Anyone who has a compass on her/his bike?

Not necessarly a ‘compass bell’ or ‘StemCAPtain’ though. You know, simply a compass to strap on your bike one that REALLY WORKS. Preferably not electronic.

I have carried one for touring trips, but with the GPS I found minimal use for a compass.

Also, too much steel to mount it on the bike. I had a compass bell and the screws in the stem were enough to throw off the direction.

Thanks for your advice. Thought having a regular compass (not attached) would be the best option anyway.

Like Mr. Tourist, I tried a compass that attached to the bars/stem, but there was too much steel nearby for it to work well. Maybe that has changed with carbon forks, aluminum stems, and stainless steel bolts?

I've used little compasses that attached to a zipper pull, and they were good enough to tell whether you were going north or west.

More recently, I've purchased a Casio watch with a built-in compass function. Kinda handy and fun. It's a good deal more precise than cheap mechanical compasses... more than adequate for me to navigate the local rural roads (especially on a cloudy day).

Steve in Peoria

Compass bell. The compass is capable of remarkable accuracy. I've compared it against my orienteering compass and iPhone compass.

But as folks above noted, even on my aluminum frame bike the steel handlebar on which the compass was mounted threw off the reading just enough to be useless. I suppose if I was determined to use a conventional compass I could swap to an aluminum handlebar. My other bikes have steel frames, too much for accuracy with a conventional compass mounted on the bike.

Now that I've been using phone apps for a couple of years I'm not sure I'd go back to paper maps and a compass unless I planned to do some serious backwoods exploring. One app I've used quite a bit, Cyclemeter, can be set with audio feedback to tell me my direction, among other info, every minute or at longer intervals of time and distance. Very handy when I'm exploring unfamiliar routes and don't want to pause to consult a map app. The direction audio feedback at intervals is handy at night or heavily overcast days when I can't get a quick fix on my heading.

I know that compass headset caps are available. I've never used one so I can't comment or recommend or anything, but that's what I would do.

I wear an ABC watch, so I feel like I've got it covered. It's harder to look at on the bike, but I'm also a hiker and skier, so in my case it's a good tradeoff.

If you felt like going the watch route, Suunto's Core watch is excellent and the battery is good for a year.

I toured with a compass and maps, for decades.. one compass, a ball with a safety pin like clip , went on a handle bar bag .

getting the compass far away from steel parts helps, them it not be pulled out of accurate reading..

but a hand held compass away from the bike entirely helps.. good maps indicate magnetic north..











back to the tech stuff you kids love so well






....

I have a compass and thermometer on my whistle.
The whistle use is mostly archery and hunting related though
it has come in handy on the bicycle.
The compass is used for hunting. I do not really know why
they put a thermometer on a whistle unless you want to know
the exact temperature it is too cold to hold on to the whistle.

I carry my phone - compass is included.

I put one on with a magnet in a ball floating in fluid, but then noticed it slowing down and getting completely stuck as temperatures dropped. It went off as I ride year round and do not want misleading readings. Interestingly, a Swiss inclinometer I have on, with an air bubble in fluid, works fine year round. Given bad experience with the compass I wrote to the manufacturer of the inclinometer ahead of the purchase and they assured me that it would be fine and it turned out to be true. Next compass I got, with a potential to go on the bike, went into the freezer first and got stuck too. The issue might be with the type of oil that needs to be put into the compass.

I have played with magnetometers, and they are pretty good. I think holding it away from metal is a good idea.

I was a horrible boy scout, and I never did learn to use a compass properly. I usually know vaguely which way is north because of the sun. I hope I never need one on a bike, I would be truly lost.

They have small compasses for hunters that may work.
Maybe not the elcheapos at Walmart but one specifically for hunters.
As you said you can check it out online and E the store.

Thanks, I will look into that. I suspect, though, that hunters can do fine with a compass where the needle is in the air. On a bike, a compass with needle that lacks damping is practically unusable.

The whistle one I have is oil filled.
I also have an oil filled button sized one to go on a bow.
You are assuredly right that the less expensive ones are air filled.
I think being oil filled makes the needle less likely to fall off the pivot.
I always check if a needle will do that. I have never had to use a compass in the woods.
But you sure don't want it to malfunction as you take a last reading in failing light.

I just checked 3rivers archery supply has small liquid filled compasses meant to insert on a bow.
You would have to ask if the compass would freeze and if it is big enough.
You could be the first one with a compass inserted into your handle bars.


https://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&sourc...D-4G8jr0DKOA9k

So you're saying that carbon fiber bikes are better.

