Miniature and Button Compasses, your thoughts on.

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Carlton green
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Miniature and Button Compasses, your thoughts on.

Post by Carlton green »

I don’t remember ever seeing anything on these little navigation marvels and maybe such manual devices have all been superseded by electronic gizmos. Whatever, I’ve just bought another four of these for about a fiver including delivery and am very pleased with them. I use the 2cm diameter size enclosed on a small fob. Stick one in your saddle bag and any bag or coat that you use for exploring footpaths, etc. They’re not super accurate but they’re still more than good enough to help you home, their batteries are never flat, they weigh nothing, take no space and cost naff all - what’s not to like.

What are your thoughts on miniature and button compasses?
Don’t fret, it’s OK to: ride a simple old bike; ride slowly, walk, rest and admire the view; ride off-road; ride in your raincoat; ride by yourself; ride in the dark; and ride one hundred yards or one hundred miles. Your bike and your choices to suit you.
Jdsk
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Re: Miniature and Button Compasses, your thoughts on.

Post by Jdsk »

Not for me.

I'm nearly always aware of orientation, to the point (!) where it's a joke in the family. I wear a watch with a clock face. My 'phone has a compass +++. And I take one of my large collection of Silva compasses when I'm walking.

Jonathan

PS: How about silk maps concealed in the linings of clothes? : - )
Carlton green
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Re: Miniature and Button Compasses, your thoughts on.

Post by Carlton green »

Jdsk wrote: 25 Jan 2023, 8:42pm How about silk maps concealed in the linings of clothes? : - )
:lol: :lol:

Well I suppose that’s the history of these things in that they were issued - concealed within uniform buttons - to some service men in WW2 (to help with later escape if captured). When you would otherwise have nothing a 1/2” diameter compass can be a remarkably useful aid.

I’m usually pretty good about orientation too, but occasionally I’m glad of a compass. These tiny things take up no space and cost say a tenth of what a basic Silva compass would cost.

Edit. Have I never got disoriented or simply become unsure of direction? Unsure of direction, yes, it happens from time to time. Disorientated, it’s rare but with shock I recall one particular and unexpected instance that happened in good weather and in an area that I know quite well. Of course in thick mist, falling snow and other reduced visibly it’s remarkably easy to loose your bearings and we normally take additional care. I recall talking to one local man who had visited a particular local beauty spot for decades, he’d been shocked at how one day he had ended up walking around in freezing fog whilst searching for the path home - stuff happens.
Last edited by Carlton green on 26 Jan 2023, 8:27am, edited 1 time in total.
Don’t fret, it’s OK to: ride a simple old bike; ride slowly, walk, rest and admire the view; ride off-road; ride in your raincoat; ride by yourself; ride in the dark; and ride one hundred yards or one hundred miles. Your bike and your choices to suit you.
axel_knutt
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Re: Miniature and Button Compasses, your thoughts on.

Post by axel_knutt »

When I was at primary school I had a pair of Tuf Wayfarer shoes with animal tracks moulded on the soles and a miniature compass in the heel. My father was rather miffed that they were expensive and didn't last very long, so I never got any more fashion accessories after that.

Latterly, my fellwalking compass is a Silva 15-TD, much more convenient to use with the declination offset.
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RickH
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Re: Miniature and Button Compasses, your thoughts on.

Post by RickH »

axel_knutt wrote: 26 Jan 2023, 12:15amLatterly, my fellwalking compass is a Silva 15-TD, much more convenient to use with the declination offset.
Although we are seeing the very rare, possibly unique, alignment of all 3 Norths at the moment in Great Britain.
Ordnance Survey wrote:Early November 2022 will see geospatial history being made when true north, magnetic north and grid north combine at a single point in Great Britain for the first time ever.

According to calculations made by Ordnance Survey (OS), Great Britain’s national mapping service, the historic triple alignment will make landfall at the little village of Langton Matravers just west of Swanage in early November and will stay converged on Great Britain for three and a half years as it slowly travels up the country. (https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/newsro ... at-britain)
Former member of the Cult of the Polystyrene Head Carbuncle.
simonhill
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Location: Essex

Re: Miniature and Button Compasses, your thoughts on.

Post by simonhill »

I have one and used to carry with me when travelling, mainly for urban use with a guidebook map. Much underestimated for urban use.

If walking in a city it is easy to slowly loose sense of direction if streets not on a grid. Also exiting an underground station can leave you completely disoriented. Funnily enough, decided to leave it at home this trip as I now use compass on phone.

I first started using when I went to Morocco. The souke in Marrakesh is famous for getting lost in and people often pay to be led out. With map and compass I managed to thwart the many guides who offered to help me, for a price, of course. Much to their frustration.
thirdcrank
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Re: Miniature and Button Compasses, your thoughts on.

Post by thirdcrank »

It sounds like something Rohan might consider for their outlet branches - and it would have been a boon to Father Ted
:wink:
Galactic
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Re: Miniature and Button Compasses, your thoughts on.

Post by Galactic »

I have a wee compass on my bell, and use it regularly when touring. As said above, not particularly accurate, but nevertheless useful when the sun's hiding behind the clouds and I'm unsure which fork in the road to take or am navigating blind down small lanes not marked on the map.

The pros of having it on the bell is that it doesn't get lost, and no need to dig it out of the pannier/bar bag when I want to use it.

The cons are that unless I'm going along very smooth tarmac, I have to stop to read it because vibrations make the needle swing. Also that the steel of the bike throws the needle a variable amount, depending on which way my bike is facing. I'm used to that from boats and have a rough idea of how much to correct the compass reading, but it's still a minor pain.

