Most compasses are fairly straightforward - they bend in the middle, and have a knob on the top you use to turn them. Stick the sharp bit in the paper, and a pencil in the other side makes a nice neat circle with a quick spin. Except it's not usually that easy for most of us.

If you use one regularly enough, it's a skill you'll acquire, but many of us haven't used a compass since we left school. So Maped have found a way to make things a bit easier. The trick is a ball joint on the handle on the top. Tightened up, it behaves like any other compass. Loosen the joint with a twist, though, and it becomes floppy. Which sounds like it would make it hard to control, but it works!

The trick is to turn the compass with very little pressure, letting it lean over to the side. Use a few turns to build the circle up, rather than trying to do it in one. It means you don't need such precise control to avoid the pencil digging in, and the sharp point jumping out, ruining your circle. Smart circles with less practice.

138mm long, 34mm wide. Can draw circles up to 114mm radius.