Without damping from oil, the needle moves erratically on the bike due to vibrations and relatively weak magnetic force on the needle in comparison.

I was in a situation where I would perish, and few others with me, if I did not find the right direction. I used the boy scout method of looking how leaves grew and figured it out but since then I lean heavily towards having some compass always on me and it turned to be beneficial in few other situations. However, it would not be bad to have one on the handlebars and be able to glance.


The one you link to is a tad small for handlebars. Also it is not of good quality. It loses magnetization over time and starts pointing in a wrong direction. The one I have on me is made by Suunto and I religiously stick to that brand after bad experiences with other brands. Maybe I should look at larger ones they offer but they are expensive. I sort of never went back to the handlebar problem after those freezing disappointments.

Well I’d be betting that if you were on a carbon bike with carbon bars and stem, maybe carbon wheels for good measure, you’d have better luck with a compass.

Of course if you have all that carbon stuff likelihood is you’re using a Garmin GPS or something equal and they have a compass. For as long as the battery lasts.

Good to know.
I will check out my other compasses and see what brand they are.

The only criteria I have for inspecting a compass is to see how fast it points North.
Are there other tests?

I think carbon affects the magnetic field nearly as much as steel. But if they are red, carbon bikes are faster. Don't know about better.

Now I'm going to have to go look at which way the leaves grow. I have a tree that still hasn't lost its leaves.

My primary experience is with those button ones that are not much bother if you take them along. There are few things that one can tell right away and some that may only come out with use. The face needs to be readable at a glance. Those that are not fluid filled will fail relatively soon, apparently breaking off the tip of the pin on which the needle sits. Some of those fluid filled may also fail in that way. Those that are filled with fluid will start performing poorly if they let air in. The air bubble interferes with needle/indicator movement. Some of them will already have air when you buy them and should be avoided. In all compasses I dealt with, except for Suunto, the moving element got remagnetized for a different direction after a while and became misleading.

The one I try to get is the Suunto Clipper:

https://www.amazon.com/Suunto-Clippe.../dp/B00NEPQSI6

Apparently now it is only produced with dark face. I liked the blue+red+white more and I hated one that glowed in the dark as its face was hardly readable in daylight. One should be able to get the Clipper just under $10.

Suunto compasses may be also marketed under other names such as Swiss Recta.

The whole thread begs the question, what do you use a compass for on a bike ?

I can understand on a mt. bike while exploring a maze of forest trails or roads, but maybe not on a road bike. Even following dirt roads, you typically know, mostly, where you are and where you are headed, IF you have a map that you studied in advance (which is how you are where you are in the first place)

Seems its like when you are hiking, you probably would be following a trail. So not using compass much, but carry one anyway in case you have to bushwhack around blowdowns, beaver ponds, etc... then you want a compass with you for that just in case moment.

But on a bike you kind of need to stick with a trail or road, as you really can’t take detours easily. And every time I was “lost” while exploring in New Mexico it was always a case of just getting detoured on the wrong dirt road. I was never really “lost” as all I needed to do was go back the way I came.

So I’m curious as to how the OP plans to use a compass, while riding a bike and I’m not stating there’s not a need, just curious as to how others might use this.

Yup.

I still carry one, but can't remember the last time I actually used it on a bike trip. I more recently used the compass mounted on my kayak deck, but that is a different kind of trip.

no , you are projecting that , that is not my statement

open your map, say on the picnic table take out your compass, and orient the map to magnetic north


On a steel ship the main bridge/wheel-house compass is compensated with movable masses of iron

your 'Captain's Balls'...

In consequence of this discussion I threw a Suunto Clipper into the freezer and a prolonged stay there seemed to have no impact on its operation, in line with its Finnish origin. I presume that I will be looking into adapting some larger Suunto to handlebars. Incidentally they have a compass they claim to be for cycling but it seems to serve as jewelry at the same time, pricewise too.

A few years ago, my car got totaled, somebody behind me was texting, and hit me hard enough to slam me into the car ahead of me. While I was sorting everything out, one of my coworkers lent me an old junker car he had. This is Seattle, so it was overcast when I picked the car up, and when I dropped it back off, too - no sun in the sky for direction. He lives in the suburbs, all the roads basically look alike. In one town, the street numbers go up as you go north, in the next one, they go down as you go north, so you can't necessarily use them for direction. I got lost, was glad to have a compass to know I was going the right direction.

GPS (like in any phone) would have worked just as well.