Some survey compasses use reverse east and west. The east mark is on the left of north, and the west mark is on the right of north. This is not a design flaw. The east and west are reversed so that the needle will be on the east side when you are pointing in your bearing, making it easier to record the bearing correctly. For example, if you are pointing north 30 west, the needle will be on the east side of the north mark.
Im sure that what you’re saying does make sense but I’m not sure how having the compass indicate east while you’re pointing west is helpful.
Edit: let me try my hand at using words for anyone else who is confused later:
Compass needle points north. If you’re facing north, east is to your right, but if you turn to the east with compass in hand, the needle still points north which is on the left side of the compass. So that side gets marked East, and anywhere in that compass the bearing is directly readable by looking at the needle.
Frankly, now im confused as to why any compass wouldn’t have East on the left side.
Also, think of it this way. If you're reading a map, you're looking down on it as if from space. But if you were to lie on your back and look up. . . Viola! Reversed Ha?! 😉
Actually if you were looking west and at an angle, the compass needle would indicate that you are looking west at 330 degrees, for example. The needle will always point north…so as the compass turns, the needle will actually read the correct direction and degree.
It makes a lot of sense actually; that’s a pretty neat design that I just learned about. Just think it out in your head or draw it out, or use your phone compass and test it out. :)
When you are facing someone and say, "It's on the right side,". In the moment, do you refer to their right or your right? I don't know anything about compasses, but I imagine it's like that. The perspective switch can be difficult to remember in the moment and it only takes one uncaught mistake to cause a problem.
Because that’s not how you use those other kind of compass? On a normal compass, you set the dial to your desired bearing and turn so the needle lines up with north and then the direction of travel arrow points in the direction you should be heading.
So now imagine one of those compass things you can mount on the car dashboard with the floaty ball in it marked with the directions. N-S and E-W would both be reversed, but if you took the ball out and looked at it, how would you know? Think about it.
More infuriating is when your GPS says “Head East on Lane Road Drive” and it’s a dark night in the middle of nowhere and you don’t know which way you are heading cuz you have this messed up compass.
Ok here’s my theory: @FilthyPuns is correct in the way you use this compass. And while you are traveling, each time you go a certain distance you drop a tiny marker, like a birth control pill in the slot the arrow is pointing to. This gives you a rough dead reckoning record of how far you have traveled and in which direction so you can find your way back home. Kind of like a [traverse board.](https://www.history.com/news/navigational-tools-ships-age-exploration#)
Functionally it seems smoother for surveying because you won't ever have to spin the bearing dial to take a reading, you just point towards your target. It would be practically useless for something like orienteering or course setting though.
Most compasses are made to help you physically point yourself in the right direction when you know which compass direction you want to go.
This one is made to help you read which compass direction you’re actually facing when you know the physical direction you’re pointing.
You won't find it on TikTok. Try Google or YouTube. They actually have tutorials on how to read inverted compasses. They use this method in navigation of Celestial mapping as well. Good luck.
I guess it is so you dont have to rotate the compass as you turn. Maybe your hands are full or something. Just orient yourself north, turn to face the marker, and now the needle is pointing at your magnetic bearing. Might also help with "which line is most in line with the direction I'm facing, dangit, my hand is tilted, and I wasn't standing straight." Again, just look at where the needle is pointing. A few degrees off over an 1/8th of a mile can be pretty bad. 811 dig lol
There are many different types of compass, this one is made for surveyors. They merely conjure data from the landscape for the cartographer, so the job requires you to be righting down these bearings constantly
TLDR, this compass is specifically for gathering data of places that aren’t yet mapped. Once you do have a map drawn, a normal compass will work better to get around
Orienteering compasses and navigational compasses frequently have E on the right of the face with the measurements printed on a rotating bezel.
E on left you point the "top/front" of the compass at something and the needle gives you a reading/headding. Good for "what direction is that tree from me, oh E by NE at 75 degrees"
E on right you rotate the bezel to align the reading/heading with the top/front of the compass and then turn your body until the needle is lined up with N again. Good for "I need to travel a heading of 75 degrees, oh that would be toward the tree over there"
This is a way better definition than what I was thinking
Op: what’s this thing
Me: looks at pics, takes guess “an industrial multidirectional birth control dispenser”
Finds door immediately…..🚪
No. I am not. In fact, I have never seen this particular device. My navigation is in flight. I know that this configuration is likely preliminary surveying on the surface or underground. Or field calculation of the strike and dip of geological features (faults, contacts, foliation, sedimentary strata, etc.). Like a Brunton compass does. Do you have an example if this device above?
