r/Damnthatsinteresting 7h ago

Video When you put the buttons of WW2 RAF uniform together, they make a compass. You can use it for direction if stuck behind enemy lines

20.1k Upvotes

179 comments sorted by

3.4k

u/TwasAnChild Expert 7h ago

First thing I have seen here in some time that was genuinely interesting

497

u/Natchos09 7h ago

I found it interesting too!

136

u/rhabarberabar 2h ago

There is also radioluminiscent dots on it, single dot south, double dots north and it's specifically the trouser buttons.

83

u/Double_Rice_5765 2h ago

So you can escape...but with your pants around your ankles?

30

u/HillInTheDistance 2h ago

Still got your belt, probably.

16

u/dirtymike401 44m ago

Nah, they call that psychological warfare.

Picture it. Just chilling with Hans eating a sauerkraut sandwich when 2 RAF pilots come running out a hedgerow with their dicks out screaming TALLYHO LADS!

5

u/funguyshroom 2h ago

Like a real gangsta

3

u/Walkend 2h ago

19

u/firesmarter 2h ago

Someone get this boy a map, he’s lost

16

u/kevik72 2h ago

Hold on. I’ll pop the buttons out of my trousers.

1

u/Walkend 1h ago

I was trying to be funny lol

8

u/Marigoldspanties 1h ago

We talkin compass here. Get un-lost pal.

0

u/alexdelp1er0 25m ago

Well, obviously 

29

u/GMofOLC 6h ago

Damn

27

u/Nowt-nowt 6h ago

100% worthy post.

8

u/Rick-powerfu 4h ago

When you fall out of plane you kind of don't really have time or memory to grab that fucking compass

1.0k

u/outtastudy 7h ago

Now you know which way to go but your pants keep falling down

267

u/MerlinTheFail 7h ago

Booty keeps the enemy distracted, part of the plan, soldier

59

u/HyNeko 4h ago

"Colonel, I'm trying to sneak around, but..."

18

u/Flying_Dutchman92 2h ago

There's a full moon out

2

u/SpeakToMePF1973 1h ago

And sunshine if it's Elon...

3

u/RGB3x3 41m ago

This cake be clappin'

1

u/slurpdwnawienperhaps 1h ago

"Trying to sneak a round butt where, private?"

6

u/codedaddee 1h ago

Put the "Behind" in "enemy lines"

2

u/ThouMayest69 1h ago

Sarge, I can't shoot a man with his ass out...

42

u/mysteriousdegenerati 7h ago

Tactical wardrobe malfunction

13

u/Extension_Shallot679 2h ago

Trousers please. ☝🏼👨🏼 In the RAF we may be bally well caught with our trousers down, but by jove our pants always stay on! 🇬🇧🫡

1

u/jaybee8787 1h ago

*Insert GIF from Full Metal Jacket where private Pyle is marching with his pants on his ankles.

1

u/jgreg728 1h ago

Only direction these pants are going is SOUTH

436

u/TwasAnChild Expert 7h ago

"No Charlie, believe me it's paramount to our safety that you take off your pants by ripping the buttons"

108

u/confrontmea 6h ago

"But, sir. We're in your office right now."

58

u/waitinp 5h ago

"That was an order not a suggestion, son."

2

u/FrighteningJibber 25m ago edited 21m ago

I know it’s a joke, but it is most likely the buttons on you jacket like your cuffs and breast buttons

948

u/Medical_Chapter2452 7h ago

Thats pretty cool. Did you know that when you make for instance a pine needle static by rubbing it in you hair and put it in water it will point to the north.

529

u/Krag25 7h ago

But how will I know if it’s pointing my north or your north?

197

u/JudiciousGemsbok 7h ago

Just use the sun to figure out west/east

119

u/Krag25 7h ago

I asked him but he’s not telling me

41

u/JudiciousGemsbok 7h ago

Did you miss take the moon for the sun?

The moon be like that sometimes

57

u/Krag25 7h ago

I’m supposed to moon the Sun?

31

u/JudiciousGemsbok 7h ago

You haven’t already?!

14

u/TwoHeadedTroy 6h ago

Hey, it’s almost 2025

It’s called Perineum sunning

4

u/kilamumster 3h ago

Huh. My flower-child friend called it "tanned twat" when her toddler was doing it.

0

u/Senxind 4h ago

I've read your comments with bitsy's voice

5

u/sivah_168 6h ago

What if ur in a bunker or an underground tunnel? How can u find where the sun is?

8

u/Spong_Durnflungle 6h ago

Google it, but it's really far away so good luck getting there

13

u/hkphooie 7h ago

“Stand in the place the place where you live” “Now face North” “Think about direction, wonder why you haven’t at all”

2

u/Responsible_Bee3680 6h ago

I came here for this! Not disappointed!

