Instructional and Reference Tools and Materials
I teach a Wilderness Navigation Class at West Valley College, in Saratoga, CA for the Parks Management Department. As part of that class I have developed a number of handouts and reference cards over the years. Many of my customers are learning various aspects of navigation and coordinate systems, some of them are instructors teaching classes of their own. It my goal to share my instructional resources as widely as possible.
Handout Reference Sheets
The reference sheets listed here are mostly available for free with your order, all you need to do is add them to your shopping cart. For instructors, I have priced the sheets at about what it costs me to print them in full color on both sides of the paper. There are not any minimums or package sizes, just order as many of whichever sheets you want for your classes.
If you are in a hurry or would prefer to print the sheets yourself, follow the link to the individual sheets, and you will find a link to download a pdf file.
Using UTM Booklet and Plastic Reference Cards
My instructional booklet "Using UTM with your GPS" and various plastic field reference cards are also listed below.
Slides and Handouts from my Class
Here is a link to the most current set of handouts, slides and other resources for my Wilderness Navigation Class. It's organized by class day which is good for my students but not the best if you are looking for info on a specific topic. The slides are in a 9 slides per page pdf format. If there are slides you would like to use for your class, check some of the links I discuss below. If you still don't find the slids you are looking for, email me with specifics of what your interested in, and I'll send you the original files. Note I create my slides in Apple's Keynote, I can export to PowerPoint for you. But I can't fix things that are not quite right in the PowerPoint versions.
Here is another page with materials from my class , organized more by topic than class schedule. Alas this page tends to lag behind, and is not as current as the previous one.
Tutorials and Videos
This site is full of written tutorials and video tutorials on all sorts of navigation topics. Instructors please fell welcome to use these materials in your classes. All I ask is that you give me credit, and point you students to the maptools.com web site as a useful resource.
Custom Declination Reference Card
Understanding the three different north references and how and when to convert between them is one of the most difficult things to learn as a land navigator.
If you are new to all of this I'd recommend that you first visit our North Reference tutorials and videos.
- The written tutorial is here: North References for Navigating with Map, Compass and GPS
- The videos are here: Using your Compass with a Map
When you create one of these reference sheets, you'll start with the location where you will be using it. We will figure out the current magnetic declination for that location and calculate the Grid Convergence angle from True North. No need to rely on out of date declination values from an old map.
Next you get to tell us about your map and how you want to use it, and decide which north reference you want on your compass.
- Which north reference is "up" on you map, True or Grid?
- Which north reference do the north reference lines on your map represent, Grid, True, or Magnetic?
- Will you set your compass up to read bearing relative to Magnetic, True, or Grid North?
Click here to design your own declination reference sheet.
Large Classroom Training Aids
Several of our tool types have large classroom versions that can be use to demo the use of the tool in front of a class full of students.