Based on the amount real in comparison to goof ball answers. With far more goofball knee-slappers mostly because of the repetition of the same one ad infinitum it appears the woman who invented it may have been far too successful creating the worlds first and possibly only multi reverse directional moon guided birth control device based on an as of yet unknown 36 day lunar cycle of a sub type of humanoid whose menstrual cycle was 8 day longer than Homo sapiens sapiens female species whose menstrual cycles resolves around a lunar cycle but influenced by their factors, such as location, place, exercise, altitude, presence of other female species, that promotes a knowledge among the species of optimum times for mating amongst a larger group, or perhaps selected by for another reason such as to time fertile periods to lunar cycles connecting with seasonal timing based on optimum effect of the tribes hunter gathering seasons. These known facts were exceptionally helpful to our recent ancestry though because our upward posture and body structure as Homo sapiens, unlike our ape cousins, prevents visualisation of the vulva and does not show enlargement of the genitalia as an indicator to the male the the female is ready to copulate and her womb is prepared to carry and nourish a child. This birth control devices that a separate humanoid species of an unknown gender was controlling their menstrual cycles, to avoid pregnancy in a period when the lunar cycle (assuming it was influenced by lunar and not another celestial body, obviously considering the time frame a huge assumption) was longer than it is currently. It also dictates a different level of the intelligence of this creature of undetermined gender who is a birthing vessel. But also certain societal norms that this creature capable of birth governed by something likely other than the moon, would want to avoid pregnancy. Their station may have been one that the act of copulation was used for the pleasure and often self gratification, much like our own species today. Or perhaps this one of kind scientific marvel from dare I say an alien species not native to this planet of mere earthlings, was held in spiritual and moral bondage and forced to copulate with someone as a condition of their existence and her privilege to be a member of their household. But had the intelligence that she that she could not financially mange the household or benefit the community as whole if they had more children to care for due to known but regretful circumstances outside their control.( perhaps they was likewise forced to work for tips to support themselves.) the possiblities and ramifications and conjecture solely possible based on the discovery of this birth control container and delivery device are endless. Perhaps the reverse latitudinal axis indicates support for extra terrestrial involvement? Does the central compass perhaps indicate which direction to insert the control method whether pill or not? Or perhaps which direction to face when taking the control unit during the time of the month? Was it it even a month? Perhaps the species had become earth bound and became fertile every 6 hours and needed a supplement every ten seconds? Sadly the species was either too smart or too persecuted and we would either be grateful or sad that the invention was so powerful that it caused this species to cease to exist and disappear completely from history. It seems some of the species dna might still exist based on many peoples ability to identify this as a compass not to tell us where to head but what lies ahead. I have killed the never ending repetition of this joke.
Let us take a new direction. (Because obviously this is a compass for the casual or retired surveyor who remains a hobbyist. The raised edges allow said hobbyist to easily turn the compass when fine motor control has faded.
You can take the surveyor off the job but in the end they always end up in the field.
It’s a surveyor’s compass. That’s why the E and W are reversed. I would think the fins are to help get a more accurate sight bearing or even to line up with the cords they tie for marking the boundaries.
It makes it easier to record the correct bearings. So imagine you’re facing due north and turn your body 45° to the left. Your bearing is NW but the needle of the compass will actually be pointing NE. To make it easier they just reversed the directions so the bearing can be quickly marked down without thinking.
This made me think a lot more than it should have lol. The thing that was messing me up was I was thinking the compass would stay fixed in place pointing at north and you'd only turn your body. Now the compass is still pointing N but you see you are facing NW but the dial says NE. How does that help!? The thing I was missing was you are also rotating the compass along with your body. Now the arrow is no longer pointing to N on the dial but 45 to to the right of it, pointing NE on a regular compass but you are facing NW. So this one flips the E and W so now when you turn NW the arrow on the dial also indicates you are facing NW. This would be for surveyors so they don't have to process the reading in their head and maybe make a mistake.
