>>2244960Compasses are almost pointless on land nowadays.
In the woods, they're useless bcs you can't find landmarks, meaning you'd need to constantly look at the compass while walking
In the mountains, it's much easier to ditch the compass and navigate based on peak shapes (which a good map will have).
On flat, inhabited land, navigating based on roads is easier.
In short, unless you're in the desert or steppe, bringing a compass is pointless. And there, you'd also need a sextant, since you're lacking landmarks to triangulate your position from (not necessary if you know your starting point, but there's always a risk of getitng lost).
>inb4 what if you get lostFollow water. Walk downhill until you find a stream, then walk downstream. Much easier to do than walking crosscountry in a straight line, and just as sure to get you back to civilization. Plus you have water near you.
But if you really want to larp:
>What makes a good compass?1 Reliability. If the needle gets stuck, you get lost.
2 Dampening. If you're shaking from the cold, you still need to be able to read the compass.
3 Mirror and FIXED sights for triangulation. Especially when triangulating against mountains on the horizon, you need as little error as possible. That means being able to sight and read at the same time, and having sights that are easy to use. Stretched wires suck.
4 Degree scale. Deviation between true north (on maps) and magnetic north (compass) is usually given in degrees. If you have a compass with marching numbers instead, you can convert, but that's another error source. Not that it matters unless you're way up north.
Also, note that I'm assuming you're going o larp with compass and map, scout-style. If you need a compass to use on a vehicle, you'll need a sperical compass with good dampening instead, so you can read it without having to stop. No need for sights, either, since your vehicle's axis takes that role.
