Make a Floating Needle Compass
More Articles Related to CompassHow to Make a Compass
Knowing how to make a compass is one of the great survival skills. You can make your own emergency compass from ordinary materials you are likely to have at hand. This handmade compass operates on exactly the same principle as any expensive compass available for purchase such as those manufactured by Suunto or Silva. In a survival situation where you need to know which way is what, knowing how to make your own compass is a good survival skill to have.
Magnetize the Compass Needle
To make a compass you first need to magnetize a needle or other thin object that contains iron by stroking it with a piece of silk. For safety, you should stroke the needle you want magnetized from its eye toward its point. Lift the silk completely off the point end of the needle and stroke again from the eye down toward the point. Repeat this action 50 to 100 times.
Another method of magnetizing a needle is to rub it with a magnet in the same way as you would with silk. In a wilderness survival situation you may not have a magnet handy, but if you are in an urban survival area you may find magnets in a variety of electronic castoffs.
Make the Compass Needle Float
Once you have magnetized the needle, rub it in your hair to coat it with a thin layer of oil. If you are bald like me, you can also find natural body oil in the crease where you nose joins your face.
Put some water in container and keep it still. Gently place your magnetized needle on top of the water so that it rides on the surface tension. The thin layer of oil on the needle will hep it float.
You now have a directional compass. The needle will gradually align itself to your local magnetic north and south.
Determine Direction Using the Compass
The point of the floating needle will indicate south if you are in the northern hemisphere, or north if you are in the southern hemisphere. You can easily determine east and west directions by drawing an imaginary line perpendicular to the floating needle. Facing north, west will be on your left and east on your right.
Now all you have to do is take into account the magnetic declination for your area. If all you need is a rough estimate for direction, you may choose to ignore this step.
Now you know how to make compass!
Bonn
Maryland
I am not sure you can magnetize a needle by rubbing it with silk. You may be confusing statc electricity charge with magnetism.
Admin - Good question. Some sources say the needle will become magnetized from repeated rubbing on cloth. In either case, it does not really matter to the survivor as the needle will point to magnetic north and magnetic south.
CA
Why would a compass point a different direction in the north vs. the south? The magnetic field of the earth is still the same.
Maryland
The needle will only point N/S if it is a magnet. The reason I bring this up is because there are a some who are confused. Some think that steel of iron can be magnetized by rubbing with cloth or fur.
That is not the case. The confusion is due to the static electric demonstration where a glass rod or plastic comb is charged by rubbing with silk and then shown to pick up small pieces of paper due to electrostatic attraction.
This has nothing to do with magnetism and an object charged this way will not work as a compass. And actually, a metal object can't be charged this way anyway, only a non conductor like glass or plastic.
It is a fact that a non magnetic piece of iron or steel cant be magnetized by rubbing it with silk or fur. If you rub it against a magnet, that will work. Not a cloth.
Lower left corner
Canada
Which sources state that you can magnetize a needle using silk? Science says that you can't even put a static charge on metal, because the electrons will disperse. On top of that, static electricity doesn't react with a magnetic field. The charges must be moving in order to do so.
Survial Topics - have you tried it? Survival Topics encourages its readers to actually do rather than simply be armchair observers and commentators.
Pennsylvania
I can't get my needle to float. What are the possible things I could be doing wrong?
Survival Topics: the surface tension can be broken by soap, for example. Make sure your container is completely soap free by rinsing well. You can put a little oil or grease on the needle to help it float. One way to do this is to touch your finger agains the crease between your nose and face where natural oil producing glands are loacted, and then rub this on the needle. Be very careful as you place the needle lengthwise on top of the water.
Alternatively try floating a leaf with the needle on it like a raft. This should help you to make a compass using a needle. Have fun!
You are welcome to share this Survival Topic with others. I only request that you use a short blurb (not the entire survival content) and this code to
link to the origional:
AZ