Compas Purchasing Help

C

Cuchuga

Joined
Oct 11, 2007
Messages
114
Hey guys,

I am looking to buy a compass and a watch for being out in the woods. Thing is, everything I see at the stores looks cheesy. Anyone know of any compact quality compasses. Or maybe even a sportswatch/compass in one kinda thing. Thanks!

Links will be appreciated!
 
Check out www.countycomm.com and look at the MARATAC AQC watch. It's got a compass built into the watch and it's about $75 US. Check out the specs. It looks real solid. These guys are real good people to deal with. Let us know what you decide on. BOBO
 
Suunto clipper compasses can be off and sometimes they can be pretty accurate. Remember, you are putting near a battery, a metal case usually and a metal buckle. The compass won't be as accurate as a dedicated compass carried away from metallic objects.

My advice, take a quality compass with you (one that you know is accurate) when you go to a store to buy a watchband compass. Check the watchband compass before you buy it.

As far as a no frills watch, I'm partial to the plain old "old school" G-Shock.
 
Silva Ranger is a popular model if you want a full blown sighting compass. Can't really go wrong with a Silva or Suunto.

In any case, I vote for a separate compass and watch. A watch compass is fine, but be sure you have a quality, low-tech back-up against which you can check it.

More importantly, learn to use it. If there are orienteering classes or clubs in your area, sign up.
 
Good point about the metal/battery and the possible interference. I was this " " close to buying a wrist band compass today, but didnt because it still looked cheese. Are they good? Thanks for all the links by the way! That maratac is a sharp looking watch.
 
I have some Silva's and I like them.

One question you might want to ask yourself is what you want it for.

A compass you can sight with like a Silva Ranger is nice if you like have something on a map you want to find there's no path to and you take a protractor and find the bearing to it and go out into the woods and try to find it. Or if you are going a good distances into a pathless area.

However most of the time when I am using one it is more like there was just this fork in the path and I took this one leg and it looks kind of overgrown and I'm thinking "Did I take the right fork?" So I pull out the map and the compass and I orient the map using the compass and then look at which direction the path is heading on the map vs which direction I am heading to make sure it's the right one. For that sort of thing a fairly basic non sighting(ie less expensive) compass will work.

If you are actually going out thru the woods using a sighting compass and will be using it to hopefully re trace you route, then I'd reccomend also bringing a pencil and pad to write down the bearings. My memory sucks and possibly even one of the little hand held click tally devices to measure your paces.
 
Cuchuga said:
Hey guys,

I am looking to buy a compass and a watch for being out in the woods. Thing is, everything I see at the stores looks cheesy. Anyone know of any compact quality compasses. Or maybe even a sportswatch/compass in one kinda thing. Thanks!

Links will be appreciated!
Click to expand...

A Silva Range is made of plastic and might look cheesy to you,
but it is a very practical compass.

I also own a Brunton Pocket Transit, a very accurate compass,
that is all metal. However, normally, I would take the Silva Ranger
into the field;the Ranger is lighter, and very easy to use.

Beware of a Watch/compass combo. The compass function probably uses
a lot of battery power, so it could wear down your battery, then what?

Edit to add:
A small button compass or wrist compass is also good to have, but
you cannot really sight on landmarks, like you can with a sighting
compass, e.g. Silva Ranger, or Sunto MC-2D.
 
I suggest a brand-name (Brunton, Suunto, Silva) plastic baseplate compass with a liquid-filled capsule with adjustable declination (as opposed to just a declination scale).

A sighting mirror is very handy as it adds to the compass' accuracy, protects the capsule when closed, makes the compass longer when and provides a signal mirror if needed (it also can be used to see if you have food stuck in your teeth).

My favorite non-mirrored compass is the Suunto M3 Leader usually available for only $20-$25. A bargain for such a well-made compass.

My favorite mirrored compass is the Brunton 15TDCL (original 15) usually available for about $55. This is the real original Ranger compass made by Silva of Sweden. A very nice compass. In the U.S. the "Ranger" compass sold under the "Silva" trademark is not the real Ranger compass made by Silva of Sweden.
 
kenk said:
My favorite mirrored compass is the Brunton 15TDCL (original 15) usually available for about $55. This is the real original Ranger compass made by Silva of Sweden. A very nice compass. In the U.S. the "Ranger" compass sold under the "Silva" trademark is not the real Ranger compass made by Silva of Sweden.
Click to expand...

I have heard something like this before. Who actually made the Silva Ranger?
And, are there any date ranges, or markings that determine where and who
made a specific Silva Ranger?
 
Does using an analog watch as a compass work somewhat accurately? Go to this site and click on "use your watch as a compass" in the first paragraph. What do you think?
 
I'm a big fan of the Suunto MC2s. I've used one daily for years and now it is the only compass I buy for my surveyors working in the bush. You can't go wrong with it. But more importantly, if you do go with a compass that has a sighting mirror, buy a good book on backcountry navigation and learn how to take advantage of all of your compasses features.
 
fnc said:
I have heard something like this before. Who actually made the Silva Ranger?
And, are there any date ranges, or markings that determine where and who
made a specific Silva Ranger?
Click to expand...

Silva Sweden AB (the real Silva) purchased Brunton (a U.S. compass company) in 1996. Unfortunately for them up to that point Johnson Outdoors (makers of Eureka tents and Old Town canoes) was the distributer of Silva compasses in the U.S. and actually owned the U.S. trademark for "Silva", AND Johnson Outdoors would not relenquish that trademark to Silva Sweden AB.

It is really pretty easy. Any compass sold in the U.S. with the trademark "Silva" is not made by the real Silva Sweden AB, but is made by someone else (don't know who). In the U.S. the real Silva compasses are either sold under the Brunton trademark or the Nexus trademark.

If you go to http://www.brunton.com you can pretty easily tell the difference between compasses designed by the original Brunton folks as they tend to have meridian lines on the bezel (the Eclipses and the optical green compasses), whereas those designed by the Silva folks tent to have the meridian lines on the bottom of the capsule (the 15TDCL and the clear or black plastic compasses). They're all good compasses with a variety of features.

People generally refer to a Silva Ranger, but I don't know the history of Silva Sweden AB's model names to know if they called their high-end mirrored compass a "Ranger".

Silva Sweden SE ( http://www.silva.se ) does list a Ranger series of compasses, but they do not include what most people call the "Silva Ranger" from many years ago. This would be the Brunton 15TDCL, or outside the U.S. the Silva Expedition 15.

Johnson Outdoors ( http://www.silvausa.com ) markets a "Silva Ranger 515" compass.
 
Silva RANGER is one of top brands or if you want real durability---go with a true military
compass. I have both and and rely more on the military, but it is slightly bulker and costs more.
The RANGER is better with a GPS map as milspec is in meters.
 
Cuchuga said:
Does using an analog watch as a compass work somewhat accurately? Go to this site and click on "use your watch as a compass" in the first paragraph. What do you think?
Click to expand...
Kinda sorta. It's not a substitute for a real compass and at least one backup.
 
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