I like to wear my compass on lanyard around my neck, with a spare in my pack. I have it drilled into me to always trust my compass. This was what I always did until....

I was out getting some good excersize with my shorthair looking for grouse and checking out the recent reports of hog activity on my family property in mid-Michigan (yes they are there!). After wandering around for about an hour not paying much attention to my surroundings I checked my compass to head out. It just didn't seem right, but I went with the compass. To my surprise, I was going 180" from the way I wanted. The only explanation is a magnet on my whistle lanyard altered the bearing needle when the two were next to each other. I think I corrected the problem by putting the magnet directly on the North end of the compass and all was well. Has anyone had this happen? Could be a bad day it I was in an area I didn't know well.

Yes, it happened to me just once, about 47 years ago.  I was 13 or 14 at the time and because of my compass, was the only time in my life that I was really lost.  It was 6 hours after dark when my Dad finally found me.  Turned out my compass had reversed polarity without me knowing it.  The next day I threw that compass as far as I could.  Like you, now I always have two with me when I'm in the woods.  I have also found that the electronic compass in my GPS is unreliable unless I am moving so I never rely on it.

I did have a bad compass once.
I had an argument with my mother-in-law. (She claims she has a perfect sense of direction.) Anyway, she insisted my house faced west. I brought out a compass and showed her that the compass showed it faced south. She said "there must be something wrong with that thing."

Everyone knows M.I.L.'s are always right, so it had to be the compass!  

I have never had one "lie" to me but I sure thought it was telling a fib once. I had hunted through a big swamp and got along side the river. I hunted along the river about a mile and was gonna take a bearing and cut through the middle of the swamp and come out on a road hopefully before dark. I pulled out my compass and it told me to cross the river to go to the truck.....I did`nt cross the river to get where I was at. I backed out and came nack the way I had went. When I looked at the map which was in the truck...I had got myself in a back hook of the river and the compass was not telling a lie I had not realized the River made a near loop.

 Since then I always carry two compasses. One for a back up in case I think the other is telling a lie.RC

I bring 3 of them.  That way two of them tell the truth and the 3rd is the liar unless the two are in a conspirecy together and the one is made by the Honest Abe Company of Walawala.  That being the case I might as well save the weight and just carry one.    

I carry two.  One on a lanyard on my belt loop and stuck in my pocet and one in my pack as a backup or lie detector.

If you had the magnet whistle on when you shot your azimuth when you left and the same when you returned ( back azimuth)it shouldn't matter.But if you turned around and shot a direction opposite of your original heading you could have doubled the magnetic pull. And depending how close the whistle magnet was when you shot the azimuth can change the pull.1 inch away may be 3 degrees and 3/4 inch may be t10 degrees and next to it may be 40 degrees). There is a true north and a magnetic north which are 3 degrees different.Always hold it out in front of you a foot or so that it doesn't get any interference. And different mineral deposits in the ground can affect a reading.If you put the magnet on north you are generating your own magnetic pull not the earths magnetic pull.I love land navigation.

ALWAYS trust my Silva compass. It's brought me out of deep dark woods too many times already. You guys have me worried.

The only thing better than a compass is 3 or 4 of them. I have had 3 of them laying on a log in the Adirondacks just hope'n I was right and they were wrong............they were right!!!!!!Keep gun barrels, knives, and other stuff that is metal away from them and trust them. GPS and modern technologies are great ,nothing beats a map and compass!!!!!!!!  

Mr. Ipcjon2,
"There is a true north and a magnetic north which are 3 degrees different."

Just as a point of interest, up here where we live in Interior Alaska, the difference (declination) is 29 degrees.  Got more than one "outsider" in trouble over the years.
Best Wishes

It's good not to be totally alone on this one. The magnet for my dog collar was resting directly against the compass when it was hanging. I think that was the cause. I moved it to my pocket for grouse hunting. No magnets around my neck while bow hunting.

I have had one of the cheap ball compasses lie to me. I use a silva compass now. It works every time unless I leave it in the truck.

QuoteOriginally posted by WindWalker-AK:
Mr. Ipcjon2,
"There is a true north and a magnetic north which are 3 degrees different."

Just as a point of interest, up here where we live in Interior Alaska, the difference (declination) is 29 degrees.  Got more than one "outsider" in trouble over the years.
Best Wishes

Didn't know that. My reference is to the lower 48.I can see where that could be an issue.Isn't that part of the tourist attraction "get lost in Alaska"  

QuoteOriginally posted by lpcjon2:
There is a true north and a magnetic north which are 3 degrees different.

Depends where you are. Here in NE TX / SW AR the declination is 6 degrees. Check the bottom of your topo map. It will tell you what the declination is for that particular area.

Thanks for the reminder about Alaska being such a large declination. Heading there in a couple of years.

Every decent map will tell you the degrees of declination at that location.  It is different everywhere.  Also, there are areas where a compass gets screwed up.  

I am guessing the closer you are to the magnetic north pole the more declination since you have to make up for the varyance in a shorter span ?
ChuckC

Yes, beware of magnetic money clips, etc.  Don't even know why I have one, as it never seems to have any money in it! An interesting alternative to maps and worries about declination is The Green Beret's Compass Course by Don Paul (U.S. Army Special Forces-retired) As far as I know it's still in print.  A lensatic compass (which is a whole lot easier to shoot an azimuth with)and a set of Ranger beads and you won't get lost.  Still can't just wander around aimlessly though.  I think that requires a GPS.

21 degrees declinatin here in Washington. I carry one compass, I am wondering why anyone would carry three. Never had one lie to me yet.  

I have the same compass I carried in Iraq.  I hardly ever pull it out.  I look over my map ahead of the trip, google earth the location and have my routes planned and know how to get back out based on terrain from any point in the trip.  Preperation goes a long way to preventing being lost.  The only time I use the compass is during a heavy fog or pitch black night.

I just ordered a new GPS which I will use  to mark my animals and good hunting spots so they are easy to remember. The wife on the other hand is going to be getting a full tutorial on mine and then I will buy her one of her own to make sure she won't get lost.

I left my compass on the night stand during the off season. Everytime the phone rang the compass would point to the phone, I thought it was cool till the next season and I was lost in the big woods with my wife. We made it back to camp before dark and checked the compass, which I knew had to be wrong LOL. Sure nuff it was pointing south.

I always trust them I learned the hard way compass right, my feeling wrong. That was a long hike the wrong way in crappy weather.

I can take anyone who wants to go to a spot in northern MN where there is a lot of ore in the ground. A compass can get a bit iffy over the top of it.

Try using it in the UP.  There are some areas where it just spins or points in the opposite direction from where you wanna go.  I do believe it has to do with all the ore underground.

Do a little search, there should still be a small tutorial in here somewhere.