does anyone have experience with the brunton floating disk compass in the "pocket survival kit pack", or is it just a gimick?

I've got one. Haven't really tried it- it comes lightly glued to a card, and since it's TINY and easy to lose, I've been reluctant to remove it. The instructions do make it clear that it is not buoyant, that it floats by surface tension.<br><br>I'm sure it works under ideal conditions, but I'm skeptical in general. I can't see this working in the wind or rain, it seems useless if you don't have water, and it is so very tiny that I think you might have trouble not losing it in a pocket.<br><br>On the other hand, if you really NEED a compass, it's probably a lot better than nothing, and it's the only one I'm aware of that you can carry in a wallet. I wish it weren't.<br><br>It seems to me that it might be possible to do something with the magnetic strip area cut from an old credit card... maybe cut into an arrow shape, remagnetized, and a short thread fastened at the balance point? It would be easily carryable in a wallet, and at least it woudln't require water. Just a thought. If it worked it might even make a Scout project, for those looking for such.

small flexible sheet magnets can be purchased with you favorite animal printed on them at any childrens toy shop. If you were to cut an arrow from one of these it would fit in your pocket or wallet easily and be made of exactly the same material as the brunton "floating compass" This could be somewhat larger and is already uniformly magnetized and polarized. Also you can hang these from a string easily. Problem is hanging from a string in a wind or rain situation is no better than floating in you hand. I have and have tried the brunton "floating" survival compass and found that it is easy to float it in the amount of water you might be able to spit into you hand (if you are not already dehydrated) I promptly tried to replace in the little vynil pouch that the survival card came in and replaced this in my wallet. examination a week later proved how easy it is to lose such a thing - it was gone! I carry a small "button" compass that I liberated from a REI zipper pull in my PSK which I carry on me in an altoids tin. I have compass zipper pulls on my casual use coats and for a while carried on on my key chain. I have found that unless I am far out of known territory I can find my way by using landmarks and the position of the sun and time of day. But it is nice to know that I have more precise tools at hand.<br><br>

It seems to be a gimmick. If you feel that you need a compass, you should go for one with a capsule. I use one from Recta. It comes as a keychain. I removed the capsule and it fits into my wallet very comfortably.