And the answer is "While GPSes are great, they should supplement, and not replace good low-tech backup navigation skills based on the proper use of map and compass."

Besides the course lectures, students will receive in the form of downloadable PDF files, two books I've written on land navigation. These books supplement the Udemy lectures. Total course completion time is about 8 hours.

Those needing land navigation skills include:

·hikers, hunters, outdoor photographers

·military personnel

·orienteers.

·search and rescue personnel

·wilderness medical personnel

·anybody else who wants to learn

Read More Beginner Beginner Level product length iconTime: 4h

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Instructor Details

Reid Tillery

All my life, beginning in early childhood, I've had a passion for the outdoors. My book--Surviving the Wilds of Florida--was my labor of love for how to take care of yourself in my home state's great outdoors. I'm a Wilderness Emergency Medical Technician, certified through S.O.L.O. To further improve my competency in the outdoors, I've studied navigation--both land and marine--extensively. Although I'm competent with a GPS, and have taught classes in GPS, my philosophy is for safety's sake one should know low-tech navigation first, then graduate to GPS. I taught at the college level for 14 years--four years as a graduate teaching assistant at the University of Georgia, and ten years at St. Johns River Community College, here in Florida. I love learning, and I love teaching. I especially love learning and teaching outdoor skills.

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Reviews

4.6

713 ratings on Udemy

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By Nic Cicero on 8/28/2026

This course is excellent for beginners who have no clue about what a compass is. I thought he would go a bit deeper into the interpretation of the maps itself. He didn't do that as I thought he would. He touched a little bit in lecture and that's it. However, what this professor explains, he does it very well. Also, I didn't like too much his explanations of the lensatic compass. I believe that he could have done much better. In conclusion, the course was good but I thought I would more information of the course.

By Debra Cantwell on 6/15/2025

I was generally looking for some basic info to brush up on my map reading skills in preparation for trekking in the Alps, but I have really appreciated all the information covered here! The instructor provides detailed and easy to understand instructions with great visuals to help get the point across. This course is giving me some much needed confidence as I dip my feet back into the navigation world. This course is very well done; I highly recommend it for anyone that might be "rusty" on such an important topic!!!

By Jose M. Pantaleon on 1/31/2025

Let me start by saying that I found this course to be well done. and I will be recommending it to others. That said there are two items that kept me from giving it a full (5) stars. First and most important to me was the section on declination, this was an area that I initially struggled to visualize. While the explanation was straightforward, a visual representation of adding or subtracting based on west or east declination would have been helpful. Again this course was very comprehensive and I have more confidence in going out and practicing what I have learned. Thank you

By Karen C Mastervich on 2/6/2023

It is a good match, however, I would prefer some actual examples versus only showing the concepts on a map. So - describe the concept on the map and then a short video - on this is how it actually looks when navigating on land.

By Mark Sebastian on 10/6/2021

This is a great course. It is interesting and fun. I learned a lot and I feel I can use basic navigation get to where I want to, to be able to detrmine where I am, and make course corrections along the way. Even though I use GPS, have this knowledge as a backup is great. Thanks Reid for a wonderful course. I recommend it to anyone who wants to learn basic navigation skills.

By Vincent on 10/23/2020

If land navigation is something you want or need to get good at this course is the best way you can start.

By Luke Harris on 10/21/2020

This is a great course to get you oriented (oh, horrible pun alert) to land navigation. I thoroughly enjoyed and would recommend.

By Tom Ho on 10/15/2020

Great course! would like a better explanation for the "Military Mills" ....for example, it is use for directing artillery fire onto a target. ( at a distance of 1 km, 1 Mil will represent deviation of 1 m )

By Dan Larson on 10/6/2020

Excellent class, covers basic to advanced

By John Harrison Watts on 10/2/2020

Great course. I learned a lot. Thank you.

By Kyle D'Silva on 9/24/2020

Highly recommended.

By Jacob Currie on 8/13/2020

This was a Great course! It easily demystified many awkward concepts and I feel much more confident navigating off trail!

Showing 12 of 106 reviews

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Overall Score : 92 / 100

Basic Land Navigation: How to Find Your Way and Not Get Lost
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  • Video Duration: icon 4h
  • Price: $15.99
  • Provider: icon Udemy
  • Updated: icon November 2019
  • Level: Beginner Beginner
  • Language: icon English
  • Certificate: icon Yes
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