Map Making

Part of Navigation

A hand-drawn map of your territory is worth more than any single tool. It captures knowledge that took days or weeks to gather, and it transfers that knowledge instantly to anyone who looks at it.

Why Maps Matter After Collapse

In a functioning civilization, maps are everywhere — phones, car navigation, printed atlases, satellite imagery. After collapse, all of that vanishes. Your world shrinks to what you can see and what you remember. Memory is unreliable, especially under stress. People describe distances differently, forget turnings, and confuse landmarks.

A physical map solves these problems. It records the position of water sources, shelters, danger zones, trails, and resources in a format anyone in your group can read. It enables coordinated movement — scouting parties, foraging routes, escape plans. It grows over time as you explore. A good field map is the foundation of territorial knowledge.

You do not need training or artistic skill. You need a flat surface to draw on, something to draw with, and a systematic method.

Materials

Material	Purpose	Sources
Paper or card	Drawing surface	Notebooks, books (blank pages), cardboard, birch bark
Pencil	Drawing (erasable)	Offices, schools, homes
Charcoal stick	Drawing (available anywhere)	From any fire — burn a stick, sharpen the end
Straightedge	Drawing lines	Any flat stick, ruler, strip of stiff material
Compass	Orienting the map	See Compass Building
Pacing cord or string	Measuring distance	Any cordage marked at intervals
Protractor (improvised)	Measuring angles	Draw a semicircle with degree markings using geometry

Weatherproofing

If your map will be carried outdoors, protect it. Rub candle wax or rendered fat lightly over both sides to make the paper water-resistant. Alternatively, store it in a sealed container (a zip-lock bag if available, or a lidded tin).

Step 1: Choose Your Baseline

Every map starts with a known line — the baseline. This is a real, measured line between two identifiable points in the landscape that becomes the foundation of your entire map.

Selecting baseline points:

• Choose two landmarks that are clearly visible, permanent, and at least 100 meters apart. Farther is better (200-500 meters ideal).
• Good choices: a distinctive tree, a rock outcrop, a building corner, a stream junction, a hilltop cairn.
• Bad choices: anything that can move, rot away quickly, or be confused with similar features nearby.

Measuring the baseline:

• Pace the distance between your two points. To calibrate your pace: walk a known 100-meter distance (measured with a rope or tape) three times and average the number of paces. Most adults cover 100 meters in 60-70 double paces (left foot, right foot = one pace).
• Record the measured distance in paces and convert to an approximate meter value.

Step 2: Set the Scale

Scale tells you how distances on the map relate to distances on the ground. Choose a scale before drawing anything.

Map Purpose	Suggested Scale	1 cm on Map =
Camp/settlement detail	1:500	5 meters
Local area (1-2 km radius)	1:5,000	50 meters
Regional (5-10 km radius)	1:25,000	250 meters
Route map (long distance)	1:50,000	500 meters

Example: You want to map a 2 km radius around your camp. At 1:5,000 scale, 2 km = 2,000 meters = 40 cm on paper. A large sheet of paper or cardboard works. At 1:25,000, the same area fits in 16 cm — more practical for smaller paper but less detail.

Draw a scale bar on the margin of your map: a line labeled with real-world distances (e.g., “0 — 100m — 200m — 300m”). This lets anyone measure distances directly on the map.

Step 3: Establish North and Draw the Baseline

1. Stand at baseline point A with your compass. Take a bearing to baseline point B.
2. On your paper, mark a point for A near one edge.
3. Using your compass bearing, draw a line from A in the correct direction relative to the north arrow. Mark point B at the correct scaled distance along this line.
4. Draw a north arrow at the top of the map (or wherever north falls). Label it “MN” (magnetic north) if you have not corrected for declination, or “TN” (true north) if you have.

Always Label North Type

If your map shows magnetic north, anyone using it with a compass gets consistent results. If it shows true north, compass users must apply declination correction. Mixing the two without labels leads to dangerous errors.

Step 4: Triangulation — Fixing Positions of Distant Features

With your baseline established, you can locate any visible feature without walking to it.

The Triangulation Method

1. Stand at baseline point A. Take a compass bearing to a distant feature (a hilltop, building, water tower, etc.). Draw a line from A on your map in that direction, extending it far across the page.
2. Walk to baseline point B. Take a compass bearing to the same feature. Draw a line from B on your map in that direction.
3. Where the two lines cross is the position of the feature on your map.

Accuracy depends on the angle of intersection. If the two bearing lines meet at close to 90 degrees, the fix is most accurate. If they meet at a very shallow angle (under 30 degrees or over 150 degrees), small bearing errors produce large position errors. Choose baseline points that give good intersection angles for important features.

Improving Accuracy with Three Bearings

Take bearings from three different points instead of two. The three lines will form a small triangle (called a “cocked hat” or triangle of error) instead of a single point. The feature lies somewhere inside that triangle. The smaller the triangle, the more accurate your bearings.

