Other items that are often 'nice to have'

Poti
For the really tough ones (or once you have started using one), this is THE tool.
What is a 'poti' you ask?

Basically it is a low powered magnifying lens (3x is good) mounted in the top of a frame or housing with an internal light source in one or more sides/corners of the housing. The housing depth is set such that the focal point of the lens is exactly at the surface of any map or flat surface the 'poti' is stood on.

It might be round, square or rectangular, the shape is not particularly important although I have found a rectangular shape suits me best.

If you use a poti with a conventional bulb it's going to be a halogen bulb to be bright enough so you will need a power point for it. A cigarette lighter socket is the easiest and cheapest option although any plug and socket arrangement will be safer than patching into the car wiring.

Poti's are not particularly easy to find in Australia but are neither hard or expensive to fabricate now that large lenses are readily available from 'two dollar' shops. One of those, some suitably sized PVC pipe pieces, PVC plumbing adhesive, RTV silicone adhesive, a cheap bright LED compact torch and a few hours work will do the job.

Protractor
The normal basic school type is adequate for those odd occasions when you need to pass within a certain distance of a point. Make sure you keep the sharp point embedded in a plastic eraser when not in use to avoid stabbing yourself.

Drawing compass
Again a normal school type, preferably a full circle 360 degree type of reasonable size. Too small and it is nearly impossible to get specific angular deviation from a base line so the largest diameter you can reasonably stow is best.

Magnetic compass
An orienteering type, which can be anything from a cheap acrylic device through to an expensive piece of military hardware, to check whether the road the car is facing down really goes in the direction you think it does. Don't make the mistake of using it either inside or within a couple of metres of the car – steel car bodies mess up magnetic compasses.

Calculator
Not essential and could be replaced by an average speed card on most occasions but often handy for other purposes. Times like when the car has used three quarters of its fuel capacity and you need to calculate whether it can make the distance or maybe you are going to have to cut and run to pick up fuel and rejoin later. Or you need to work out where to rejoin after a cut and run in order to minimise points loss.

Spotlight
A high powered hand held to check that sign 50 metres away or to illuminate the work area when de-bogging the car. This should really be part of the car equipment but drivers have a habit of forgetting important stuff so organise it yourself.

Decoding wheel
This is often needed to deal with some of the weird clues provided by British (and particularly Scottish) organisers but with little recent experience in Australia I am unsure whether this is a necessity here.

If anyone knows of these types of clues being used, please provide examples so that this guide can be updated.

Adhesive tape
A small roll of good quality masking tape is sometimes useful for temporary retention of small items or holding down map covers.