TBH I find a compass most useful when I am a bit disoriented in London, and want to walk towards the river or away from it, though I suppose I could always check which side the moss grows on the lamp posts
Or the smell
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Do I need button compass.
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Or the smell
here's my version - turned from a 15mm brass plumbing fitting. Cost less than £3 including the compass
Cheers,
Broch
View attachment 45923
here's my version - turned from a 15mm brass plumbing fitting. Cost less than £3 including the compass
Cheers,
Broch
Looks awesome, any chance for more pictures (and maybe instructables)?
I have a button compass on the top of my polymath products EDC fire kit that lives in my pocket. Really useful when coming out of tube stations and you can't see the sun to work out which way you want to go. Wouldn't carry it just for the compass, but it's useful in this config.
J
J
Ah yes, very good
Like Westminster is west, Oxford Street goes to Oxford so north (ish), South Bank is self explanatory etc? :You_Rock_
I can get being able to make a basic NESW with a small compass is useful, how can street signs be helpful for orientation?
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Ah yes, very good
Like Westminster is west, Oxford Street goes to Oxford so north (ish), South Bank is self explanatory etc? :You_Rock_
I can get being able to make a basic NESW with a small compass is useful, how can street signs be helpful for orientation?
And the point of knowing north etc in a city is...??? What is the usefulness of a compass when walking out of the tube station?!!!
Genuinely don't know if poster was trolling. I'm beginning to think some people on this forum are having a laugh.
Devil's Advocate, I'm not trolling, but does it really matter if people want to know where North is? That is, is it only definitely 'useful' items and knowledge that people should carry?
I'm terrible with street names, I don't even know the names of some of the streets next to the one I live on (lived here on and off for 30 odd years). I do have a pretty good sense in general of how parts of Cardiff connect with eachother, or rather where I need to go in relation to where I am. I also have a pretty good sense of where North/South etc are, both in relation to where I am and other places in Cardiff especially the city centre. A button compass wouldn't necessarily be useful per se, but it might be a handy double check if I ever did get turned around.
When I lived in Edinburgh I orientated myself by the Royal Mile and castle, in Leeds it was the city centre, in Sheffield a combination of Train station/ Crucible, Nottingham was the University Campus. When in central London it's a combination of river and Houses of Parliament. I've never used the tube much, too hot, too many people, too busy, but I can imagine getting turned about and on leaving wanting a quick unobtrusive way to re-orientate yourself with your mental map or AtoZ.
I've not been into central London for a good couple of decades so I might well be wrong about this: the problem with street signs, in my experience, is that they are usually there to guide motorists. Considering one-way streets, no left/right turns as well as traffic calming measures, etc, they frequently don't indicate the shortest route on foot. A simple 200 metre walk along (against) a one-way street could be involved and long even IF there's a road sign to indicate the place!
(1)
I was once in a part of London that I'd never been in before or didn't recognise. I was trying to find north by my watch on an overcast day. I didn't realise what a nutter I must have looked as I stood there, watch in hand, staring at the sky, hoping for a bright spot that'd indicate the sun's position - perhaps people thought I was timing the clouds as they passed! <LOL> I knew that I was north of the river and that, by heading due south then following the river to my right, I'd be heading west. All I had to do was continue along the river to recognise my whereabouts and then continue on my way. (It's a basic technique in orienteering and I've forgotten what it's called, "attack point"?)
A girl approached me and asked if I needed directions. I simply asked her in which direction south was. Yeah, she must have thought me an even greater nutter than I looked!!!
She hadn't a clue and I didn't know any of the nearest landmarks she could direct me too. I was heading to my bike which was locked up at the northern end of a bridge (name unknown but the riverscape instantly recognisable) - from there I was cycling home, across London. Directions directly towards home were of no use but, upon viewing the riverscape, I'd be fine. In the end, I just had to chance it and walked by gut feeling. I don't recall when but I'm sure I've had too many times of doing that, only to have to walk back on myself...
(2)
I would have thought the same until I'd come unstuck and more than once. I used to memorise my routes to and from a place in a city and the journey would start left or right as I exited the station. That went completely wrong when I came out of Hammersmith station the first time and had gotten lost. After doing similar at Paddington or other stations, I resorted to having a compass to glance at as I leave stations that have multiple exits. At least in this way, I can find the correct start point before heading off on memorised routes.
