Compass
When north is not north!
Over the last few months I had been noticing that every time I ran on a compass bearing I seemed to be ending up off to one side of where I had expected to be. I had been thinking that I was not running particularly accurately on the bearing, but on Day 3 of Spey2007 a group of us went off from a control going to the same place and I was distinctly off to the left of everyone else. On returning to my accommodation I borrowed a new compass from someone else and tested it against mine. I found that mine was between 10 and 12 degrees off line. Needless to say, on arriving at Culbin I was straight off to Ultrasport for a new compass!
Should you need to check out your compass then do the following.
- Find a flat surface away from any iron or anything else that will attract a compass.
- Fix a piece of paper to the surface.
- Use the old compass to draw a north line on the piece of paper.
- Check the north line against the north from other compasses - ideally they will match!
The recommendation I was given is to replace your compass every two years. Certainly it is worth checking it every six months or so - particularly if it is looking bashed up. Now we wait to see if my orienteering improves. 
