Don't confuse your compass

[espuma]

Here's a compass tip - set your compass on the ground and step back from it to make sure nothing you are carrying is throwing it off.  Get away from vehicles, also.

[Woodbutcher]

espuma:
 I tried that. Sheesh! Good tip, thanks.  Woodbutcher

[Shorty]

'Reminds me of the time I was hunting in Maine at about 45 deg. N. Latitude.  The sun was setting and I decided to take a compass reading to find my way back,  Well, the sun sets in the west, does it not?  But my compass (a WWII GI compass) read that the sun was setting in the south!  DUH, at that latitude, and at that time of year, the sun DOES set in the south!  I decided to trust my compass, and walked in the correct direction.  

[clodbuster]

I think it's the man and not the machine that can become confused.

[willysjeep134]

I always wondered how a compass in a gun stock is supposed to work. Not only is it right next to a big chunk of steel, but it is also bashed around with the recoil of every shot.

Magnetic declination can mess with compasses too. Where I live there is less than 2 degrees declination, but far out east or west there can be many degrees of declination. Magnetic north is not the geographic north pole but some big magnetic mass in far north central canada. Most compasses come with a scale to compensate for declination, because most maps are drawn to coencide with a properly ajusted compass.



this should show a declination chart as of 2000. It changes slowly.

Magnetic dip is another phenomenon I have to deal with. I do some orienteering on the Marquette Iron Range. Standing on a mountain of iron ore can mess up a compass as well. When the area was first surveyed they did it with solar compasses because needle dip would cause their magnetic equipment to give very wrong readings.

Sometimes the machine can be wrong, but I would wager that it is most likely operator error. I'd still trust myself with a good map and compass over some of the fellas I know and their GPSs.

[rickyp]

power lines, substations or other equipment that can be found in the woods can fool a compass as well

[Rum River]

Always be sure to test your new compass before relying on it in the woods.

One of our hunting party found out the hard way, steadfastly believing his compass reading while battling through unfamiliar cedar swamp for two miles in the dark, finally homing in on a siren the local law enforcement sounded periodically to draw him out of the woods.

Turned out the label at the factory had been applied EXACTLY 180 degrees opposite.

Oops!

[Dusty Miller]

Recent news reports tell us that the magnetic north pole is moving towards Siberia at a fairly fast clip.  Any declination chart over a year old is probably not a thing you'd want to depend on.

[Nightrain52]

I'll have you all to know I have never been lost.--------Just temporarily misplaced. :toast:

[tucoblue]

Good idea to keep that compass away from anything with batteries also.