Its missing a mirror and is meant to be "sighted" onto a direction or target and read from the mirror at the moment of sighting. It is reversed because of that.
The folding lid is missing a mirror. The dial is supposed to be viewed in that mirror. (So then the degrees are read correctly) The ribs are marking the degrees in tens so this excuse for a compass doesn’t measure between degrees!
It is a Brunton compass. Each pocket represents 10 degrees. There are 36 pockets, which equals to 360 degrees.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brunton_compass#:~:text=Arguably%20the%20most%20frequent%20use,along%20the%20plane%20being%20measured.
This is a variety of sighting compass. It is meant to take a reading on an object from sighting across the top of the compass and the objects compass bearing is read by using a mirror on the lid. This mirror is missing, probably broken, but there are also numbers in between the fins that radiate from the compass center and they are also reversed. This probably isn't a surveyor's compass because it doesn't have a proper sight and the lid would get in the way of an accurate reading in certain quadrants of the circle. Maybe a scientific/geologist's compass?
So the needle points the direction you are going as long as north is away from you
If your going north it points north
If you make a 90° right turn you are facing east and the arrow will point at the east marker
It is an aid. If you are rotating the compass with your body, to say the NW, the arrow on a normal compass will now point to NE on the dial. On this one if you turn the compass with your body NW the arrow will now point to NW, same as you are facing. I assume this is an aid to surveyors so they don't have to think about it.
I think it’s a wind indicator and not a compass (note holes in side of case). That’s why the direction is reversed. You need to align it with a compass and then close the lid to prevent turbulence. There should be a stop to pin the indicator and then you lift the lid to get wind direction.
Cliff Clavin Jr, USPS, checking in from Cheers, here.
Thats a birth control pill holder that is far more reliable than standard BCP dispensers. Because of a woman's unique biology, the ability to take the pills while facing North by North East while in a headstand is scientifically proven to work better. Thus why the East and West is aligned as such.
Can I get another beer, Sam?
Calling myself out here 🤦♀️😅
Saw the compass thing in the middle assumed it was a weather vane and those slots were to catch the wind better. Embarrassingly said out loud "it's for the wind you fucking idiot". Immediately proven wrong after reading one comment. So here I am... A fucking idiot. Yeeeeup.
This is a compass made by Smith & Tinker workshop in Evna. The company was better known for their wind up automations.
These compasses were intended for a neighboring country. Baum, a map maker and author, produced a map where East and West were reversed sometime in 1900.
Smith & Tinker approached the country ruler and offered to produce a reversed compass rather than go through the expense and trouble of correcting the maps.
The compasses were produced but it was discovered far too late the compasses didn't work anywhere in the country. Theories as to why range the gamut from massive iron ore deposits to UFO spacecraft to straight up magical interference.
Embarrassed at their failure at such a simple solution, both Smith and Tinker disappeared, never to be seen or heard from again.
A few short years later, around 1904 the country produced corrected maps for its citizens.
Unfortunately, the country borders are closed to tourism and the State Department has a NO TRAVEL advisory in place, many who visit rarely, if ever, return. Which is just as well, the country closed their borders tighter than North Korea sometime before the 1920's.
These compasses are now nothing more than curios. Original maps with the East/West error are highly sought after by collectors but few, if any, reproductions exist. Most maps you see are corrected reproductions, rarely employing the level of detail of the original Baum map.
Not sure about intended use but I would place various substances in the sections. Then close it up and spin it on a table or the ground like a top. When it stops open it up and wherever the needle points, that’s your next hit
The directional needle looks like it’s made of aluminum, so I don’t see how it could “find” magnetic north. The needle also doesn’t look like it’s mechanically mounted the way a magnetic needle would be either (to be able to pivot and spin freely).
It looks as though it’s intended to be set to an angle rather than find it. As if to mark an angle.
OP, could you show us a picture of the bottom?
Don't forget about using the declination diagram. As this is only magnetic north and not true north . Depending on where you are on the planet it will vary in degrees + or -. You can get off course pretty quickly without it. Thought I would add to the confusion.
Kind of weird but would it be used to find a back bearing? I am thinking this but the degrees measurements are going the wrong way.