The principles of orienteering in any environment are largely the same. Perhaps it just me but I tend to think the "country way" even in the urban environment. Even without a map in cities that I don't know, I can usually work out my way (without losing too much time, at least!) because I've pre-memorised key landmark locations and have a general idea of a mental map. Bus stop guides and tourist maps in the street, etc, are very helpful - photograph them (on my digital compact) and I've a generalised map. But, on some days, you might still need a compass...
I rarely carry a tobacco tin kit. My wallet goes everywhere with me. Sadly, it's rare that I have more than £10 in it, it tends to carry a fair EDC kit: bank card, Swiss Army card, canopener/spoon, ferro rod (rod without handle), tiny sewing kit, nappy safety pin, salt & pepper sachets, postage stamps, 2x passport pictures, NOK details and 'phone list. I still have a BT 'phone card - probably belongs in a museum! The plastic itself could prove useful.
Inside my wallet is also a WWII Francis Barker button compass which I thoroughly recommend - they still make them. Mine has lost it's luminosity and the glass has dust on the inside of the glass - I'd love to know how I can clean up that without damaging the thing.
Genuinely not trolling. When you come up out of the metro knowing you want to head North on Rhijnspoorplein, but you can't get a clear view of the sun to see which is north and which is south, a quick look at a compass can have you heading in the right direction. Also useful in London at stations like Chancery lane where you've no easy way (If you're not a local), of knowing which direction you'll be facing when you come up out of the station and can't see the sun either because of tall buildings, or the British weather...
This also avoids being the prat that gets' to the stop of the escalator, and then stops to look around, blocking everyone coming up behind them... you can monitor the compass on the move, and head decisively in the right direction.
J
Just to add a rant - since we're speaking of button compasses and the need for the NSEW awareness they give:
WHY do London Underground use that totally stupid system of East/West on the Circle Line?! It has me fuming every time I see it. (It doesn't take much for me to be wound up in the city, especially using rail/tube.) I suppose it winds me up because I can't help feeling somewhat offended that I have to discard knowledge and sense and dumb myself down to it - to their system that's FAR from idiot-proof...
:aargh4:
There are SO MANY examples that could be given to illustrate the flaws so I'll give only a single example of each point that comes to mind:
1)
If you're at at Gloucester Rd and want to go to Baker St, you have to take the "westbound" train when you're actually traveling EAST.
2)
If you're traveling from Queensway to Bayswater, you're traveling NORTH (more N than NNW) - neither east nor west.
3)
At which points do the westbound train become eastbound and vice versa - Notting Hill Gate and Liverpool Street / Aldgate / Tower Hill? You have to take this into account if you're passing through, especially if you're new to the city and/or underground network: eg: you got on a "westbound" train but it's suddenly become an "eastbound" train...
Henry Beck's famous London Underground map is diagrammatic. Although a work of genius and highly effective for it's purpose (tube/rail travel), it does not translate to real world cartography. With the Circle Line misdirections and with that, it's no wonder that so many Londoners lack NSEW awareness and a sense of whereabouts!
Why can't London Underground use the simple system of "clockwise" and "anti-clockwise"? If someone cannot understand that, they're probably not safe to be let out of the house alone.
</rant>
WHY do London Underground use that totally stupid system of East/West on the Circle Line?! It has me fuming every time I see it. (It doesn't take much for me to be wound up in the city, especially using rail/tube.) I suppose it winds me up because I can't help feeling somewhat offended that I have to discard knowledge and sense and dumb myself down to it - to their system that's FAR from idiot-proof...
:aargh4:
There are SO MANY examples that could be given to illustrate the flaws so I'll give only a single example of each point that comes to mind:
1)
If you're at at Gloucester Rd and want to go to Baker St, you have to take the "westbound" train when you're actually traveling EAST.
2)
If you're traveling from Queensway to Bayswater, you're traveling NORTH (more N than NNW) - neither east nor west.
3)
At which points do the westbound train become eastbound and vice versa - Notting Hill Gate and Liverpool Street / Aldgate / Tower Hill? You have to take this into account if you're passing through, especially if you're new to the city and/or underground network: eg: you got on a "westbound" train but it's suddenly become an "eastbound" train...
