The board incorporates a compass, an inclinometer, a ruler, a roll of paper and an arm buckle.

This means that the user can twist the whole board on their arm to ensure that the compass alignment is clear.

The paper was about two or three feet (0.61 or 0.91 m) long and was rolled around one of the side rollers.

[3] The board was improved by Major (later Colonel) William Willoughby Cole Verner who had briefly been Professor of Topography at Sandhurst.

The device was strapped to the arm or leg and was loaded with maps rather than sketching paper.