Compasses

[lettercarrier]

Looking for a good compass. Under $50, general use with geocaching as main use, used with gps and maps, etc. (for novice user).

 

thanks

[+JohnnyVegas]

There are lots to chose from, I use a Brunton, The one I have is made for use with a GPS, it even has a magnifying bubble that makes it easy to read the degrees, I can use it without my reading glasses.

Suunto and Silva also have a good selection in compasses. Silva compasses that are sold in the USA are made by Suunto. Brunton has the better selection if you want adjustable declination, just about every compass they make offer this feature, the Suunto and Silva offering with this feature will be a little over $50.00

 

new version of my compass

Edited February 9, 2008 by JohnnyVegas

[JASTA 11]

You can't beat a military spec lensatic compass. You'll have to hunt around locally to find a real one. There are fakes that look similar. A real one will be slightly heavier than a fake, and also have a NSN (National Stock Number) stamped into it. IE: 6605-01-196-6971.

 

The NSN may vary from the older to the newer models. The only real difference is that the older models used radioactive phosphorus on the dial, the newer ones use something else.

 

A good lensatic compass is a great thing to have if you plan on going out into nature. If you're more into lampost's and magnets then don't bother. My old Garmin doesn't always give me good compass info, so I turn to the lensatic to keep us on track.

 

Here's an exampleof what you're looking for. I can't vouch for the vendor or the website, I just wanted to give an example.

 

Best of luck.

 

J11

[+StarBrand]

I have a low end silva I have used a few times. However, the electronic compass on my watch serves me well in most situations.

[+Rattlebars]

My WalMart compass is sufficient for most situations. Has a magnifier and sight line. $5.00 at Wally's and $7.95 online if you click the pic.

 

Similar to this:

[+shawhh]

recommend a baseplate compass by any of the 3 major manufacturers: silva, suunto, or brunton. don't need to spend a lot of money on your first. adjustable declination is nice if you're going to be working off of maps, but not necessary for geocaching. adjustable declination can be had on compasses from all 3 of the above for under 50 bucks. check out THECOMPASSSTORE.COM. gi lensatic compass is good, but for map work you'll need to acquire a map protractor, wheras the baseplate compasses incorporate this feature. -harry

[+edscott]

I would go with a baseplate over those lensatics if you want to use them in conjunction with a map to find the cache. If all you want to do is get on the right hillside and and switch over to the GPS, then most anything will work.

[lettercarrier]

thanks for all the great advice, will consider all