  Recently, a new algorithm for the computation of covariant Lyapunov vectors
and of corresponding local Lyapunov exponents has become available. Here we
study the properties of these still unfamiliar quantities for a number of
simple models, including an harmonic oscillator coupled to a thermal gradient
with a two-stage thermostat, which leaves the system ergodic and fully time
reversible. We explicitly demonstrate how time-reversal invariance affects the
perturbation vectors in tangent space and the associated local Lyapunov
exponents. We also find that the local covariant exponents vary discontinuously
along directions transverse to the phase flow.