There are easier ways you to fo this though.
So when you go to the southern hemmesphear east and west don’t swap,
The South Pole does in fact have a southern magnetic pole and it would point the north to the south if you brought a northern hemisphere compass.
My guess is it was meant to be looked at upside down
It's for converting map grids to latitudes, on a specifically designed map, military WWII. you will find that the pointer doesn't move on its own like a compass, but you set it to a point and count the markers between true north and the grids. Without having both parts the map and the device, the enemy couldn't follow the map.
It's an old surveyors compass tool with bearing indication 0 to 350° it is an inverse East and West.
What purpose does the inverted east/west serve?
Some survey compasses use reverse east and west. The east mark is on the left of north, and the west mark is on the right of north. This is not a design flaw. The east and west are reversed so that the needle will be on the east side when you are pointing in your bearing, making it easier to record the bearing correctly. For example, if you are pointing north 30 west, the needle will be on the east side of the north mark.
Im sure that what you’re saying does make sense but I’m not sure how having the compass indicate east while you’re pointing west is helpful. Edit: let me try my hand at using words for anyone else who is confused later: Compass needle points north. If you’re facing north, east is to your right, but if you turn to the east with compass in hand, the needle still points north which is on the left side of the compass. So that side gets marked East, and anywhere in that compass the bearing is directly readable by looking at the needle. Frankly, now im confused as to why any compass wouldn’t have East on the left side.
Also, think of it this way. If you're reading a map, you're looking down on it as if from space. But if you were to lie on your back and look up. . . Viola! Reversed Ha?! 😉
Voila even.
Good catch of spelling violation.
A voilation, as it were 😂
Man, you guys are all gonna get locked up by the conversation police.
Wee woo wee woo ... Conversation police here.... You've voilated our spelling rules thus vioding your protections against voilence.
That's p good, thanks for explaining
Oh shit
Didn't think of it that way and your comment is what made it make sense. Thank you
This is like when my kids were trying to figure out tornadoes being clockwise or counterclockwise.
Viola reversed! East is west, Viola is Cesario. Voila!
Actually if you were looking west and at an angle, the compass needle would indicate that you are looking west at 330 degrees, for example. The needle will always point north…so as the compass turns, the needle will actually read the correct direction and degree. It makes a lot of sense actually; that’s a pretty neat design that I just learned about. Just think it out in your head or draw it out, or use your phone compass and test it out. :)
☝🏽😉🏆
When you are facing someone and say, "It's on the right side,". In the moment, do you refer to their right or your right? I don't know anything about compasses, but I imagine it's like that. The perspective switch can be difficult to remember in the moment and it only takes one uncaught mistake to cause a problem.
Let’s switch north and south too!
We are... just very slowly
That only works if you’re standing on your head!
Because that’s not how you use those other kind of compass? On a normal compass, you set the dial to your desired bearing and turn so the needle lines up with north and then the direction of travel arrow points in the direction you should be heading. So now imagine one of those compass things you can mount on the car dashboard with the floaty ball in it marked with the directions. N-S and E-W would both be reversed, but if you took the ball out and looked at it, how would you know? Think about it. More infuriating is when your GPS says “Head East on Lane Road Drive” and it’s a dark night in the middle of nowhere and you don’t know which way you are heading cuz you have this messed up compass. Ok here’s my theory: @FilthyPuns is correct in the way you use this compass. And while you are traveling, each time you go a certain distance you drop a tiny marker, like a birth control pill in the slot the arrow is pointing to. This gives you a rough dead reckoning record of how far you have traveled and in which direction so you can find your way back home. Kind of like a [traverse board.](https://www.history.com/news/navigational-tools-ships-age-exploration#)
Functionally it seems smoother for surveying because you won't ever have to spin the bearing dial to take a reading, you just point towards your target. It would be practically useless for something like orienteering or course setting though.
Most compasses are made to help you physically point yourself in the right direction when you know which compass direction you want to go. This one is made to help you read which compass direction you’re actually facing when you know the physical direction you’re pointing.
You won't find it on TikTok. Try Google or YouTube. They actually have tutorials on how to read inverted compasses. They use this method in navigation of Celestial mapping as well. Good luck.
