6/21/2016

CompassFAQs

Ifyoudon'tfindtheanswersyouarelookingforhere,youmight
wanttocheckoutourlearningsectionbackonthehomepage.
WhatshouldIlookforinagoodcompass?
HowdoIuseacompass?
Whatisareciprocalscale?
Whatisthecompassmirrorusedfor?
DoIneedaGlobalNeedleifIwillonlybeintheUS?
Whatarethe"cotangent"tablesontheKB14sightingcompassusedfor?

WhatshouldIlookforinacompass?
Accuracyanddurabilityshouldbeparamountinyourquestforagoodcompass.Theeasiestwaytodeterminereliabilitymaybe
thebrand(ThemostdependablebrandsareSuunto,Silva,andBrunton).Whilethebrandisdefinitelyagoodindicationofquality,
eachmanufacturersuppliescompassesofvaryinggradesincludingvariousfeatures.Whenitcomestochoosingaspecific
compassyouwillwanttoconsiderthefollowing:
Bezelresolution(5degree,2degree,1degree,1/2degreelowerisbetter)
Compassaccuracy(againlowerisbetter)
Dampeningtime(howlongittakestheneedletosettle)
Capsuletemperaturerange(don'tletthecoldweathergetyoulost)
Translucentbaseplate?(thisishelpfulwhenworkingwithmaps)
Sightingmirror?(thisfeaturecanallowmoreaccuratereadingstobetaken)
Declinationscale?(helpfulforquickdeclinationcalculations)
Adjustabledeclination?(eliminatetheneedforcalculationaltogether)
Clinometer?(fordeterminingslopesorheights)
ReciprocalScale?(veryhelpfulforsightingcompasses.notnecessaryforothers)
HowdoIuseacompass?
Wehavedevelopedanentirepageonhowtouseamapandcompass.Iftheextentofyourknowledgestopsat"theneedlepoints
North",youshouldbesuretocheckourour"HowToUseAMap&Compass"page.Andonceyoubegintoworkwithacompass,
youwillquicklywanttolearnwhatexactlydeclinationis,howtofindyourdeclinationvalue,andhowtouseyourdeclinationvalue.
Whatisareciprocalscale?
Thereciprocalscaleisoftencalledthereversescale,becausethereciprocaldirectionistheexactoppositeofthedirectionyouare
heading.Thereverse/reciprocalscaleisveryusefulindeterminingyourlocationonamap.Forexample:ifyouseethatmountain
top"A"isatabearingof240degreesfromyou(thereciprocalis60degrees),andthebluffisatabearingof300degreesfromyou
(thereciprocalis120degrees),youcandrawalineonyourmapfromthemountaintop"A"inthedirectionof60degrees,andaline
fromthebluffat120degrees.Wheretheselinesintersectisthelocationyouarestanding.Reciprocalsareeasytogetfroma
baseplateormirrorcompass,becauseyoujustlookatthewhitetailoftheneedleandreadthereversedirection.Sinceyoucan't
dothatwhenlookingthroughasightingcompassthesmallerreciprocalscaleisveryhelpful.
Whatisthecompassmirrorusedfor?
Thecompassmirrorallowstheusertoviewthetargetandthecompasscapsuleatthesametime.Thisiswhywegroupmirror
compassesinthesightingcompassfamilyasyoucan"sight"yourtargetandyourbearingatthesametime.Seeourcompass
mirrorpageformoredetails.
DoIneedaGlobalNeedleifIwillonlybeintheUS?
Withoutadoubt,thegreatestbenefitoftheGlobalNeedleisthecapabilityofit'sworldwideuse.Asaresultofthedesignhowever,
thereisasecondarybenefit.ThewaytheGlobalNeedleiscapableofhandlingworldwidemagneticzonesiswithit'sabilityto
handleneedletiltsofupto20degrees.Thischaracteristicisgreatforhikingbecauseitmeansasyoubouncealongthetrail,you
don'tneedtohavethecompassperfectlyleveltogetanaccuratereading...makingiteasiertogetreadingswhileyouarewalking.
TolearnmoreabouttheSuunto'spatentedGlobalNeedle,seeour"WhatisaGlobalNeedle?"page.
Whatarethe"cotangent"tablesontheKB14sightingcompassusedfor?
Thecotangenttableishelpfulfordeterminingyourdistancefromspecificobjects.First,letstalkaboutFigureA.Assumethatwith
http://www.thecompassstore.com/compassfaqs.html

1/2

6/21/2016

CompassFAQs

themap,youcandeterminetherelationshipsbetweenthelocationofthehouseandthetree,butyouaren'tsureyourexact
location.Usethemaptodeterminethedistanceofthatshortperpendicularlinefromthehousetothelinegoingtowardsthetree.If
youtakethatdistanceandmultiplyitbythecotangentof20degrees(theangleyoudeterminedwithyourcompass),thatwilltell
youdistancebetweenyouandthehouse.Andsinceyouprobablydon'tknowthecotangentof20degreesbymemory,youjust
havetorefertothehandycotangenttableonthebackofyourKB14.

FigureBshowamorerealisticandtypicalsituation.First,youwouldpicktwoobjectsinthehorizonthatseemasbestyoucantell
toberoughlysidebyside.Ifyoucandeterminetheanglebetweenthetwoobjectswithyourcompass(let'ssayitwas4degrees)
andyouknowfromyourmapthatthosetwoobjectsare1/2mileapart,thenyoujustperformthisequation:
(cotangentof4degrees)X(1/2mile)=youraproxdistancetothehouseormountain.
...andsincethescaleontheKB14saysthecotangentof4degreesis14.30,youcancalculate...
(14.30)x(1/2)=7.15milestothemountain.
FigureAisamoreaccuratedepictionofthepropergeometricproperties,butitisalittleunrealistictoassumeyoucandetermine
thedistanceofthatcotangentlinewithgreataccuracy,sinceyoudon'tknowyourownexactlocation.FigureBisamorerealistic
exampleofhowtouseacotangenttoapproximateyourdistancetoadestination.
FREENewsletter/WhatisaGlobalNeedle?/HowToUseAMap&Compass/WhatisDeclination?
FindYourDeclinationValue/HowToUseYourDeclinationValue/Compasseswithadjustabledeclination.

TheCompassStoreisadivisionofROCGear,Inc.,youronlinespecialtygearsupplier.AfterreviewingTheCompassStorewebsite,pleasebesureto
visittheotherROCGeardivisionsatTheWaterproofStoreandTheAltimeterStoretofindmoregearyoucanaddtoyouroutdoorwishlist.
ROCGearislocatedat5210PalmeroCt.,Suite104,Buford,GA30518.Phone:6783183660.Email:mail@thecompassstore.com.
20002006TheCompassStore.AllRightsReserved.PrivacyPolicy.

http://www.thecompassstore.com/compassfaqs.html

2/2