I need a good compass

[l1s125]

If you wear an analog watch you can always do this

 

[chamenos]

So I found the shop, and they're charging approximately 200-300% MSRP

Anyway I'm pretty much settled on the Suunto Clipper and M2, which I'll get over the winter break. Thanks to all for the help and suggestions! 1s125's suggestion will have to suffice for now

 

[Per Arne]

Hi,

- Tru-Nord Compass (www.trunord.com)
- S.A.S Compass (www.tadgear.com)
- Marbles Compass (WWW.marblesoutdoors.com)
- Silva Compass (www.silvacompass.com)
- Suunto Compass (www.suunto.com)
- Brunton Compass (www.brunton.com)
www.rei.com

PA

 

[Glen22]

Here's the deal on compass manufacturers, bear with me:

Silva of Sweden (the original SILVA of historical fame) owns Brunton. They bought Brunton mainly because they lost a battle to market compasses under their company name in North America. In North America, most (not all) Silva of Sweden compasses are sold as Brunton models, most under the 'Nexus' nameplate. If you want for example a genuine 'Silva of Sweden' Ranger in North America, you buy a Brunton Nexus 15 or 25!

Silva U.S.A. is owned by Johnson Outdoors, who won the right to use the 'Silva' name in North America. They are NOT the same as Silva of Sweden, they are NOT a original compass manufacturer and they only own names. 'Silva' brand compasses sold in North America are all Johnson Outdoor compasses. JO instead specs and sources compasses from makers all over the world, including Suunto, which is why the Silva clipper-style and wristband (model 424) compasses sold in North America look suspiciously like Suuntos. To make matters more confusing, JO owns certain original Silva model names for North America distribution as well, like Ranger, Explorer, Starter 1-2-3, and Polaris. I have a strong suspicion some of the cheaper Silva USA compasses sold in North America are actually sourced from China, but I can't prove it.

Recta is owned by Suunto. Suunto continues to market both Recta and Suunto-manufactured compasses under both the Recta and Suunto names.

 

[London Lad]

Interesting.

In my post above I was referring to Silva of Sweden, I had never heard of any other 'Silva' (up until now!)

 

[Omega Man]

My Walmart has these on clearance for $4:
http://cspoutdoors.stores.yahoo.net/sibrpico.html
So I got one to replace the toy one AW includes in his orders. Not bad for $4, eh?

 

[chiphead]

Try Cammenga, they make the compasses for the military. And the bodies are made of metal!

 

[Omega Man]

Well, I just won a Silva 340 watch-strap compass off Ebay. I reaaaaaally hope it's here within the week, was shipped today. The packaging has both English and French, so I'm not sure if it's a Swedish made product or not. The description says "Made in Finland".
Either way, it's saving me from buying a Maratac AQC! Thanks to cy and others for their testimonials on these, they were the deciding factor for me.

 

[wmirag]

I just got the Suunto M-3G with global needle and adjustable declination. I have yet to use it in the field, but I think this is going to be a winner. I never had an adjustable declination compass before.

For those of you to whom this is also new, there is a little screw that allows you to create the declination offset between the capsule "True North" lines and the capsule "Magnetic North" pointer.

This allows you to set the compass on a map with the capsule "True North" lines parallel to your map's N-S Meridians. Then, when you take to the field, you can just orient the needle at the pointer and the bearing will read correctly WITHOUT that mental calculation I goof up half the time!

http://www.thecompassstore.com/51m3gl.html

 

[Uncle Bob]

Good choice! Adjustable declination is the way to go. No adding/subtracting degrees and getting confused. For interested parties REI has an excellent selection of compasses and information on how to choose a compass.

:goodjob:

 

[cave dave]

Suunito Gem is my favorite zipper pull size ones. I'd like to get a Brunton watchband one.
Here is a nice selection from Backpackinglight.com
http://tinyurl.com/yk77kd

 

[Omega Man]

That site has that Brunton band compass at a GREAT price, under $10 shipped! I could only find it for $15 unshipped most places. I just got the Silva for $8.33 shipped on Ebay.

