If you read my K&M Matchcase update from Down Under post, I described having to tilt the matchcase 15-20 degrees towards south for the needle to move, and even then it does not move freely. Its pretty awkward when you walk around too.
If you hold the matchcase straight up, it looks funny with theneedle tilted so far. It just doesnot look right.
One of my friends when he went overseas took his Silva/Brunton Ranger 15 to see what would happen. In England he was pointing it on a steep angle to the ground towards North.
Recta came up with an idea that Suunto now uses which has a small magnetic needle with a pivot point that works freely anywhere around the globe inside a slot in a larger needle which uses a standard pivot point and gravity to balance it.
The needle you can see stays balanced by gravity but the smaller needle pushing it inside may have a large tilt where you are standing, and will not bind and stop working.
The Earth Magnetic feild travels between North and South, but the angle of the field varies and is not parallel to the surface, except near the equator. Near the Poles it becomes quite steep.