Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Compasses revisited

A pickup with a better compass 😁

Suunto M-9 wrist compass is the most used. A Suunto MC 2 for planning and is in my kit bag. A GPS for On X but is not depended on for navigation. I have had Camenga compasses flip polarity twice. The real deal Lensatics are great but heavy and I like to be able to adjust declination. A dependable compass that you are comfortable with is an absolute essential.


mike r

I just won a like new, (Used twice), Swedish Silva Trekker 420 today on ebay. Less than a $20 bill to my door. I'm thinkin' that's a pretty good deal.

I have a Brunton engineers compass that my father gave me. It's very good but heavy. I found I rarely use it with a map when hunting local, so generally just carry a small Tru-Nord in my watch pocket in case the fog rolls in.

Earlier this year I was on a scouting trip and found it had flipped poles. It's fairly common for old compasses, or if they get left to close to a cell phone. It's easy to re-magnetize them though with a rare earth magnet. My phone was worthless in that situation as I had no satellite which is the same reason I've all but given up on my GPS.

I've been following this thread and doing a bit of research on the latest compasses. Seems the tried/true names are still the ones - Suunto, Silva, Brunton. I found mediocre reviews on all these brands and various models - making this not a cut/dried decision. I'm leaning toward the older Swedish Silva's on fleabay. I've had 1-2 of them in the past and they worked well. My main issue with compasses is whether they develop bubbles over time and at altitude. A tiny bubble is OK but anything much bigger starts messing with the arrow.

I have and have used the military style compass and have one I've been using for 30+ years. It has never failed me but is big and heavy. I've also tried the baseplate style and have broken the plastic face at least once when it rested against something hard. That liquid is oily and best left in the compass rather than the inside of your pack. Trust me on that......

So, I default to a compass with a cover (mirro/sighted compass) for extra protection. I can't say I've ever used the mirror for navigation but always thought it might come in handy as an emergency signal on sunny days.

A bit of narrative in this thread on why use a compass. Leaving all finger-pointing out, I use a compass for 2 main reasons - navigation, wind direction. I see alot of guys headed into the backcountry with a GPS and/or OnX or equivalent on their cell phone. All that works great - when they work. What happens when they don't? Knowing how to orient yourself with a map/compass is becoming a lost art. I carry a GPS, cell phone with OnX, 2 compasses, and a topo map of my area. I check my locations on the topo map often throughout the day to know exactly where I'm at. I religiously pull out my "devices" 1-2 hours before dark to identify EXACTLY where I'm at and plan my route out while I have daylight and before animals start their evening movement. I hunt till dark almost everyday of hunting season and routinely travel 1-4 miles out in the dark. I don't want to be guessing where I'm at when its dark, especially if I'm in new/newish country which is most of the time in elk country. I've been truly lost once in 40+ years of doing this and that was 30 years ago when I was hunting an area I'd hunted a bunch. Miscount ridges once and end up 8+ miles from your truck and you'll figure out another way of finding your way back.............

On wind, everyone knows the prevailing wind - right? How do you approach/hunt an area if the wind is not from the prevailing direction? How does the wind interact with the thermals? What happens when the prevailing wind overpowers the thermals? I pay extra close attention to the wind. I've had elk spook because of the whole prevailing wind overpowering thermals thing more than I care to admit. If I'm headed off to a basin and its a 1-2-3 mile walk, I really want to estimate if the wind is working in my favor or the animal. I use a compass and map to make those educated guesses. I'm getting too old to simply run over and check things out <G>

Sorry for the long post but wanted to give context to my "whys" of compass use and wanting a good compass. Most of the time, a Walmart compass will get you what you need. I'm not keen on "most of the time" mainly because being lost sucks. A bit of due diligence and preparation keeps me 'found'. Plus I'm too old and fat to spend my time wandering around aimlessly <G>

Don't laugh, but I used to carry a boy scout compass hunting. I lost it in a move but it always pointed true. Just needed to always know true north from magnetic north as that changes with location.

Don't laugh, but I used to carry a boy scout compass hunting. I lost it in a move but it always pointed true. Just needed to always know true north from magnetic north as that changes with location.

It doesn't matter whose name is on it. What matters is whether it's reliable and sturdy.

When I used to do any sort of adventuring, I always took 3 compasses, and I checked all 3 before going out.

One compass? You never know if it's been screwed up.

Two compasses? You never know which of the two is accurate.

Three compasses? If two agree and one doesn't, you know which one to ditch.


