Discussion: the ingenious clip-on compass
in: Orienteering; Gear & Toys
Oct 29, 2007 2:47 PM
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I guess for 15 or 20 years.
It reminds me a lot of the Silva clip-on compass for MTB O. The only novelty is the spring-loaded mechanism to attach to the map and I am not sure it is practical, given we need to fold/unfold the map constantly. Also it can hide some details on the map - thumb compasses are easier to move around I guess. The idea of keeping the compass directly on the map is pleasant though.
It reminds me a lot of the Silva clip-on compass for MTB O. The only novelty is the spring-loaded mechanism to attach to the map and I am not sure it is practical, given we need to fold/unfold the map constantly. Also it can hide some details on the map - thumb compasses are easier to move around I guess. The idea of keeping the compass directly on the map is pleasant though.
Oct 29, 2007 5:47 PM
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bubo:
The two inventors of the thumb compass are well-known Swedish orienteers. Bertil Norman - World Relay Champion in 1966 and one of the early 'teachers of modern orienteering technique'. Arne Yngström is/was also a good orienteer, but later mostly known for his leadership - especially in youth orienteering.
I would have thought that they also invented the clip-on compass, but that this could have been denied through some kind of technicality in the (US) patent process?
In the mid-70ies there was also the wrist-compass - used for example in 1975 by the winner of O-ringen, Finnish runner Matti Mäkinen. He used a different model than the one pictured in the patent though.
I would have thought that they also invented the clip-on compass, but that this could have been denied through some kind of technicality in the (US) patent process?
In the mid-70ies there was also the wrist-compass - used for example in 1975 by the winner of O-ringen, Finnish runner Matti Mäkinen. He used a different model than the one pictured in the patent though.
Oct 29, 2007 6:25 PM
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rm:
My father used a wrist compass. It got him really confused because the numbers were reversed. (If you wanted to go west, you turned yourself until the red end of the compass needle pointed to west, which was 90 degrees clockwise of north on the compass he had.) It was strange and disconcerting to look at that compass face.
Oct 29, 2007 6:36 PM
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Just for curiosity's sake, I noted that JimBaker's message above is message # 123456 on AttackPoint. :-)
Oct 29, 2007 10:28 PM
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so when did thumb compasses start to catch on? I don't remember seeing them in Ireland more than 5 or 10 years ago, but I wasn't particularly mad about orienteering at the time...
Oct 30, 2007 2:40 AM
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I foolishly chose the APOC Individual 1994 event at Knottingley, NZ to change over after 25 years of using a baseplate. Of course I wasn't able to follow a bearing and had my worst result of that series. But I haven't ever gone back since. They had been around for quite a while before that.
Oct 30, 2007 2:44 AM
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I've been using a thumb compass since probably around 1990, but other people around here had already been using them for quite a while.
Oct 30, 2007 2:52 AM
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"I've been using a thumb compass since probably around 1990, "
... me too. Probably a year or two earlier (from memory it's all I've used for orienteering since I was 12 or 13)
but I was a few years behind some others in Western Australia
... me too. Probably a year or two earlier (from memory it's all I've used for orienteering since I was 12 or 13)
but I was a few years behind some others in Western Australia
Oct 30, 2007 6:17 PM
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rm:
Just for curiosity's sake, I noted that JimBaker's message above is message # 123456 on AttackPoint. :-)
Wow! I had no idea I had crossed such a prestigous threshold. I guess there have been a lot of messages on AttackPoint...lots to say about orienteering. Have all the topics been covered? Can we publish the Galactic Encyclopedia of Orienteering?
Wow! I had no idea I had crossed such a prestigous threshold. I guess there have been a lot of messages on AttackPoint...lots to say about orienteering. Have all the topics been covered? Can we publish the Galactic Encyclopedia of Orienteering?
Oct 30, 2007 9:27 PM
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Some topics have been covered multiple times (and usually someone remembers, and references the previous discussion), but I think there will always be new topics.
But a Galactic Encyclopedia of Orienteering sounds like a great idea! I'll link to it on the USOF site if someone puts it together. :-)
But a Galactic Encyclopedia of Orienteering sounds like a great idea! I'll link to it on the USOF site if someone puts it together. :-)
Oct 30, 2007 9:47 PM
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I believe I started with the thumb compass in 1981, prior to WOC (Switz). I think the trend was well underway by then. I didn't feel like a pioneer. The real test, which my thunb compass passed, was the 1982 US Champs on French Creek West, some of the most bearing demanding terrain anywhere.
Oct 31, 2007 8:49 AM
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rm:
Oh Eric, how timid. The real test of compass choice at that event was running without a compass. Real orienteers forget to bring their compass to the start at French Creek and win the US Championship anyway. (I think that I actually did better without a compass than I did the previous day.)
Nov 1, 2007 8:29 AM
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I share EricW's impressions of French Creek West from the 2001 November A meet there.
I think I started using a thumb compass some time in the early 1990's but I don't remember what year. Suunto Arrow was my first, and I still like the model, although I now use a Moscow for its combination of durability and performance. I fell hard on my Moscow compass this week, and it hurt my hand but didn't break.
I think I started using a thumb compass some time in the early 1990's but I don't remember what year. Suunto Arrow was my first, and I still like the model, although I now use a Moscow for its combination of durability and performance. I fell hard on my Moscow compass this week, and it hurt my hand but didn't break.
This discussion thread is closed.