Trusting the compass

[splashdancer]

Now just for my benefit please... what are the "SOG" and "MOG" that people refer to?

Hello scoutersteve and welcome!  Liked your refresher and tips on compass work.

"SOG" and "WOG" are short for "Winter Outdoor Gathering" and "Spring Outdoor Gathering".  Plans are in place for this SOG on the Grand River near Paris.  If you would like to come check out Outdoor Adventure Canada website http://www.outdooradventurecanada.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=2160&whichpage=1

Now "MOG"?...would have been a good name for Laurie's little mop dog.

[Old Man River]

In 40+ years of paddling, I've never been lost - been mighty confused for a day or two - why?  I didn't believe my compass.

Brian

[scoutersteve]

I've been lost enough, but the best was by a hundred yards for 2 hours. And I had been there 6 times before. It was too late for the kids to go home too.... It wasn't part of the plan, but the campers on the trip became more engaged in the route finding after that!

I will probably check out the SOG. It's just down the road.

S     

[VaughnT]

I don't think I've ever been lost, even without a compass to shoot from.  That doesn't mean I don't like a compass, though!

Imagine my surprise, then, when I broke out a new Brunton compass to play with after the Christmas eats and found that the sun sets in the north!!  Brand new, in the box, and couldn't tell me the right direction to save my hide!

I was miffed, to say the least, and fired off a telegram to Brunton to let them know what I thought.

Two things that immediately came to mind: 

The packaging was very nice.  Very nice!  You might have thought you were buying some NASA gear instead of a simple compass, that's how nice the packaging was.

Sadly, upon opening the package so I could actually put finger to the product, I was dismayed by the chintziness of the compass.  No-click bezel.  Soft plastic body like you'd use to make an antifreeze bottle.  And the declinometer was stuck.

All that money spent on packaging to hide the poor quality of the product's build.  Sad, that.

I'll let you know if I hear anything back from Brunton.  I'm not holding out hope, but you'd think that they'd do better for a compass that retails for more than $25!

[splashdancer]

How much good will our compasses be in a few years time?

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/12/091224-north-pole-magnetic-russia-earth-core.html

[canoehead]

Great!!!  Trust in nothing!!!

[Tripper]

The magnetic north pole had moved little from the time scientists first located it in 1831. Then in 1904, the pole began shifting northeastward at a steady pace of about 9 miles (15 kilometers) a year.

In 1989 it sped up again, and in 2007 scientists confirmed that the pole is now galloping toward Siberia at 34 to 37 miles (55 to 60 kilometers) a year.

I find that rate of change amazing! Something very deep inside the earth is happening at very fast rate. And it's a place we know very little about. We probably know more about the moon that what happens deep inside the earth.

There's been documented evidence that the poles have shifted positions at a fast rate in the past. I wonder in we are in the midst of another of these swings?

[scoutersteve]

Hey, if that isn't bad enough, there is solid evidence that the poles have reversed completely in the past. I wonder if you just scratch out the "S" on your compass bezel and replace it with an "N".