 

[vandrecken]

Silva (the Swedish originals) or Suunto are equally good and top end compasses. A large part of each makers range is the so called "baseplate" type compass which is especially easy to use transferring bearings to and from a map. They also do sighting compasses of various types up o high precision professional kit fo geographers, geologists and the military. Although superficially they look similar, the two companies products ARE clearly different once you look closely, not badged versions of the same products.

Suunto also have a substantial range of dive watches and computers, and multifunction wrist watches designed for mountain sports etc.

Silva have a couple of unusual GPS units and digital compasses.

 

[chamenos]

I got the Suunto Clipper finally, since I figured it would suffice for my driving or urban orienteering needs, and it's been great so far in the two days I've had it.

However I noticed a small air bubble inside today, which was kinda disappointing since I've only had it two days. It disappeared soon after, and I haven't been able to get it to reappear since. Is this something I should be concerned about? The movement of the card doesn't seem to have been affected by it though.

Whilst walking around Rome, I dropped by this shop selling knives (including some Spydercos and a couple of SureFire G2s), and picked up a "Virginia Outdoors" water-filled lensatic compass, which looks like a Cammenga clone. Construction is metal, and quality seems decent, though the movement of the card is slower than my Suunto Clipper, though no less accurate. Does anyone know anything about this compass, e.g. where it's made in, quality, etc?

Again, thanks to all for the help and advice so far!

 

[cy]

mine has no bubble, but if you can't get it to reappear. would not worry about it... don't think it'll affect performance one way or the other.

 

[Omega Man]

For those also interested in watches with compasses, new Timex Expeditions with analog compass hand:
http://www.watchreport.com/2005/01/timex_introduce_1.html

 

[chamenos]

Thanks Charles, just worried that the bubble might be stuck somewhere, messing up the card's movement without me knowing. So far so good though, it's already proven itself useful on more than a few occasions :thumbsup:

 

[chamenos]

Update: I've noticed the air bubble only appears when the compass has been exposed to the cold, and disappears once warm. My guess is that the compass isn't actually leaking, but rather some of the water is boiled off due to the negative pressure created when the water contracts from the cold.

I'll probably get the Cammenga Model 27 instead of a water-filled baseplate compass.

 

[Glen22]

"I just won a Silva 340 watch-strap compass off Ebay...The packaging has both English and French, so I'm not sure if it's a Swedish made product or not. The description says "Made in Finland".

A: The Silva 340 is actually a rebadged Suunto Clipper and is made by Suunto for Johnson Worldwide (Silva USA). As I mentioned before, the 'Brunton' watchband compass is a Silva of Sweden product.

Also, liquid-filled compasses do not generally 'boil off' since they are not filled with water but rather alcohol, kerosene, or a light oil. All liquid-filled compasses not fitted with a diaphragm can be subject to a bubble developing from extremes of heat and cold (even some with diaphragms), but small clipper-type watchband compasses particularly so - something to do with the small volume, i suppose. I have picked through a rack with Suunto clipper compasses to find one without a bubble. However, if not heated to the extent that the fluid expanded past capsule capacity causing a leak (resulting in a permanent bubble at lower temperatures), small bubbles do not interfere with needle operation and the bubble should disappear when placed in a sunny location (windowshelf, etc.) for a short time.

Air-filled compasses have their own issues with the elements. The primary one is water ingress when immersed in water or exposed to high humidity. The numbers of U.S. current issue lensatic compasses becoming inaccurate or inoperative during training in jungle environments is legendary. Some air-filled compasses also have relatively long needle pivots which are prone to bending with any sort of major impact.

 

[Omega Man]

Thanks for the post Glen, when it arrived I could get a better look at the packaging, and it clearly says at the bottom that it is a product of Johnson Worldwide, made in Finland. It works better than the digital compass on my Timex Expedition, so that's good enough for me.