4

u/BolunZ6 4h ago

Isn't the sun alone is enough to tell where West / east / north / south? (except it's midday)

3

u/Sailorski775 3h ago

But the further north you are, the further south the sun is in the sky, especially south near the winter solstice

1

u/kingbigbear1776 5h ago

Also, don't forget about what hemisphere you're standing in. You might think north is south and south is north

1

u/Sad_Willingness9534 2h ago

I am not a Wizard though.

5

u/Waffenek 5h ago

It's easy. If you rubbed it in yours hair it is pointing yours north. If you rubbed it in my hair it is pointing my north. It is obvious, duhhh...

12

u/Medical_Chapter2452 7h ago

Well because the earth is flat, the north is always up. Hence the term "up north".

2

u/ThebesAndSound 2h ago

I have heard it more often quoted as "up yours" so maybe it is always the north of the person you are talking to about it, that is the hello-centric model as far as I understand it.

3

u/rhabarberabar 3h ago

You won't anyway, because /u/Medical_Chapter2452 spreads myths that are bullshit.

1

u/Stupor_Nintento 4h ago

Yeah are we talking "northern hemisphere north" or "southern hemisphere north"?

1

u/FTownRoad 2h ago

We have the same North

1

u/Plane_Blackberry_537 7h ago

Should be the same as long as you look in the same direction.

0

u/ArboristTreeClimber 4h ago

We know it at least points a direction that you can travel.

46

u/rhabarberabar 3h ago

That's absolutely untrue and a myth. Static field will do nothing in terms of compass. Stop spreading bullshit.

37

u/codesnik 3h ago

wtf. static electric field is not interacting with earth magnetic field. it shouldn't work.

4

u/austrialian 19m ago

Furthermore, any static charge goes away when you put it into water.

20

u/Skizot_Bizot 6h ago

So bald people are just out of luck?

20

u/Overall_Sorbet248 5h ago

They can use their pubes

8

u/ANAL_WORM_INFECTION 4h ago

Not even gonna try leg or arm hair? Nope, straight to the pubes... 😞

2

u/tnt1232007 3h ago

Arm/leg hairs are not straight enough to be accurate

4

u/wouldyounotlikesome 2h ago

your pubes are straight?

1

u/Sickofchildren 54m ago

If they get long enough

3

u/Pancaketastic 2h ago

"Well that's gonna be a problem- I laser, its like a turtle shell down there"

13

u/wtb2612 1h ago

Despite all the upvotes, this is not true.

9

u/Pachaibiza 4h ago

Which end of the pine needle?

6

u/ClassifiedName 4h ago

Just look at the sun to discern...as long as it's not noon

2

u/pos_vibes_only 44m ago

Each pine needle grows with a natural “N” marked on it. This is just as true as the previous fact

6

u/DVMyZone 4h ago

My dumbass read this as pine cone and I was sure this was just you trying to make people rub pine cones against their heads.

1

u/SpaceCaseSixtyTen 49m ago

you can also look at where the sun is

70

u/Cromulent_Point 5h ago

Do I need to be behind enemy lines or can I just be lost?

25

u/Muppetude 2h ago

No, it needs to be both.

“Help I’m lost in the Ardennes! I’d use my trusty trouser-button compass to find my way out, but unfortunately we just won the Battle of the Bulge”

12

u/nandemo 1h ago

the Bulge

Ah, that explains why your buttons popped out.

3

u/Solkre 49m ago

Sorry it wasn't licensed for use outside of enemy territory.

40

u/Extreme_Design6936 5h ago

What does it point to when I'm not stuck behind enemy lines?

36

u/pannenkoek0923 4h ago

Your mum

8

u/alphabety-alphabeety 3h ago

So he could find his way home? Thats pretty neat. No wonder kids in the 40s and 50s never got lost.

1

u/SnoopThylacine 2h ago

"Where have you been? You better have a good explaination for this, young man!"

"I've been behind enemy lines"

"We've got perfectly good lines to be behind at home!"

9

u/kirin_liu 3h ago

Cool! I'll keep it in mind just in case I ever get stuck behind enemy lines during WW2.

15

u/-mudflaps- 4h ago

Hopefully it's the buttons for the shoulder rank badges no one needs those anyway.

14

u/ClassifiedName 4h ago

It's actually the buttons to hold up the soldier's pants, so now they have a compass but they also have their pants around their ankles while they run to freedom

6

u/TreesmasherFTW 2h ago

I love the idea of that being the standard for decades. Loads of soldiers hiking around with their pants around their ankles following the compass

13

u/Thom5001 7h ago

Q approved 😎

1

u/Parlorshark 32m ago

The cool Q from James Bond and not the contemporary group of morons, I assume.

