Now, time to be careful!.
It is extremely important that the red,
north part of the compass needle points at north in the compass housing.
If south points at north, you would walk off in the exact opposite direction of what you want!
And it's a very common mistake among beginners.
So always take a second look to make sure you did it right!
A second problem might be local magnetic attractions.
If you are carrying something of iron or something like that,
it might disturb the arrow.
Even a staple in your map might be a problem.
Make sure there is nothing of the sort around.
There is a possibility for magnetic attractions in the soil as well,
"magnetic deviation", but they are rarely seen.
Might occur if you're in a mining district.
When you are sure you've got it right,
walk off in the direction the direction of travel-arrow is pointing.
To avoid getting off the course,
make sure to look at the compass quite frequently,
say every hundred meters at least.
But you shouldn't stare down on the compass.
Once you have the direction, aim on some point in the distance, and go there.
But this gets more important when you use a map