ut a compass. The use of a compass is also effective for "selecting more direct routes and for following a route faster while maintaining contact with the map" (McNeill, Cory-Wright, and Renfrew, 1998).Finding a good compass is important. "Good compasses have a fluid-filled housing" (Williams, 1998). This is essential because this fluid dampens the motion of the needle so that you can use the compass without holding it perfectly still. Therefore, it is a wise decision to avoid inexpensive compasses that do not have fluid-filled housings. The compass needle is painted in two colours. Assuming that the compass is held flat, the red end points to north, and the white end to south. An interesting detail is that there are northern and southern hemisphere compasses. "This has to do with the fact that the magnetic field lines to which a compass needle aligns, points into the earth at the north and south magnetic poles" (Williams, 1998). Therefore, if you use a northern hemisphere compass in the southern hemisphere, the south end of the magnet is pulled downwards by the magnetic field. This results in a needle that catches and drags on the bottom of the compass housing when the compass is held horizontal (Williams, 1998). A good compass will last a long time. However, some things can go wrong: the plastic components can break, or the housing can develop a leak. Also over time, "the fluid within the housing may turn an opaque blue-green, however, very rarely does the magnetization of the compass needle reverse" (Williams, 1998).The two most popular types of compasses are the protractor compass and thumb compass. The protractor compass is beneficial because of its many additional features. These features include: a lanyard for attaching the compass to the wrist, scale bars for measuring map distances along one or more edges of the baseplate, a magnifying glass for reading fine detail, and templates of a circle and triangle for mar...