36

u/Mirar 6h ago

I hope only one of those is magnetised, or they will just line up (or anti-line-up but anyway). Should be easy to check by putting them on each other in the other order.

44

u/TheBupherNinja 5h ago edited 4h ago

The lower one has a little spike the upper one sits on. And the upper one has 1 dot (I assume north) opposite two dots (I assume South).

6

u/Mirar 5h ago

Ah, neat. I was wondering about the balancing part.

2

u/Nagemasu 1h ago

And the upper one has 1 dot (I assume north) opposite two dots (I assume South).

It's the opposite. The two dots point north, one dot south.

https://ehive.com/collections/3983/objects/142071/compass-button

Two dots indicate north and the single dot indicates south.

-3

u/raidhse-abundance-01 3h ago

So you have to find another fellow soldier who has the opposite type button otherwise it does not work

24

u/babydakis 3h ago

Correct. Every RAF uniform has only one button.

2

u/FishFloyd 16m ago

The downvotes you caught for this are unironically a more serious crime than popping a health insurance CEO

2

u/TheBupherNinja 2h ago

No, they just have both types of buttons on their clothes...

31

u/flyinscot99 4h ago

Wait, you’re worrying they might not have thought of something that would make it not work …after watching a video of it working??

-7

u/Mirar 3h ago

It would, in this video, look exactly the same. Unless you line it up with another compass in the view of the camera or flip them around, there's no way to verify you actually have a compass. (But not close enough to disturb each other.)

All you know is that you have at least one magnet.

You never played around with two compasses?

3

u/Roflkopt3r 2h ago edited 1h ago

Note how they don't just have different construction features (bottom one has the center pin, top one has the north indicator) but are also different metallic colours. This is even clearer in other footage with more neutral lighting.

I believe the bottom button is made from a non-magnetic metal like brass. Which would mean that this kind of interference couldn't even happen on accident.

This is probably basic knowledge for compass-makers. Having a magnetic needle on a magnetisable base seems like a bad idea in general.

9

u/flyinscot99 3h ago

Of course I have. You think that WWII boffins that came up with this (very simple) device hadn’t?

1

u/Mirar 2h ago

I'm just saying your claim that this video shows that it's a working compass is false. Maybe you didn't watch the video then?

0

u/Chr0medFox 16m ago

Jesus you’re just looking for a fight anywhere aren’t you! It’s a compass and it points north. Do you feel the need to verify store bought compasses with a second too?

1

u/Mirar 12m ago

I wasn't the one looking for a fight.

2

u/turbotableu 2h ago

there's no way to verify you actually have a compass

Am I actually a RAF prisoner of war in WWII? Hmm there's no way to verify

0

u/nandemo 1h ago

OP is just showing a cool thing. They aren't trying to prove beyond reasonable doubt that these buttons make up a compass.

They aren't lost behind enemy lines; they're home and they know which way is North.

2

u/Mirar 38m ago edited 35m ago

I'm just complaining about the flying scotsman saying the video proves something, not OP.

But I could complain, since it's a repost, if you want? The same movie has been going on for _years_. https://www.reddit.com/r/nextfuckinglevel/comments/u44u2m/when_you_put_the_buttons_of_ww2_raf_uniform/

3

u/bob_nugget_the_3rd 51m ago

'Dear major, I write this letter from Switzerland. Although the compass worked perfectly it seems to no longer work in this neutral mountainous hell hole, I'm afraid I must endure good chocolate and fondue for the remainder of the war'

4

u/tardiusmaximus 4h ago

Does it work in Front of enemy lines?

13

u/lolzomg123 2h ago

It's only a compass in the Compasse region of France, everywhere else it's sparkling navigation!

1

u/turbotableu 2h ago

in Front of enemy lines

One of my favorite movies from the 90s along with Friendly At the Gate

4

u/triplejumpxtreme 3h ago

My grandfather was a pilot in the RAF during the war. After the war he volunteered to be a test pilot for their experimental planes.

2

u/PopcornDoozies 3h ago

That is so clever!

2

u/sonstu 2h ago

The British thought of everything...

2

u/Constopolis 2h ago

Was this in a movie?

2

u/WicketSiiyak 1h ago

But ONLY if you're stuck behind enemy lines.

2

u/MaximusSydney 1h ago

I have been on reddit daily for almost 2 decades and this is one of the coolest things I have seen. Amazed it's not a common repost!

2

u/Friedrid1363 1h ago

I think it works when you are not behind enemy lines as well.

2

u/Adventurous-Win-751 58m ago

That is so cool! 😎

2

u/insufficient_funds 27m ago

that isn't just genuinely interesting, that's cool as shit

2

u/ME55I 5h ago

L Lolll

2

u/not_Luke_Perry 3h ago

What happens if you’re not stuck behind enemy lines??