If the triangle is large:

• Check for metal objects near your compass during one of the readings.
• Re-measure from the station with the most suspicious bearing.
• Suspect a local magnetic anomaly at one of the stations.

Step 5: Adding Features by Traverse

Not everything can be triangulated from a distance. To map trails, streams, or forested areas, you need to walk through them.

Compass-and-Pace Traverse

1. Start from a known mapped point.
2. Take a compass bearing along the path ahead to the next turning point or feature.
3. Walk to that point, counting paces.
4. On the map, draw a line from your starting point in the compass direction, at the scaled distance.
5. At the new point, take a bearing to the next leg. Repeat.

This traces out your route on the map. At each turning point, also note and draw any features you can see: stream crossings, clearings, notable trees, buildings, slopes.

Common traverse errors and fixes:

Error	Cause	Prevention
Route does not close (loop misses start point)	Accumulated bearing and pace errors	Adjust errors proportionally across all legs (distribute the closure error)
Features do not align with triangulated positions	Compass reading taken near metal	Re-walk the offending leg away from metal objects
Scale seems wrong	Pace count inaccurate on steep terrain	On slopes, add 10-15% to your pace count — steps are shorter uphill

Step 6: Terrain and Elevation

Showing terrain on a hand-drawn map without contour lines requires simplification.

Hachure Marks

Short lines drawn perpendicular to slopes, pointing downhill. Closer together = steeper slope. Wide apart = gentle slope. This is the oldest method of showing terrain and requires no measurement — just observation.

Spot Heights

At hilltops, valley bottoms, or other significant elevation changes, estimate the height difference from your baseline and write the number on the map. Even rough estimates (“hilltop ~50m above camp”) are valuable.

Form Lines

Freehand lines that follow the approximate contour of the terrain. Unlike precise contour lines, these are drawn by eye from observation. Dashed or dotted to distinguish them from measured contours. They give a general sense of ridge lines, valleys, and flat areas.

Step 7: Water Features and Vegetation

Water is the most important feature on any survival map.

• Streams and rivers: Draw with double lines for wide water, single lines for narrow. Add arrows showing flow direction. Mark fording points (shallow crossings) with a symbol.
• Springs and water sources: Mark with a distinctive symbol (a small circle with a dot). Label “reliable” or “seasonal” if known.
• Swamps and wet ground: Horizontal dashes or a conventional marsh symbol.
• Lakes and ponds: Outline shape, shade lightly.
• Vegetation boundaries: Mark edges of forest, open ground, dense brush with approximate lines. Label the type.

Step 8: Map Margins and Metadata

Every useful map includes:

Element	Where	Purpose
North arrow	Upper margin	Orientation
Scale bar	Lower margin	Distance measurement
Date created	Lower corner	Timeliness of information
Creator name	Lower corner	Who to ask about details
Legend/key	Margin	Symbol definitions
Grid reference system (optional)	Overlay	Enables precise position reports

Creating a Grid System

For settlements with multiple people using the same map:

1. Draw a grid of evenly spaced horizontal and vertical lines over the map. Spacing depends on scale — 1 cm spacing at 1:5,000 gives 50-meter grid squares.
2. Number the vertical lines (eastings) left to right: 01, 02, 03…
3. Number the horizontal lines (northings) bottom to top: 01, 02, 03…
4. Any point on the map can now be referenced by its easting and northing: “water source at grid 05-12.”

This makes verbal communication about map locations precise. Instead of “the stream near the big rock,” say “stream crossing at grid 07-09.”

Updating and Copying

A field map is a living document.

• Carry a working copy into the field. Keep the master safe at camp.
• Add new information in pencil on the working copy. Transfer confirmed additions to the master with ink or heavy charcoal.
• Date every addition. Information ages: trails get blocked, water sources dry up, shelters decay.
• Copy critical maps by tracing. Lay thin paper over the master and trace the features. Every scouting team should carry a copy.

Common Mistakes

• Not establishing a baseline. Without a measured, oriented baseline, you are just sketching — the relative positions of features will be wrong.
• Forgetting slope correction. Distances measured by pacing on slopes are shorter than horizontal map distances. On a 30-degree slope, measured distance is about 15% longer than horizontal distance.
• Mixing magnetic and true north. Label clearly. Pick one and be consistent.
• Drawing too much detail. Include only features useful for navigation and resource location. An overloaded map is harder to read than a sparse one.
• Not weatherproofing. A map that dissolves in the first rain is worse than no map — it gives false confidence until it fails.

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Key Takeaways

1. Start every map with a measured, oriented baseline between two identifiable landmarks. Everything else is built from that foundation.
2. Set a scale before drawing and include a scale bar so anyone can measure distances.
3. Use triangulation (bearings from two or more known points) to fix distant features, and compass-and-pace traverses to map routes and nearby areas.
4. Always label whether north is magnetic or true. Include a date, scale bar, legend, and creator name in the margins.
5. A map is a living document. Update it continuously, keep a master copy safe, and make tracings for field use.