http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=55733&cat=1,42363,42356

this is an interesting item. it is tiny, but the container appears to be able to hold other items.

but on a cloudy day it might still be 50 / 50. would not carry only this one, but as a backup could have value.

any thoughts?

It sure is itty bitty. I wonder if one end always points to north, if it just "...quickly swivel (s) to a N-S orientation...."

The contained looks a little bit like the pill containers you can get in drug stores...

Do you have it? I wonder if you can store tinder in the case?

It reminds me of the "compass" in the Brunton Emergency Pocket Survival Kit. http://equipped.org/brunton_kit.htm

Jeanette Isabelle

I just bought a little case just like that at Wal Mart yesterday for under $5.00. It's called a pill fob and its about the size of a nickle around and about 1 1/2 inches deep,very lightweight and waterproof.

Drop it once in sand or leaves.... and it's probably gone.

Personally, I think it's too small to be of much use, simply based on the Where-Is-It scale.

Sue

Well it looks like a fun novelty, but not that easy to use. There are tiny button compasses that are going to be WAY easier to use. Orienteering should be straight forward and to simplify the compass while on the move is very important. You can get a similar container somewhere else.

If you carry this, I hope you aren't carrying any other compasses. At the very least, I have my concerns as to how it would make other compasses read when you use them, and about it magnetizing the other items in your kit which is probably not going to hurt anything but would be an annoyance at times that you just don't want to deal with.

Well, I think you could just pass a kife blade over the ground and the magnet would leap to it.