Sun Compass
A Sun Compass is a dual purpose item, acting as a navigational compass and a way to tell the location of the sun. It is a small, handheld item, and is easy to carry. A Sun Compass can be used by anyone, although it can be difficult to read.
After the creation of the Sun Clock, the Sun Compass became obsolete and is now considered an archaic method of telling time. Sun Compasses still have a use in some areas, but are no longer mass produced. Many Sun Compasses are decades or centuries old, passed down through families.
Reading a Sun Compass
There are six primary components to a Sun Compass, you must understand four in order to use the compass. The compass rose, the northern needle, the sun path plate, and the direction notch are the four components.
To read a Sun Compass, start by holding the compass flat. As the Sun Compass lays flat the accuracy of the compass is improved, also ensure the direction notch is opposite of yourself. Now turn the compass rose to align the north point with the northern needle. This movement also turns the sun path plate. Now the Sun Compass can be used for navigation and to tell time, though time is a bit harder to tell.
As the direction notch points to the direction you are currently facing, the compass can be used for basic navigation.
Telling Time
To tell time with a Sun Compass, you must understand the normal path of the Sun. Remember the Sun rises in the East and sets in the West. When looking at a Sun Compass, there will be a bright spot representing the location of the Sun displayed on the sun path plate. The closer the spot is to the East, the earlier in the day. The closer the spot is to the West, the later in the day.
The Sun Compass tells the exact location of the Sun, regardless of how short the days are. However, the Sun Compass unfortunately can only work in moderate daylight conditions.
Modern Use
Most Sun Compasses in the modern day are owned and used by rural farmers and hunters. Knowing the exact location of the sun greatly benefits these groups. The night can be full of dangers, and there is only so much work to be done at night, therefore farmers and hunters have to make use of the daylight. However, a normal Sun Clock does not track the amount of daylight, making an old Sun Compass more useful in these situations.
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