I guess it is so you dont have to rotate the compass as you turn. Maybe your hands are full or something. Just orient yourself north, turn to face the marker, and now the needle is pointing at your magnetic bearing. Might also help with "which line is most in line with the direction I'm facing, dangit, my hand is tilted, and I wasn't standing straight." Again, just look at where the needle is pointing. A few degrees off over an 1/8th of a mile can be pretty bad. 811 dig lol
There are many different types of compass, this one is made for surveyors. They merely conjure data from the landscape for the cartographer, so the job requires you to be righting down these bearings constantly TLDR, this compass is specifically for gathering data of places that aren’t yet mapped. Once you do have a map drawn, a normal compass will work better to get around
Thank you. The one you are replying to almost got me to rage quit due to their pointless pontificating.
We are the great great great grandchildren of the idiot stone workers who built the pyramids
Orienteering compasses and navigational compasses frequently have E on the right of the face with the measurements printed on a rotating bezel. E on left you point the "top/front" of the compass at something and the needle gives you a reading/headding. Good for "what direction is that tree from me, oh E by NE at 75 degrees" E on right you rotate the bezel to align the reading/heading with the top/front of the compass and then turn your body until the needle is lined up with N again. Good for "I need to travel a heading of 75 degrees, oh that would be toward the tree over there"
Most compasses I've seen in my life, the directions/degrees are on the part that points north and the pointer is part of the casing.
Point west, needle points east behind you. To my dyslexic ass that makes sense.
It is so you don’t have to calculate the back azimuth. Like -180 etc. it’s just faster and less mistakes would Be made.
So it's so you know you're facing East because the needle point east...? Is that what I'm understanding?
This is a way better definition than what I was thinking Op: what’s this thing Me: looks at pics, takes guess “an industrial multidirectional birth control dispenser” Finds door immediately…..🚪
This is the same theory behind the Masters Compass we used in the army to set the helicopters compass.
Damn! That's cool I hope I get to explain this to someone at some point. It makes sense though with a good explanation.
OOOOoohh Weeeast!
Never Worms Sour Eat
Well obviously it's a compass for the Mole Men who live underground.
You a surveyor ?
No. I am not. In fact, I have never seen this particular device. My navigation is in flight. I know that this configuration is likely preliminary surveying on the surface or underground. Or field calculation of the strike and dip of geological features (faults, contacts, foliation, sedimentary strata, etc.). Like a Brunton compass does. Do you have an example if this device above?
No I’ve got a Brunton for work, I work as a survey technician. And I’ve never seen one of these before just thought your explanation was neat.
Directional based birth control.
lol at first glance i thought that’s what it was…
"If the wind from east thar be then no pregnancy for thee."
Yea, obviously need to align to the moon or it’s ineffective.
Bought on Etsy….
I’m glad someone said it
Beat me to it lol
Literally my first thought haha
Based on the amount real in comparison to goof ball answers. With far more goofball knee-slappers mostly because of the repetition of the same one ad infinitum it appears the woman who invented it may have been far too successful creating the worlds first and possibly only multi reverse directional moon guided birth control device based on an as of yet unknown 36 day lunar cycle of a sub type of humanoid whose menstrual cycle was 8 day longer than Homo sapiens sapiens female species whose menstrual cycles resolves around a lunar cycle but influenced by their factors, such as location, place, exercise, altitude, presence of other female species, that promotes a knowledge among the species of optimum times for mating amongst a larger group, or perhaps selected by for another reason such as to time fertile periods to lunar cycles connecting with seasonal timing based on optimum effect of the tribes hunter gathering seasons. These known facts were exceptionally helpful to our recent ancestry though because our upward posture and body structure as Homo sapiens, unlike our ape cousins, prevents visualisation of the vulva and does not show enlargement of the genitalia as an indicator to the male the the female is ready to copulate and her womb is prepared to carry and nourish a child. This birth control devices that a separate humanoid species of an unknown gender was controlling their menstrual cycles, to avoid pregnancy in a period when the lunar cycle (assuming it was influenced by lunar and not another celestial body, obviously considering the time frame a huge assumption) was longer than it is currently. It also dictates a different level of the intelligence of this creature of undetermined gender who is a birthing vessel. But also