Camping and woodcraft - Scoutmastercg.com

—Anv'Avay,PERSONAL KITS 169a woodsman should carry a pocket electricflasher, and, with that along, a common compassserves very well.My favorite compass is of a pattern known as the" Explorer's," as here shown (Fig. 105), except thatit has a hinged cover. Twice I havecrushed the glasses of open faced compassesand ruined the pivots. Themoveable arrow is to be set towardone's objective, when the needle pointsnorth ; it then indicates the general directionof the course. The dial is ofl^ inches diameter, and is dividedmto spaces of two degrees, reading Fig. 105.from left to right, which is better for ^""^^^^H'^j^^_an amateur than the contrary reading j.^^of a surveyor's compass.The use of the compass will be explained in Vol.II,under the head of Route Sketching.I wear the instrument in a small pocket sewed onmy shirt for that purpose, so It fits, and attach it toH button-hole by a short, strong cord. A long cordwould catch in brush. If the compass is carriedin a large pocket it will flop out when you stoopover or fall down. Sometimes, when mapping, Inave worn one in a leather bracelet, like a wristwatch; but a better way is to attach it, at such tmie,to the little board that your cross-section paper istacked on.Watch.— Ordinarily a cheap watch Is goodenough for the woods. If you do carry a good one,and it is open-faced, there is a good way to protect itfrom wet that I read some 3^ears ago in a sportsman'sjournal. This also helps to keep it from falling out''of a pocket. To keep one's watch dry, even thoughyou go overboard, take a piece of pure rubber dentaldam 8 inches square, put the watch In the center, andbring the rubber together at the stem, tying theWhen youpuckered up rubber with a bit of stringswkh to see the face, simply stretch the rubber over