Compass

twoclones · May 14, 2012

If I need to know which direction to walk, I use a $10 Brunton. If I need to reach an exact location, I use my $400 Brunton pocket transit. Even the $10 Brunton allows adjustment for declination.

chemist · May 19, 2012

My old compass finally gave up its liquid on a transoceanic flight a week ago, so it's time to replace the 30+ year old thing.
Getting beyond makes and models, allow me to point out that they can be pretty small and still do the job. Mine had a folding top leaf that would stop at vertical when folded around the back, forming an L with the compass sticking straight out. A safety pin holds it to your jacket, leaving your hands free, and it's always right there in your line of sight. Let's see if I can Google one up...
...nope. None of the pin-on compasses look anything like it.

Trailboss · May 20, 2012

I'll throw in a vote for the Silva Ranger. Been carrying one for nearly 40 years and it still brings me home. Not too expensive but very reliable.

Mark W. · May 20, 2012

OK now that you know which compass to buy. I'll suggest a book or two for you

Books
■Bagness, Martin. Outward Bound Orienteering Handbook. Lyon's Press, 1995.
■Boga, Steven. Orienteering: The Sport of Navigating With Map and Compass. Stackpole Books, 1997.
■Bratt, Ian. Orienteering: The Essential Guide to Equipment and Techniques. Stackpole Books, 2002.
■Kjellstroem, Bjoern. Be Expert With Map and Compass: The Complete Orienteering Handbook. Hungry Minds/John Wiley & Sons, 1994.
■McNeill, Carol, Tom Renfrew, and Jean Cory-Wright. Teaching Orienteering, 2nd ed. Human Kinetics, 1998.
■McNeill, Carol. Orienteering (The Skills of the Game). Crowood Press, 1996.
■Nimvik, Maria, Barbro Roennberg, and Sue Harvey. The World of Orienteering. IOF, 1998.
■Norman, Bertil, and Arne Yngstroem. Orienteering Technique From Start to Finish. Sweden, 1991.
■Palmer, Peter, ed. The Complete Orienteering Manual. Crowood Press, 1998.
■Renfrew, Tom. Orienteering. Human Kinetics, 1996.

this list is recomended by the Boy Scouts. You can find used copies of the books through abebooks.com

be sure to pickup a copy of "Orienteering" BSA Supply No. 35925 The Boy Scout Merit Badge Series.

And spend a couple weekends trying to learn how to use it in the field.

Hook686 · May 21, 2012

I'm happy to rely upon my GPS unit. I doubt all those satillites will be coming down any time soon.

Steve06 · May 21, 2012

The satellites won't be coming down but your batteries will.

twoclones · May 22, 2012

Steve06 said:
The satellites won't be coming down but your batteries will.

Plus heavy cloud cover and dust storms affect GPS accuracy. Compass and paper map are my backup for a mapping quality GPS.

gunfreak · May 22, 2012

-1 on the GPS, more people get lost and die following a GPS. Mechanical devices with electronics can and will fail. I have a friend with this big fancy BORS scope, no iron sights. That thing fails he's screwed.
Keep It Simple Stupid....

revjen45 · May 26, 2012

I have a Suunto bought about 20 yrs ago. It has the sighting/signaling mirror, declination adjustment, various map scales, and all the liquid it started with. When my son was in Scouts I used it on several compass courses and it worked just fine. You might consider Suunto.

Anything with batteries will fail you at the worst time. As long at the Earth has a magnetic field a compass works.

Mark W. · May 27, 2012

Hook686 said:
I'm happy to rely upon my GPS unit. I doubt all those satellites will be coming down any time soon.

Also not sure if this matters to you but very soon after a total SHTF GPS will not only be worthless but will be dangerous. The satellites need to be adjusted regularly to be accurate. And within a couple weeks of being unattended will start giving out bad info.

One of my running buddies from high school helped write the software for the first military GPS systems and his code is still part of the system.

Funny he couldn't balance a check book in Personal Finance Class but he ended up a computer software genius.

Riot · May 27, 2012

gunfreak said:
-1 on the GPS, more people get lost and die following a GPS. Mechanical devices with electronics can and will fail. I have a friend with this big fancy BORS scope, no iron sights. That thing fails he's screwed.
Keep It Simple Stupid....

Agreed...

Too many people have become dependent upon their GPS devices instead of honing the basics. Do you know which way is North? How can you tell in the middle of the day? If you don't know this, fine...get a compass and a backup compass then learn how to use them. If you think that you won't ever need a compass because the satellites in the sky will stay up there forever then good luck being another sheep in the herd.

Batteries fail. Electronics fail. Period. Ever heard of Murphy's Law? You think you won't ever drop that GPS unit? It won't ever get too exposed to water and short out? Even if you have solar panel, charger and rechargeable batteries- at some point that crap just will stop working. Batteries won't hold a charge and electrical connectors corrode.

This stuff won't be around forever...so if you want to cling on to your little GPS unit, video games and cell phones then complain about how Obama is ruining the country while you eat your McDonald's burger starring at the idiot box wondering how crap got so bad that you have to use a compass for in the first freekin place, then I suggest you stick your head in the nearest toilet and flush repeatedly until the feeling goes away!