Talkback: Video - How To Use A Compass

Why hold it so close to your body? Better hope his zips aint ferrous.

You hold it close to your body for two reasons... for stability... and so that you are looking straight down on the needle. Hold it at arms length and you could be several degrees out because you can't really see if the needle is properly aligned with the markings on the compass housing. It's your own responsibility to make sure that your body isn't festooned with things that will influence the needle. I mean... when you fill a car with petrol... you don't lob a lighted match in after it!

Only slightly off topic -

So I ordered a compass on  eBay - one of those military style compasses with the flip up hairline sights and a rear alignment sight which allows you to hold the compass in front of you for sighting, then without moving it, to take a reading. It has a magnifying bubble to do that. But that is not my point.

This compass cost .01p + £2.99 p&p from China and I wanted to find out if Chinese traders actually deliver. Frankly, I didn't expect to get the compass. Well it turned up and it is a very usable bit of kit. I expected it to be not much more than a toy, but quite suitable for a Best Scout at Camp prize. The scout who wins it will be well rewarded. It isn't the most robust compass but for £3?

That was the third small purchase from China I've made this year. As I say, I'm testing the water. Their down sleeping bags do look to be such very good value. £11 for a pair of headlamps is one thing - £110 for a bag that might never show up, that's something else.

Errm - I seem to have ended up quite off topic. Sorry for the threadjack.