Henry Beck's famous London Underground map is diagrammatic. Although a work of genius and highly effective for it's purpose (tube/rail travel), it does not translate to real world cartography. With the Circle Line misdirections and with that, it's no wonder that so many Londoners lack NSEW awareness and a sense of whereabouts!
Why can't London Underground use the simple system of "clockwise" and "anti-clockwise"? If someone cannot understand that, they're probably not safe to be let out of the house alone.
</rant>
Aye Up,
Fallschirmwomble -
Re heading towards the river - ref(erence) point(ing);
Noting and 'counting off' reference features on route to a destination - tick-off features;
If you plan to reach a linear feature (i.e. a river/power line etc) to the left or right of a known/expected feature - aiming off;
Moving along the river/power line etc as a linear guide - hand-railing;
attack point is where you are heading for an indistinct feature (i.e. to a grid reference in the countryside with no obvious reference feature at all) and you select an obvious and recognisable feature (i.e. a track junction) close to the final non-obvious location.
You then take a bearing from the recognisable feature (the attack point) to the non-obvious location. Over the shorter distance from attack point to the final destination there is theoretically less room for error.
I've used the technique countless times both inbound and outward, the latter to record a location that might be difficult to re-find in the future.
Fallschirmwomble -
Re heading towards the river - ref(erence) point(ing);
Noting and 'counting off' reference features on route to a destination - tick-off features;
If you plan to reach a linear feature (i.e. a river/power line etc) to the left or right of a known/expected feature - aiming off;
Moving along the river/power line etc as a linear guide - hand-railing;
attack point is where you are heading for an indistinct feature (i.e. to a grid reference in the countryside with no obvious reference feature at all) and you select an obvious and recognisable feature (i.e. a track junction) close to the final non-obvious location.
You then take a bearing from the recognisable feature (the attack point) to the non-obvious location. Over the shorter distance from attack point to the final destination there is theoretically less room for error.
I've used the technique countless times both inbound and outward, the latter to record a location that might be difficult to re-find in the future.
Interesting.
You could always just ask someone when you get out the station?!! Or ask in a shop?!!!!
Standard fare in a town/city used to be 'excuse me mate, do you know where ....'
Preferable - and more social - than pulling a Silva out of your pocket 2 yards from John Lewis!!!
What is the world coming to.....
For somebody with a relatively low input to the forum, and who has almost accused an established member of trolling, I find the tone of some of your posts a little........arrogant, perhaps? I wonder why anybody should get so apparently excercised about somebody else's use of a compass outside John Lewis when it's been explained so clearly? What is the world coming to?
Just got this button compass with a glow in the dark lanyard attached, so I am less likely to lose it. I have bought stuff from polymath products before and have always found their gear well thought out and put together, so I am hoping this will be too.
No connections etc.http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NAV-BEAD-Navigation-EDC-Necklace-Button-Compass-Map-Light-Kit-Survival-Hiking-/182599061241?var=&hash=item2a83c08ef9:m:m6PuVpTnijpNFQ4MjyRi5Gw
No connections etc.http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NAV-BEAD-Navigation-EDC-Necklace-Button-Compass-Map-Light-Kit-Survival-Hiking-/182599061241?var=&hash=item2a83c08ef9:m:m6PuVpTnijpNFQ4MjyRi5Gw
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Water off a ducks back Mac. The edit in my post was to remove a remark accusing him of the same. I'd also added a 'Don't feed the Troll' emoticon, then realised that's exactly what I was doing. 
I don't get why he's pouncing on people, adding nothing useful, and calling it a contribution when all we're talking about is a tiny compass that costs very little and appeals to the OP.
I don't get why he's pouncing on people, adding nothing useful, and calling it a contribution when all we're talking about is a tiny compass that costs very little and appeals to the OP.
Really cool looking
I think thats what sold it too me.
and it looks a little more functional too, it will also come in handy for my job as a gardener for planting out and to give directions to the homeowner to their kettle if no brew is forthcoming.Water off a ducks back Mac. The edit in my post was to remove a remark accusing him of the same. I'd also added a 'Don't feed the Troll' emoticon, then realised that's exactly what I was doing.
I don't get why he's pouncing on people, adding nothing useful, and calling it a contribution when all we're talking about is a tiny compass that costs very little and appeals to the OP.
I just wish people would stop quoting people who I hit the ignore button on then I wouldn't have to ever see their drivel...
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