I had one lensatic. That one usually got me in and out. I still do.

I had one Silva map reader's compass in my map case.

I always had at least a pin-on hidden in my pack that only got referenced if the other two were in disagreement.


Nowadays at the farm, I always carry a minimum of two-- a pin-on and a compass app on my phone. If I have any chance of fog, I add the lensatic back in. I've had fog hit at the farm that dropped visibility down to 10 feet or under. The best way to unscrew yourself is to shoot azimuths at trees.

Those engineers compasses in the big pictures above used to be sold by Campmor. i have one someplace.
The GPS on phones etc are great, but if you rely on them ALWAYS have a hand held compass as a backup. If you havent heard, the internet can go down, and service in remote (and not so remote) areas can be spotty.

Where i hunt a basic Marbles brass pin on the coat compass is more than enough and always works.

Off the thread subject, but I gotta tell one more story on myself. Elk hunting in lodgepole near John Day one morning, lightly snowing, lousy visibility, I got my trusty Silva plastic compass on a short lanyard around my neck. Left the pickup in the dark, heading on a more or less straight line magnetic north, in hopes of cutting smokin' hot tracks or maybe even an elk. 3 hours or so later I cut some man tracks, damn, thought I had it all to myself. So I crossed the man track, hunted for another hour or so, getting tired in the snow, decide to head back to the pickup. Watching the compass fairly close bearing south, cut man tracks again! Damn, I dig out the loose snow, hmm...the guy is wearing Danner air bobs, just like me, uh oh, what's going on? Those are my tracks. Took about 10 minutes of head scratching, and I had un -shouldered my Sako, fiddling with the compass. That Sako was so magnetized, the compass was affected on the short lanyard, and switching the rifle right to left shoulder made me do a 4 hour figure eight. Sako barrel got the ac welder treatment when I got home.

Silva Ranger.

A pin on compass over the top of a cell phone in a breast pocket does not point anywhere but at the cell phone. Experience is a great teacher.

Yup. Don't pin a compass on the same side as a phone, 2-way radio, gps, or pacemaker. And be aware of how far it is away from your rifle barrel or other chunks of steel when trying to get a reading on the compass.

When hunting areas I have some familiarity with I wear a pin-compass and carry a baseplate type or Silva Ranger in my pack or pocket. Usually have a marked up topo map too. If hunting new or strange area I'll have all that, but use regular compass more and stash the pin-on, and maybe carry a gps.

One of the few times I went out without a compass many yrs ago I ended up needing one. Two of us hunting new area, plan was a short scout paralleling a road, went in opposite directions planning to meet back at truck in a couple of hrs. Heavy overcast day, flat terrain, wooded (spruce, few patches birch or alders), so no good sun or terrain aid for navigation. I get back to truck and no sign of the other guy. Wait a little while, then hear faint three shot signal. Dig pack and compass out of truck, shoot bearing, fire reply shot, then take off into woods. Found the guy about half hour later a long way from planned route. He didn't take a compass either, lost his orientation with road, was walking straight away when he signaled. Fortunately he heard my reply shot and turned around so was partway back when we met. Next road in direction he was heading was at least 20 miles.

I used a Silva Ranger for over 20 years before it went off. Replaced it with another, did not last; you could tell that quality had slipped before even using it. It proved to be unreliable, so I got a Brunton Type 15 which has been solid for about 10-12 years now if I recall correctly. The bezel is a little stiff and harder to set precisely, but it stays put once set. No more Silvas for me. Of course, at my age I probably won't wear out the Brunton I've got.

I hope I never have to rely on the compass apps on my phone. They can be off 90 degrees. The OnX works very well. I have a Garmin GPS that's excellent for directions, etc. but compared to OnX, it's a PIA to use.

Thank You for the info. I've had it MANY MANY years. Don't have a clue where I bought it.
Never had a problem and it STILL works.





Jerry

I have a Silva Ranger.....apparently purchased before everyone said they were krap. Mine has luckily performed admirably. Mirrored unit with built-in declination.

Glad they're being discussed. A map and a compass can really augment a GPS. I own OnX, Gaia, CalTopo, Garmin, DeLorme.....you name it. But, a map and a good USGS topo map can't be beat IMHO.

I have always used Silva. There's one in every pack, bag, and pocket. The on X hunt app is great, as long as the batteries last****

If you hunt the mountains when there is snow on the ground an inclinometer is handy for avalanche assessment and prediction. Not a small thing for the mountain hunter.


mike r