Storing Compasses

[abd]

We are a family of 6 and therefore have numerous compasses and other O kit. Having had problems with one of the compasses losing its polarity and needing to be repolarised (twice now - think it may be susceptible) am extra cautious and wonder what other people on the forum here do re storing compasses / dibbers etc to prevent / avoid problems.
A

[Tatty]

We each have our own small box and store compasses, SI /Emit cards, control description holder etc in it. Makes the kids become more independent - providing you can stand the stress initially when they forget to return stuff to it!!

[Mrs H]

Ditto - Matalan do very cheap clip shut plastic boxes just the right size and you can just about see what's inside without having to open them.

[LostAgain]

Also family of 6.
8 compasses and 6 dibbers all stuffed in the same box. Never had a problem. Not one that I have blamed on the compass not reading North properly.......

Most compasses are Sliva basics, but do have a couple of higher end thumb compasses for the "Elite" family member(s).... Not sure I qualify.

[madmike]

I'm worried now - I have 2 thumb compasses, a base plate compass and a southern hemisphere thumb plate compass all in the same little plastic box

[graeme]

The field generated by a compass is tiny, there's no way it would cause realignment* in another compass. There are far more significant fields associated with your car engine, computer etc: if you're worried about putting two compasses in a box, you should be MUCH more worried about putting one in a car.

They can realign if bashed or heated. I "think" they're magnetised along an "easy" direction, so should come back correctly pointing either North or South (but this will mess up the latitude adjustment). Or if you're unlucky some bits want to point north and others south, weakening the whole thing.


* By which I mean changing the magnetisation, not turning the needle.

[frog]

How do you remagnetise them? I always thought they'd reached the end of their life when they start being dodgy and bought a new one and noticed my cheap brand thumb compass lost polarity much quicker than my silvas.
I've also noticed that collecting metal t bars sends your compass very pear shaped if compass anywhere near them. Took me a while to twig what the problem was then, but I was quite tired.
I've always been paranoid about compasses mucking each other up and store each compass in a different room, which sounds a bit unnecessary!

[Scott]

Anyone unfortunate enough to have subjected themselves to Eric Langmuir's seminal tome Mountaincraft and Leadership will recall, amongst other pieces of hugely useful advice, that "one would be well advised to store one's compass well away from any doorbells".

[Wayward-O]

Definitely keep compasses away from speakers, old type TVs and monitors and anything with a transformer in it. Can't imagine that compasses can affect each other or else Silva would not sell boxes of 28 model 3 and 7NL compasses for school/clubs. Also, shops would have problems storing and displaying compasses.