Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Backpack Hunting Compass Suggestions.

Got no responses over in the campfire, maybe I'll do better here..

Is today's compass of better quality than the compass of yesteryear?

I have a Silva Ranger, then two years ago bought a Brunton, the Brunton's needle settles down twice as fast as the old Silva Ranger did. Silva also leaked out all of its fluid, Silva sent be a new one, but am getting small bubbles again. I usually use mine in mild temps, I have read that extreme cold will cause most compasses to develop bubbles, But I'm never in that kind of extreme temps.

Do you all prefer the flat clear models, or the folders that have the mirror to aid and taking a bearing?

Have all of you retired your compasses that had the set declination scales for the adjustable declination models?

Can I see your favorite most reliable compass?
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Barkoff:

I bought a GPS about 12 years ago but I still use a compass and USGS maps. I use Silva compasses. I wrote that in the plural because, as you have discovered, they don't last forever. However, they are so cheap that I can buy three Silva compasses for the price of one Brunton.

I just use a simple compass laid on top of a map. No flip up lids, no mirrors, no peep sites.

KC

I didn't remember the Brunton being that expensive...I thinking about giving Suunto a try.

Its worth Googling the wiki's for the various compass makers as name wise, all is not what it seems due to buy outs and take overs.

Due to dispute over trademarks, I don't think Silva Sweden is now allowed to export any of its compasses to the US

What you guys get is "Silva North America" which is a different entity, and might now be part of Brunton??

Certainly at one stage all the top end Brunton compasses were simply re badged Silva Sweden models, but that stopped during the trademark dispute..

I use a Silva (Sweden) Type 54 Sighting compass, and they are considered to be about the top end of the standard baseplate models over here..



Notice the sighting system built into the bezel of the compass which you can take bearings as accurately as an army style lensatic/prismatic

Suunto make excellent compasses and also own Swiss compass maker Recta..

If you can get genuine Swiss made Recta's in the US, they are another excellent product. I have never owned one, but I think the Recta DB 10 would give my Silva a run for its money and might actually be better..

Wow, those type 54's still bring a premium, did they have the adjustable declination?

Mine doesn't but its several years old, maybe older..I'm not sure if they have versions with that feature today or not..

I believe that the DB 10 from Recta does though..

Is there a particular reason why you want it? I've used a map and compass for many years and never felt I needed it?

Probably because I haven't used a map and compass for years.
Just seems easier to set it and forget about it.

For me it really depends on what I'm doing. I have a Brunton navigation compass, I use in conjunction with a GPS when doing real mapping. The GPS isn't as reliable as it should be but the terrain is probably to blame. I use a Brunton or Silva flat map compass often just for quick checking on things. My GPS is a Garmin Oregon 650t iirc, it's been easy to use, battery lasts ok, but there are some canyon areas it seems to loose itself then burns batteries trying to lock onto satellites.

I keep a couple small compasses on me so no matter what I have always got at least one. I use an old brass TruNord in my pocket, and have SERE types in my survival kit, watch pocket, etc. depending on how I'm dressed, equipment carried, etc. I always have enough with me to get by.

A SERE type that actually works is worth getting at least one or two of so they can be tucked into things you'll neaver be without.

Deep, steep valleys will hurt your GPS, especially to the South. So will thick timber overhead. I prefer a smaller compass, but only used mine doing survey work to go short distances. I mostly relied on the GPS and the compass was to fill in when the signal was bad. miles

I like the surplus dry button compasses also.

They can be too small. If you drop it in the grass, yer screwed. I keep mine in an old, round lip balm tin that also carries some other stuff that is my "micro kit". This stuff rides in my jeans coin pocket.

5 or 6 years ago I bought 2 sets of cheap trekking poles from Cabelas. Each pole had a small compass in the end of the grip. If you lined up all 4 poles, each compass pointed a different direction. They were about as useful as hemorrhoids.

you get what you pay for. Most of the small compasses offered today are absolute junk.

There are only a couple that I'd trust. I forget the names now of the older ones as they are quite hard to find but Pyser makes the best readily available one. Silva 40H is a very good but very hard to get one. They are not available in the U.S. because Brunton bought Silva N. A.

The old ones are names like Stockard Yale something Signal Co.

If a compass has the usual needle, and not a pointer on a rotating card, that *should* be nearly impossible..It makes you wonder exactly how they achived that!

That said, over the years I've had two Silva Type27's where the polarity of the needle somehow became reversed! And I was reasonably carefull how I stored them too..

I had a compass like that long ago. I can't remember the brand or what I did with it. miles

I won this one at a survey meeting a few years back, and have never used it. miles

They actually had needles. Maybe they hired a wrong way physicist to engineer the things. I never figured it out either. I just know that they did it. One pointed directly south. That could have been just painting the wrong end of the needle. I'm at a loss to explain the 2 that pointed to the sides

Almost had to be something embedded in the case walls. I guess it could have been in the glass or plastic lens, but doubtful. miles

mebbe the compasses were too close to each other

I agree that most of the liquid filled button compases are junk

you can get excellent, hand picked ones from here though:
http://www.survivalresources.com/Products/Compasses.html

supposedly the best button type compasses (and expensive at ~$45 ea) are the "NATO types" or the Francis Barker Model 1605

http://www.bestglide.com/FB1605_Info.html

Just take one pole with you when you go into the bush and then you won't be confused

I'm still using a GI lensatic from waaaay back. Rugged and has never failed me.