Well actually the lever that holds the needle is for use during transport. It was probably a high end jeweled needle. I am a land surveyor and back in the pre electronic days most of our instruments had compasses mounted to them with that lever, and staff compasses used in timber surveys have a lock for the needle like that.
In all my years of working around compasses I have never heard of one having the polarity reversed by a physical shock, and can’t imagine how jarring something could reverse the polarity of it? We’re talking about an atomic level of change based on electronic charge. Are you sure you didn’t just have it stored near a strong magnet or something else electronic that changed the polarity?
I must have heard someone tell me it shouldn’t be locked … anyway, no telling how it got reversed; I lost track of that one decades ago. I still have the regulation Boy Scout map-orienting model; I got both of them the same year for Christmas when I was maybe ten or eleven. That Scout model now rides in the center console of my truck.
Most of my kayak camping is on the coast of British Columbia where fog during July and August is common place. A normal day is paddling in fog without sight of land for hours at a time. I carry a GPS (and a backup unit), a deck mounted compass, a simple Suunto compass in my chart case and another in my ditch bag which is on my back.
I navigate primarily with chart and compass and use the GPS to record my track, provide speed information and maybe course-made-good. If I find myself bumbling around in a complex of foggy waterways with blind dead ends while I am trying to locate a desired campsite or water source, I will switch the GPS over to point me towards my objective. My absolute last resort is switching the unit to chart mode as it seems to consume more battery power and tends to fail me when I can least afford it to.
I much prefer using chart and compass over electronics. So “yes”. I carry a compass. I find that it keeps me present and engaged with changing conditions in a way that electronics never did.
That’s a shame. I recall seeing nachos and salsa, chips and dip, maybe even fruit salad. Oh, and of course the controversial (and ill-fitting) bottle of beer.
Always on trips. Yes, several times. Did a thick fog crossing from Cat Island to Rocky Island AINL. . Weather radio said 18ft NE swells that were diminishing. I was lee on the Cat so it was serene to launch. I plotted with chart and took off, compass and chrono at the ready. Had GPS too but easier to dead reckon with compass. Turns out the swells were ostensible, biggest I have ever paddled. It was hard not to take the fun ride because it was fun to slide down those puppies. They were aft quartering so they did help push. The visibility varied from tip of bow to 25 yards and was spooky as hell. If was not a great distance mind you but had to keep a steady eye on the bearing, you see ghost islands in the fog. I dead reckoned on other trips too but not in heavy sea state. AINL you can always turn south and run into Wisconsin within a few hours, on this day it would have been few with those following sea conditions. .
Didn’t use a compass on my Friday paddle but the water on the way got so rough especially in a bottleneck for current and wind that we came very close to having to abort. Ultimately we made it but I figured this could be a problem. The course had most of the return being with the current and wind on the way back except for the end. I knew as much so had planned an alternate take out from which I could have walked 1 1/2 miles and gotten my vehicle to pick up the boat. No fog, nothing about compass, but boy can weather be unpredictable! Always good to have a plan B
When paddling in areas that I am not very familiar with, I use my GPS to get a bearing to my next waypoint and then the deck compass to steer me in that direction if navigation by sight is not possible. I carry extra batteries (for several items) in a small dry bag in the day hatch but try to check my battery strength beforehand to avoid unpleasant surprises. Even with full batteries, I have had several incidents where the screen on my handheld GPS (a Garmin GPSMAP76C on one occasion and a Delorme model that I can’t remember on another) fogged up on the inside making it impossible to read. One of those occasions was a paddle that had me out after dark and it was a real problem although I eventually did find my way back. I still carry a GPS but have found my iPhone to be more reliable. I use iSail software which allows one to download free marine charts in advance for the area you’ll be paddling in. Even without a cell or internet signal, I still receive a GPS signal which shows where I am on the pre-downloaded chart.