Here's a potentially useful tip that I just learned while away on military training.<br><br>Take the needles that are in you PSK or sewing kit and run them repeatedly in one direction along a powerful magnet. Now you have magnetized needles that can be used to make an improvised compass. <br><br>Make the compass by floating the needles on a cork or leaf in a cup or small pool of water.<br><br>I used the magnets on the speakers in my car by opening the trunk. If anyone has tried this please let me know if it was successful.

I have tried it, you can also supposedly run the needle over a piece of silk and get the same result. The biggest problem I have always had is actually getting the darned thing to float. No matter how careful I was, the needle always ended up on the bottom...I guess that I just don't have the fine touch...

Rubbing the needle through your hair will put a light coat of oil on it and keep it from breaking the surface tension of the water. Give it a try, it works.

"Rubbing the needle through your hair"<br><br>rofl....somehow this sounds like it might not work well for OBG if his nickname is accurate. Let me hasten to add that it would NOT work for me!<br><br>Robb

Same reaction from another of the follicly challenged.<br><br>John

I did that - magnetized needle - as a Scout and it worked well enough to remember. I recall a few more details to make it work well. Can't hurt to pre-magentize the needles, as you suggest. Also, in a pinch, a magent is not required in order to magenitze a needle enough to respond to the earth's magnetic field.<br><br>There are other expedient methods for determining direction and it's prudent to learn some of them as well. I've found that I'm almost hard-wired for the Northern Hemisphere, though - I have to stop and think about what I'm doing for expedient direction sensing in the Southern Hemisphere, where as it's pretty instinctive for me in the Northern half of the world. Depends on where one spends most of their time, I suppose.

well the "Rubbing the needle through your hair" way does works. it uses your hair's static electricitie....<br>

During their experiments with magnetized pins or needles, is there or has anyone noticed a distinctive north/south line indicated by the orientation of the item? For example does the eye point in one direction only, or is it totally random.<br>Just a trivia question but would be interesting to know if the needle point actually faced north or south.

The way to get the needle to float is to first rub it along the side of your nose to coat it in oil from your skin (carefully)<br>Make a forked device using paper clip or safety pin with the needle nestling in the crook and gently lower the needle into the water, this enables the oil coated needle to float off the fork.<br>Best regards<br>Dave

It's all in how you orient the needle when magnetizing it. If the eye is magnetized as a "North" pole, the point will orient to the North.