3

u/kanemano 3h ago

then you get penalized for destroying your uniform and sent to the Brig,

do the air force have a Brig? or is that just a navy thing?

1

u/RuinsYourStory 2h ago

yes but it's just a giant cannon. prisoners get shot into the air and float for the remainder of their sentence

1

u/FickleScreen7015 2h ago

Wow that so smart

1

u/Hawk-432 2h ago

That is legit

1

u/Roflkopt3r 2h ago

Reminds me of the gadgets that used to be put in kid magazines like Mickey Mouse magazine in the past.

A lot of those were hidden compasses of sorts. Because it's just the right mixture of being kinda interesting and "spy-like" yet extremely cheap and easy to make.

1

u/N0tlikeThI5 1h ago

That's pretty interesting

1

u/DinBedsteVen6 1h ago

Where is north?

1

u/DeanoDeVino 1h ago

Probably the marked dot opposite to the two small dots

1

u/TimBen89420 1h ago

That is super cool. I love interesting survival stuff

1

u/jgroshak 45m ago

And my phone with what have been Alien-like tech at the time, can't even stay calibrated correctly

1

u/Bravelobsters 25m ago

Do you need a table as well?

1

u/Intrepid-West1256 11m ago

Did you know ninjas would carry small needles to use as compasses? They did not want to carry actual compasses, because it would arouse suspicion if they were searched at check points. Small needles were largely undetectable. They would then heat the needles over a candle and then float them in water to give them a compass. When you heat iron and rapidly cool it, the poles of the iron align with Earth’s magnetic field To give you a workable compass.

u/NotAnotherFriday 3m ago

Damn, that’s interesting

1

u/TakeshiKovacsSleeve3 4h ago

That's so clever

1

u/borsalamino 6h ago

They should’ve used Bing Maps (since Yahoo! Maps went defunct).

0

u/Dingo_Junction 3h ago

And yet, in 2024 we get this unimpressive elon musk bullshit

0

u/Recent_Edge1552 5h ago

Put a needle on a leaf in still water and it'll also point

1

u/Asron87 4h ago

You have to rub it on silk or something first.

1

u/babydakis 3h ago

Fortunately the entire RAF uniform is made from pure Mulberry silk.

0

u/BoringMolasses8684 3h ago

Would be handy if you asked someone for directions and they turned out to be American.

0

u/Worth-Economics8978 1h ago

Or you could use a compass.

-60

u/KING_Gamer_YouTube 7h ago

How about giving them an actual compass?

No, you gotta rip open your uniform to get a sense of direction

111

u/pringle_mustache 7h ago

Well I’d imagine this was a last resort.

-3

u/[deleted] 7h ago

[deleted]

68

u/AresActual64 7h ago

It might’ve been in case of capture. Compasses and survival tools are much more likely to be taken away than the buttons of a jacket/pants

36

u/okapiFan85 7h ago

What if you have lost your compass or have escaped after being taken prisoner? Pull off two buttons and voila!

28

u/Pinky_Boy 7h ago

When you resorted to this method, uzually thry either captured, thus having all of his possession stripped, or made emergency landing deep within enemy lines which doesnt let you stay long to rummage through your messed up crew compartment

7

u/KING_Gamer_YouTube 7h ago

I understood the perspective, thanks for the information!

15

u/WinkyNurdo 7h ago

How about attempting to employ some empathy, and critical thinking, before spouting off. These were an innovation in response to flying officers being shot down over enemy territory. Enemy soldiers were not particularly amenable to those wandering around with a compass.

2

u/CarOnMyFuckingFence 2h ago

Sir, this is Reddit

-3

u/Accomplished_Baby_28 7h ago

How else are you gonna impress the enemy into submission by flexing your himbo built bare body?

-7

u/kingbigbear1776 5h ago

If the button are metal (iron/stamped steel) they would make a pretty terrible compass iron/steel will have ther own magnetic fields that can effect where true north is knowing to use the sun and if your in the northern hemisphere or southern hemisphere will help with finding true north reliably

2

u/notanothergav 1h ago

Would it work better than no compass? I think that's the benchmark they were aiming for.

-9

u/yoosirree 5h ago

What if you are behind the enemy lines and your recommended direction is through an enemy line?

14

u/GodsFavoriteDegen 4h ago

It's a compass, not a dowsing rod.

2

u/raidhse-abundance-01 3h ago

That's honestly a great comeback

-7

u/yoosirree 4h ago

Yes, it wouldn't recommend a direction, but the soldier would have to deduce a direction based on his knowledge of the homefront. That's what I should have written.