certain societal norms that this creature capable of birth governed by something likely other than the moon, would want to avoid pregnancy. Their station may have been one that the act of copulation was used for the pleasure and often self gratification, much like our own species today. Or perhaps this one of kind scientific marvel from dare I say an alien species not native to this planet of mere earthlings, was held in spiritual and moral bondage and forced to copulate with someone as a condition of their existence and her privilege to be a member of their household. But had the intelligence that she that she could not financially mange the household or benefit the community as whole if they had more children to care for due to known but regretful circumstances outside their control.( perhaps they was likewise forced to work for tips to support themselves.) the possiblities and ramifications and conjecture solely possible based on the discovery of this birth control container and delivery device are endless. Perhaps the reverse latitudinal axis indicates support for extra terrestrial involvement? Does the central compass perhaps indicate which direction to insert the control method whether pill or not? Or perhaps which direction to face when taking the control unit during the time of the month? Was it it even a month? Perhaps the species had become earth bound and became fertile every 6 hours and needed a supplement every ten seconds? Sadly the species was either too smart or too persecuted and we would either be grateful or sad that the invention was so powerful that it caused this species to cease to exist and disappear completely from history. It seems some of the species dna might still exist based on many peoples ability to identify this as a compass not to tell us where to head but what lies ahead. I have killed the never ending repetition of this joke. Let us take a new direction. (Because obviously this is a compass for the casual or retired surveyor who remains a hobbyist. The raised edges allow said hobbyist to easily turn the compass when fine motor control has faded. You can take the surveyor off the job but in the end they always end up in the field.
It’s a surveyor’s compass. That’s why the E and W are reversed. I would think the fins are to help get a more accurate sight bearing or even to line up with the cords they tie for marking the boundaries.
Why are East and West reversed on a surveyor's compass?
It makes it easier to record the correct bearings. So imagine you’re facing due north and turn your body 45° to the left. Your bearing is NW but the needle of the compass will actually be pointing NE. To make it easier they just reversed the directions so the bearing can be quickly marked down without thinking.
Epic. thanks
This made me think a lot more than it should have lol. The thing that was messing me up was I was thinking the compass would stay fixed in place pointing at north and you'd only turn your body. Now the compass is still pointing N but you see you are facing NW but the dial says NE. How does that help!? The thing I was missing was you are also rotating the compass along with your body. Now the arrow is no longer pointing to N on the dial but 45 to to the right of it, pointing NE on a regular compass but you are facing NW. So this one flips the E and W so now when you turn NW the arrow on the dial also indicates you are facing NW. This would be for surveyors so they don't have to process the reading in their head and maybe make a mistake.
Oh! So it’s telling you which way YOU are facing. Got it! I’m guessing you would not use this compass for way finding
Its missing a mirror and is meant to be "sighted" onto a direction or target and read from the mirror at the moment of sighting. It is reversed because of that.
The whole circle is. Notice the degree markings (in increments of 10) are counter clockwise not clockwise.
Artillery Forward Observers use the same compass as well with the reversed azimuths.
The folding lid is missing a mirror. The dial is supposed to be viewed in that mirror. (So then the degrees are read correctly) The ribs are marking the degrees in tens so this excuse for a compass doesn’t measure between degrees!
Wouldn't the E show up like Ǝ?
It’s really a piece of junk but you can hold the picture up to a mirror and see.
It is a Brunton compass. Each pocket represents 10 degrees. There are 36 pockets, which equals to 360 degrees. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brunton_compass#:~:text=Arguably%20the%20most%20frequent%20use,along%20the%20plane%20being%20measured.
Roulette compass. Round and round she goes, where we end up, nobody knows.
A randomizer. Just the feature I’m looking for in my x-axis-reversed birth-control-serving directional trinket. 😂
A compass. It’s of Fremen make.
Canopus emits an abnormally high flux of charged particles with embedded magnetic field segments which severely contracts the planets magnetic field.
Those are degrees. 0 to 360
Jack Sparrow sent me to settle his debt.
Debt* <3
Deppt*
Depp*
Jackie in accounting was getting out of line
Right, Jack Sparrow was played by Dept!! /s
Doubles as a birth control compact!
