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grannyhiker
Member
Joined: 29 Jul 2006
Posts: 3519 | TRs | Pics
Location: Gateway to the Columbia Gorge |
No "like" button for Riverside Laker's post, so I have to go with this!  
May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view.--E.Abbey
May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view.--E.Abbey
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Brushbuffalo
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Joined: 17 Sep 2015
Posts: 1887 | TRs | Pics
Location: there earlier, here now, somewhere later... Bellingham in between |
| Schenk wrote: | | and I have one with an inclinometer which is sometimes handy on ski trips, for curiosity's sake if nothing else. |
This way you can prove to your buddies that the slope you just skied is really only 35 degrees and not 55.  Silva Ranger compasses have an inclinometer.
Speaking of instruments, I learned that until I started carrying an accurate pocket anemometer my estimates of wind velocity were usually about double the true speed as measured and not guesstimated. oops 
Passing rocks and trees like they were standing still
Passing rocks and trees like they were standing still
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Malachai Constant
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Joined: 13 Jan 2002
Posts: 16092 | TRs | Pics
Location: Back Again Like A Bad Penny |
A central point in all navigation is to trust your instruments over your feelings or intuition. If a compass is wrong it will be 180* wrong which you should be able to confirm by position of sun or stars. Sun does not set in east or rise in west on Earth.
"You do not laugh when you look at the mountains, or when you look at the sea." Lafcadio Hearn
"You do not laugh when you look at the mountains, or when you look at the sea." Lafcadio Hearn
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HitTheTrail
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Joined: 30 Oct 2007
Posts: 5455 | TRs | Pics
Location: 509 |
| Riverside Laker wrote: | | Finally, if the fluid has a little bubble in your compass, you can use it as a barometer. |
Great insights!  But you forgot to mention that some of the vintage units were filled with alcohol. So that means if you get frustrated trying to find alternate uses for an ingeniously simple piece of essential gear....just break glass and take a swig.
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SwitchbackFisher
Boot buster
Joined: 24 Feb 2018
Posts: 364 | TRs | Pics
Location: Wa |
The flat surface of a compass makes a good skipping rock 😎
I may not be the smartest, I may not be the strongest, but I don't want to be. I only want to be the best I can be.
I may not be the smartest, I may not be the strongest, but I don't want to be. I only want to be the best I can be.
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Brushbuffalo
Member
Joined: 17 Sep 2015
Posts: 1887 | TRs | Pics
Location: there earlier, here now, somewhere later... Bellingham in between |
[quote="HitTheTrail"]just break glass and take a swig.
Don't think it's the drinkable kind.
Passing rocks and trees like they were standing still
Passing rocks and trees like they were standing still
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gb
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Joined: 01 Jul 2010
Posts: 6306 | TRs | Pics
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gb
Member
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 Sun Apr 08, 2018 1:53 am |
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| burck17 wrote: | | The flat surface of a compass makes a good skipping rock 😎 |
That is my most likely use for a compass as well. Or perhaps as ballast in a windstorm. In my hiking and skiing days I've used a compass just twice. Once in the 70's on the Muir Snowfield in a whiteout and again in the same conditions on the traverse of the Wapta Icefields in 1980. Now days I don't find myself out on an ice field in a whiteout. If I was traveling in flat featureless ice fields on expeditions or in flat boreal woods, out on the ocean or in the Arctic, yes.
The mountainous areas of North America in which I am likely to travel are too convoluted and rugged to make traveling by compass heading practical. Traveling by using handrails or other features and using an altimeter to hold or reach an elevation makes more sense in mountainous terrain absent large ice fields. A map can be easily oriented by alignment with terrain. If I travelled often in bad weather with zero visibility that again would be different; if I was on Mt. Rainier today for instance. But why would I be?
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Brian Curtis
Trail Blazer/HiLaker
Joined: 16 Dec 2001
Posts: 1696 | TRs | Pics
Location: Silverdale, WA |
This is the second time in the past few days I've seen the term "handrails" used. What does it mean?
And like others here, I rarely use a compass. An altimeter is far more useful in our mountains. I still have my old Thommen sitting around somewhere. There are a few areas where terrain is generally flat and treed that a compass is very useful and sometimes the weather gets bad. Of course these days I use a GPSr as my primary navigation tool.
I remember going on a hike in the Winds back in the late 80s with a guy I had never hiked with before. When we went to leave the trail I started off and he asked "Aren't you going to take a compass bearing?" I said, "Umm, no. Why do I need a compass bearing?" and headed up to the lakes.
that elitist from silverdale wanted to tell me that all carnes are bad--Studebaker Hoch
that elitist from silverdale wanted to tell me that all carnes are bad--Studebaker Hoch
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North Cascades
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Joined: 20 Jan 2008
Posts: 155 | TRs | Pics
Location: Desert Exile |
A "handrail" is a navigational feature you can use to stay on course, similar to using a handrail on a staircase. A good example of this would be following a stream offtrail to a lake. In this case, you are using the stream as your "handrail".
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dave allyn
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Joined: 05 Apr 2011
Posts: 428 | TRs | Pics
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A handrail is a feature that can be identified that is always the same direction from you. Road, river, large lake, etc. The idea is that even in a whiteout you could find your way by walking in a certain direction.
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Brian Curtis
Trail Blazer/HiLaker
Joined: 16 Dec 2001
Posts: 1696 | TRs | Pics
Location: Silverdale, WA |
Makes sense. Thanks, Dave and NC.
that elitist from silverdale wanted to tell me that all carnes are bad--Studebaker Hoch
that elitist from silverdale wanted to tell me that all carnes are bad--Studebaker Hoch
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hatchetation
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Joined: 11 Jun 2017
Posts: 37 | TRs | Pics
Location: Seattle |
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Brian Curtis
Trail Blazer/HiLaker
Joined: 16 Dec 2001
Posts: 1696 | TRs | Pics
Location: Silverdale, WA |
Thanks for the links, hatchetation. That was helpful to know that these are orienteering terms. I routinely use all of the concepts on those links, but didn't know the terms.
that elitist from silverdale wanted to tell me that all carnes are bad--Studebaker Hoch
that elitist from silverdale wanted to tell me that all carnes are bad--Studebaker Hoch
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mb
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Joined: 11 Aug 2002
Posts: 507 | TRs | Pics
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mb
Member
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Sun Apr 08, 2018 4:21 pm |
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| Malachai Constant wrote: | | A central point in all navigation is to trust your instruments over your feelings or intuition. If a compass is wrong it will be 180* wrong which you should be able to confirm by position of sun or stars. Sun does not set in east or rise in west on Earth. |
Apparently some new inexpensive compasses use a non-ferrous needle with a magnet glued to it in a non-reliable way. A friend reported that a new compass he bought was approximately 90 degrees off, which caused great confusion.
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Schenk
Off Leash Man
Joined: 16 Apr 2012
Posts: 2372 | TRs | Pics
Location: Traveling, with the bear, to the other side of the Mountain |
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Schenk
Off Leash Man
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Mon Apr 09, 2018 8:14 am |
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| pcg wrote: | | Schenk wrote: | | scrape klister off my skis. |
How do you get klister off your compass? |
Yeah, tenacious stuff that klister!
At the time, it was more important to forward travel to get the klister off the skis, than to keep the compass from being fouled...hahaha.
I just wiped it with a small piece of cloth and stuck it in a plastic sack until I got home and had some solvent to do a good job.
Nature exists with a stark indifference to humans' situation.
Nature exists with a stark indifference to humans' situation.
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