Has anyone ever had a compass that was wrong? I did once while doing some map work. Later discovered that the rocks in the area I was exploring had a high iron content. Picked the compass up off the rock and it swung around quite a bit. Other than that instance of user error I have never had an issue. I do keep a little button compass as a backup. Just in case.

Agree that this is a post trip report. Always tomorrow to see what surprises are in store.

Edited by kthompson on 04/30/2012 06:57:44 MDT.

I enjoyed reading this article but can't shake the feeling that this would have made a good "Post-Trip" thread instead of eating up 50% of the quite valuable weekly article space.

With that said, I've found that each time I wander off the trail or miss a turn-off I can trace it back to where the trail was wide enough for us to hike side-by-side for a change instead of the more common single-file. I'm usually on trails in Pennsylvania and they are generally well marked. If we're on a forest road for a stretch and we can walk next to each other we start talking about the weather, the hike, the fauna...All the things you think about while hiking but can't share because you're more or less by yourself.

My most frustrating example of this was on the Allegheny Front Trail - we had just crossed over a road and were on a very steep downhill jeep track chatting away. We had gone almost 1/2 mile before we realized that we didn't see any trail markers anymore. It was a pretty brutal climb back up to where the trail turned off the jeep track and back up the mountain - all unnecessary and caused by simple "social inattention."

Normally while hiking I'm in my own zone...I find that I most often lead our group and it seems second nature to keep track of the trail markers and when I saw the last one. Some PA trails are so well marked that you can usually see multiple markers while standing in one spot (like the AT). On other trails (the Mid State Trail comes to mind) the markers are fewer and further apart.

Ken - I was on an unnamed peak with a group years ago in the Teanaway area in Washington. We were all getting wildly different readings as we were trying to identify different peaks. Several of us held our compasses out in front of us and swung them back and forth. The needle persisted in pointing to the peak we were on. Since we were near a peak named Iron Mountain, we realized we were in an area of iron-rich rock. It was like being on our own personal north pole. The same thing happened to me this summer in the same area, but on another peak.

"Has anyone ever had a compass that was wrong?"

I have one tiny compass that is consistently 120 degrees off from north. It was a cheapie, so that explains a few things. I haven't figured out a good way to use it as a joke on a friend. All of my good compasses are fairly accurate, even when they get an air bubble inside the liquid capsule.

--B.G.--

"Good" compasses get air bubbles?

" "Good" compasses get air bubbles?"

Not normally. However, I have had some really expensive compasses that got flexed or stepped on or otherwise abused, and the liquid capsule got torqued enough that an air bubble grew in there.

Currently, I don't use any compasses much while backpacking, but I carry one small one just to avoid the embarrassment of getting lost someday.

Remember, thirty years ago that compass skill was a big deal.

--B.G.--

I've encountered this on Ebay. Some sellers relate that compasses that get shipped via Airmail develop bubbles.All I can say is that stuff I bought on the ground in China eventually developed bubbles.I can't say for sure if it was after I flew home? There is also a tendency of wrist compasses on watchbands to tend to orient towards your watch. Very unnerving if you haven't tested things out in a known environment. Also look at Suunto totally dropping the Clipper which has at least 3 generic versions vs . their M-9 at a much higher price point. When in doubt maybe 2 compasses and isolate at least 1 away from your watch or anything metal camera etc? My current plan.

Edited by Meander on 04/30/2012 19:48:14 MDT.

My "good" compass doesn't have liquid in it. Maybe liquid compasses are "not so good?"

:)

Probably , but then those who dive are in a much bigger fix? That being darkness and dwindling time?

Edited by Meander on 04/30/2012 20:07:15 MDT.

Once in Colorado we found a compass that was perfectly backwards. The red end of the needle pointed south when it was supposed to point north. I kept it hidden when I was doing compass courses with kids. I was going to give it to some poor kid but I never felt mean enough. I think it was an error in the painting because it was always 180 degrees off.

I once had one of those 'broken' gps's showing me to be moving in the opposite direction of what I knew to be true.... As well as a fair share of maps with 'misprints'....

Ken,

Thank you for sharing your experience. Like some the of the others, I've also had this happen to me. :)

I've witnessed this happen before where people ignore their GPS, or the location of the sun, because they are certain they know which direction they're going. My husband was so sure on a trip last winter that he ignored me telling him we were headed North instead of South for a half hour, until he finally said to me, "We're going the wrong way, aren't we?". Haha. Myself, I have one of the worst senses of direction ever, so I use a GPS or compass always.

Thanks for sharing the story.

Just a month a go in Emigrant I tried to take a "Short cut" it was only a 1/4 mile or so off trail but took me over an hour to realize I was off course and find my way back to the trail.

So I totaly agree with Cameron
“Short cuts make for long delays.”

Edited by Nel250 on 08/06/2012 18:04:09 MDT.