Been using it (and its predecessors) for over 14 years, and wouldn't want to be on tour without it.

EDIT removed picture because it shows up a brown lines, but it was a cheap bike bell in the shape of a cup with a spherical compass in it.
Carlton green
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Re: Miniature and Button Compasses, your thoughts on.

Post by Carlton green »

axel_knutt wrote: 26 Jan 2023, 12:15am When I was at primary school I had a pair of Tuf Wayfarer shoes with animal tracks moulded on the soles and a miniature compass in the heel. My father was rather miffed that they were expensive and didn't last very long, so I never got any more fashion accessories after that.

Latterly, my fellwalking compass is a Silva 15-TD, much more convenient to use with the declination offset.
That’s interesting in a number of ways. I remember those Tuff brand shoes and had a pair too, they were OK but what’s interesting to me is that they met a perceived need: boys wanted to have a compass with them and had an interest in the footprints (copied on the sole) that animals left. My recollection is that the compass wasn’t much good and taking your shoe off to read it wasn’t practical - it sold shoes though.

For fell walking it would, I think, be unwise not to take a decent field / base plate compass with you plus a suitable map. Of course having a button compass with you in addition, as a back-up, can surely only be helpful - they are limited in what they can do but still capable of being helpful. A sighting compass (similar to the Silva referenced above) can cost £40 https://silvasweden.uk/collections/outdoor-compass . My recent purchase of Button Compasses cost me £4-50 for four including delivery, within appropriate expectations they all work just fine. :)

It’s really a case of horses for courses: if you expect to have to do serious navigation then a decent quality base plate compass is ideal, but if you only want a feather weight and exceedingly compact directional guide for casual, unexpected or occasional use then an inexpensive button compass could be just the thing.
Last edited by Carlton green on 26 Jan 2023, 10:04am, edited 2 times in total.
Don’t fret, it’s OK to: ride a simple old bike; ride slowly, walk, rest and admire the view; ride off-road; ride in your raincoat; ride by yourself; ride in the dark; and ride one hundred yards or one hundred miles. Your bike and your choices to suit you.
ANTONISH
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Re: Miniature and Button Compasses, your thoughts on.

Post by ANTONISH »

On one occasion I was trying to navigate without a map using a small compass.
After a few miles it struck me that the needle had been wrongly magnetised and was pointing south rather than north.
Carlton green
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Re: Miniature and Button Compasses, your thoughts on.

Post by Carlton green »

ANTONISH wrote: 26 Jan 2023, 10:03am On one occasion I was trying to navigate without a map using a small compass.
After a few miles it struck me that the needle had been wrongly magnetised and was pointing south rather than north.
:lol: :lol: Funnily enough I found a cheap sighting compass (plastic ‘army’ type) with a similar defect in one of our local parks. I took the compass apart, rotated the magnet through 180 degrees relative to the direction indicating disk it was fitted to, and correctly reassembled it, an interesting exercise - well I found it so. That compass was taken back to the park and left on display next to other lost items, someone claimed or took the compass within a couple of days; I hope that having that compass brings them joy.

For the very low price that we pay for mass manufactured goods there are inevitably going to be some quality assurance failures. Wrongly magnetised or wrongly painted? Surely it doesn’t really matter that much so long as the user understands which end is actually pointing North :wink: .
Last edited by Carlton green on 26 Jan 2023, 10:37am, edited 1 time in total.
Don’t fret, it’s OK to: ride a simple old bike; ride slowly, walk, rest and admire the view; ride off-road; ride in your raincoat; ride by yourself; ride in the dark; and ride one hundred yards or one hundred miles. Your bike and your choices to suit you.
st599_uk
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Re: Miniature and Button Compasses, your thoughts on.

Post by st599_uk »

I know on yachts, you pay some knowledgable type to swing the compass and correct for the large lump of metal in the engine bay.

How does a small compass mounted on a large metal bike get affected?

I can see that a Silva held away from the bike - or taken away from the bike whilst laying out a map may be better.
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Carlton green
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Re: Miniature and Button Compasses, your thoughts on.

Post by Carlton green »

st599_uk wrote: 26 Jan 2023, 10:33am I know on yachts, you pay some knowledgable type to swing the compass and correct for the large lump of metal in the engine bay.

How does a small compass mounted on a large metal bike get affected?

I can see that a Silva held away from the bike - or taken away from the bike whilst laying out a map may be better.
This old thread refers: viewtopic.php?t=75972

Each to their own and what they know works for them. Personally I’m conscious that a compass reading can be thrown out by nearby steel / iron and try to use them accordingly.
Don’t fret, it’s OK to: ride a simple old bike; ride slowly, walk, rest and admire the view; ride off-road; ride in your raincoat; ride by yourself; ride in the dark; and ride one hundred yards or one hundred miles. Your bike and your choices to suit you.
Jdsk
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Re: Miniature and Button Compasses, your thoughts on.

Post by Jdsk »

st599_uk wrote: 26 Jan 2023, 10:33am I know on yachts, you pay some knowledgable type to swing the compass and correct for the large lump of metal in the engine bay.

How does a small compass mounted on a large metal bike get affected?

I can see that a Silva held away from the bike - or taken away from the bike whilst laying out a map may be better.
Just been out to the garage with a Silva. The steel framed bikes had a very large effect.

Jonathan
tenbikes
Posts: 462
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Re: Miniature and Button Compasses, your thoughts on.

Post by tenbikes »

The biggest problem with button compasses is they tend to be low quality.

Anyone know of an oil filled quality item?
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