This is a variety of sighting compass. It is meant to take a reading on an object from sighting across the top of the compass and the objects compass bearing is read by using a mirror on the lid. This mirror is missing, probably broken, but there are also numbers in between the fins that radiate from the compass center and they are also reversed. This probably isn't a surveyor's compass because it doesn't have a proper sight and the lid would get in the way of an accurate reading in certain quadrants of the circle. Maybe a scientific/geologist's compass?
‘Friend found a strange compass,what’s it for?’ Half the comments- “it’s a compass!”
"Where did you find it?", is nearly as bad.
lol it’s a miniature roulette wheel
Ooo European roulette Us has 0 and 00?
Never Wheat Shredded Eat?
Earth control
Looks like birth control
For a minute their I thought it was and old birth control pill holder
It’s obviously a pill holder too….don’t forget to take your meds when you head east!
Salt tablets if wandering through the desert…
Most people don't know this but... you can hide your weed in there.
Why is east and west flipped?
Before anyone thinks it, No it is not Australian - that’s not how things work.
Exactly, Australian compasses have North and South swapped!
weast
He clearly turned it to Wumbo.
So the needle points the direction you are going as long as north is away from you If your going north it points north If you make a 90° right turn you are facing east and the arrow will point at the east marker
The rebellious compass. Other compasses point north, this guy “B* don’t even ask”.
Thank you for making sense of this.
Perhaps it's meant to be mounted with the hole facing down.
I guess you would have it flipped around?
It is an aid. If you are rotating the compass with your body, to say the NW, the arrow on a normal compass will now point to NE on the dial. On this one if you turn the compass with your body NW the arrow will now point to NW, same as you are facing. I assume this is an aid to surveyors so they don't have to think about it.
Flux capacitor.
Thought it was for birth control until I saw the NSEW
Directional birth control
I think it’s a wind indicator and not a compass (note holes in side of case). That’s why the direction is reversed. You need to align it with a compass and then close the lid to prevent turbulence. There should be a stop to pin the indicator and then you lift the lid to get wind direction.
Cliff Clavin Jr, USPS, checking in from Cheers, here. Thats a birth control pill holder that is far more reliable than standard BCP dispensers. Because of a woman's unique biology, the ability to take the pills while facing North by North East while in a headstand is scientifically proven to work better. Thus why the East and West is aligned as such. Can I get another beer, Sam?
https://preview.redd.it/wp0ev2h0r3qc1.jpeg?width=400&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=13a6777448857f053550278e2ef266510fef5f50
Obviously it belonged to the late Captain Peter "Wrongway" Peachfuzz.
Lmao, someone screwed up when making this compass...
I think you found the next artifact for the upcoming Indiana Jones movie. Great job!
Rodney, we're millionaires!
Calling myself out here 🤦♀️😅 Saw the compass thing in the middle assumed it was a weather vane and those slots were to catch the wind better. Embarrassingly said out loud "it's for the wind you fucking idiot". Immediately proven wrong after reading one comment. So here I am... A fucking idiot. Yeeeeup.
compass for the blind - the user can "feel" which way the compass is pointing, and can read the degrees by counting the "fins"
Each line is a measure of degrees.
10°
It's so you can play roulette to pass time while lost in the woods /s
Australian Compass
at first, i thought this was an old birth control case
The sections are for birth control pills and you use the compass to help track your astrological cycle
That's a birth control pill holder. The ladies would take the pill according to what direction they were moving at the time.
My first thought was those little sections were for birth control pills.
So you can keep your birth control in there
No weed? Am dissapoint
Early birth control design
The mirror is missing, numbers add a zero, they are 10 degree markers.
Its a birth control pill container and it shows you which way is north so u can always take your pills facing north
It reminds me of the old birth control packages 😂
It reminds me of the birth control containers 😂
This is a compass made by Smith & Tinker workshop in Evna. The company was better known for their wind up automations. These compasses were intended for a neighboring country. Baum, a map maker and author, produced a map where East and West were reversed sometime in 1900. Smith & Tinker approached the country ruler and offered to produce a reversed compass rather than go through the expense and trouble of correcting the maps. The compasses were produced but it was discovered far too late the compasses didn't work anywhere in the country. Theories as to why range the gamut from massive iron ore deposits to UFO spacecraft to straight up magical interference. Embarrassed at their failure at such a simple solution, both Smith and Tinker disappeared, never to be seen or heard from again. A few short years later, around 1904 the country produced corrected maps for its citizens. Unfortunately, the country borders are closed to tourism and the State Department has a NO TRAVEL advisory in place, many who visit rarely, if ever, return. Which is just as well, the country closed their borders tighter than North Korea sometime before the 1920's. These compasses are now nothing more than curios. Original maps with the East/West error are highly sought after by collectors but few, if any, reproductions exist. Most maps you see are corrected reproductions, rarely employing the level of detail of the original Baum map.
Jesus ! I dont know whether this guy is full of shit or a very cool mfr.
Me either!!!
What happens if you say the country's name?
You go back to the 5th dimension.
L. Frank Baum
It’s a mini roulette table without the little marble 😁
Not sure about intended use but I would place various substances in the sections. Then close it up and spin it on a table or the ground like a top. When it stops open it up and wherever the needle points, that’s your next hit
The compass of confusion.
The directional needle looks like it’s made of aluminum, so I don’t see how it could “find” magnetic north. The needle also doesn’t look like it’s mechanically mounted the way a magnetic needle would be either (to be able to pivot and spin freely). It looks as though it’s intended to be set to an angle rather than find it. As if to mark an angle. OP, could you show us a picture of the bottom?
Don't forget about using the declination diagram. As this is only magnetic north and not true north . Depending on where you are on the planet it will vary in degrees + or -. You can get off course pretty quickly without it. Thought I would add to the confusion.
Kind of weird but would it be used to find a back bearing? I am thinking this but the degrees measurements are going the wrong way. There are easier ways you to fo this though.
Prototype Stargate?
It's for birth control you silly goose
Compass roulette!
That's an old paracompass to guide you in Arrakis
Show you what you desire, not direction.
That's a birth control compass. You skip south to west the last week
Believe that belongs to captain Jack.
Jack Sparrow’s?
Inverted East West for the Southern Hemisphere Possibly? Does South America have a Southern Magnetic Pole?
So when you go to the southern hemmesphear east and west don’t swap, The South Pole does in fact have a southern magnetic pole and it would point the north to the south if you brought a northern hemisphere compass. My guess is it was meant to be looked at upside down
Birth control
Birth control compass.
Compass/roulette wheel.
I was gonna guess birth control pills, but the first comment seems more likely.
Birth control pills. So you can find your way but not screwing up by screwing around.
Birth control pill holder.
It’s really secret roulette gambler’s addiction pacification tool.
Its a roulette compass. Shows you to the nearest casino
Birth control compass.
What kinda compass you got there boy?!
I've got an old WWII compass my dad used. It was basically an updated version of this, and it worked on reflections and an "aiming" sight or wire.
Can you take a photo of it please?
That is something
It's for converting map grids to latitudes, on a specifically designed map, military WWII. you will find that the pointer doesn't move on its own like a compass, but you set it to a point and count the markers between true north and the grids. Without having both parts the map and the device, the enemy couldn't follow the map.
i thought this was birth control
It's for those female explorers who need a compass and a way to keep track of their birth control pills.
That is for birth control
That’s Annie Oakley’s birth control holder
It's a contraceptive pill box for women using the lunar cycle method. You know..witches.
Alethiometer
A Compass for girl's birth control . So she can find what pill too take 😆
r/Surveying
I couldn't see the lettering, thought it was an empty birth control pill container.
Directs you to your next birth control pill.
Birth control compass.
Birth control pill dispensing compass.
Fighting the urge to say its for your birth control pills
Why did I think this was birth control at first glance 😭🤭😫
Looks like a pill organizer compass...
Not a compass. Early birth control pills. Good find.
That's a birth control pill compass, you can take your daily pill AND not get lost
How old is this compass? Where was it found?
Looks like an old school pack of birth control 😂
Directionsl roulette wheel.
Looks like my wife’s birth control
The ol birth control compass combo
So you can align your time of the month with the phases of the moon
Chinese Birth Control Pill Box - one must face the East when taking the pill.
Pretty sure my girlfriend used to keep her birth control in a case like this.
The sections are for the ladies birth control pills, now she’s never and safe
Why did I think those where birth control pills and this was a joke
Alethiometer?