Registered: 09/15/12
Posts: 202
Loc: Northern KY USA
Just out of curiosity, I was curious as to what model compass other members use. Personally, my favororite is a "New Model" Silva Range CL, but I have a Brunton and a couple of more stuck away somewere that I also really like.
Anyway, no reason to elaborate, unless you just want to explain what features it is that make your specific model your favorite.
My favorite is my silva huntsman. It has a hinged brass plate with a built in safety pin to clip to ones hirt for "hands free". It was a gift from my uncle back when i was 13 years old. There is now a big air bubble in the liquid, and the needle has begun to lose some of the paint (the liquid now has the particles floating around). It takes a moment for the needle to settle to its position, like a non-liquid does). But it has sentimental value. This goes with me when i do trips which I do not anticipate much off trail.
For any significant navigation in my neck of the woods, all I need is a map and a basic orienteering compass so the Silva Starter is perfect (and light on my wallet).
My favorite is the compass that I have used professionally for nearly 50 years, a Silva Ranger. It can be preset for declination, has a sighting mirror and a base useful for plotting and taking bearings. It has a metal case, a plexiglass base plate and is liquid-filled. It still has not acquired any bubbles. The only thing about it I don't like is that it is a little heavy plus it is graduated in quadrants rather than azimuth. But quadrants were what we used back in those days.
I carry a Silva Guide on my trips now because it is lighter, has a mirror and useful base plate. But it is nowhere near as accurate as my old Ranger and it is not even close to the quality; I'm now on my third Guide. But for what I do now it serves adequately and is two ounces lighter.
Registered: 02/07/07
Posts: 3917
Loc: Ozark Mountains in SW Missouri
Well, I'm embarrassed to admit it, but I use cheap Wal-Mart compasses. It's pretty easy to get up on a ridge here and triangulate your position close enough to be usable on a quad map.
Registered: 09/15/12
Posts: 202
Loc: Northern KY USA
Originally Posted By oldranger
I favor any compass with a mirror and baseplate. I currently carry an elderly Suunto MC-2, but there are lots of equivalent models.
I have a "mythical" place called somewhere. It's where I put stuff I don't use, but don't want to toss, either..then I can't remember where that somewhere is, half the time.. Anyway, I have a Suunto stuck away there. A friend of mine bought it when he wanted me to teach him orienteering. He lost interest though, and decided that a GPS would be much better. I tried to talk him into learning how to use a 1:50,000 scale topo map first. Then if his GPS ever failed, or he couldn't get a signal for some reason, he could navigate himself out of anywhere. He wasn't having any of that, so I scored a $50 compass for free. Seemed like a very well made compass, but I don't recall ever really using it. Now if I can ever find that darned "somewhere", I'll pull it and other stuff out.
Stick and sunshine during day; north star at night. I quit taking a compass about 20 years ago. I backpack in mountainous areas where a compass is really not needed, unless you venture into winter camping with white-out conditions. (I do not use a GPS either).
Registered: 02/03/06
Posts: 6800
Loc: Gateway to Columbia Gorge
Silva starter, here. Inexpensive, light, but good; can align with map and adjust for declination. It stays on a cord around my neck along with a whistle and one of those itty bitty Photon lights. The little light is my backup in case my headlamp fails; there have been a number of times I've needed it when I couldn't find my headlamp groping in the dark. At least once, my dog was sleeping on top of the headlamp!
Like W_D, most of the time I can navigate just fine without one, but we do get occasional bouts of really dense fog around here. Also, I really enjoy sitting on top of a ridge and identifying nearby peaks from a topo map, far easier with a compass, and keeps my map/compass skills up to date!
Edited by OregonMouse (09/29/1206:15 PM)
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Registered: 09/15/12
Posts: 202
Loc: Northern KY USA
Yeah.OM,.I really don't have that luxury in the mountains where I travel,mostly, even on top you'll likely have your view obstructed. On well marked or well traveled paths, especially places I'm intimately familiar with, I may never pull mine out. But fog, dense trees, etc..I always have one. And if I'm soloing, which is most of the time, especially in unfamiliar terrain, I like to stop and take a reading every so often. It's a lot more fun to come out 10 to 20 yards from your target, than to have to walk back down a trail or road for a mile or five, because I was winging it and over shot my way point here or there.
A lot of what I travel through is so dense that you can't look at your topo, drop perpendiculars, and trace out the ridge lines, and sight in on exactly the landmark your looking for. In this type of terrain, one might be lucky to look through the rough, and see 10 or 12 feet, straight ahead.
Oh well, getting off topic, was just curious what kind of compass people here liked to carry, and who uses magnetic dampening like the military cammenga's that I learned on, or the fluid dampened, like the Silva Ranger CL, or similiar that I use now, and personally like much better.
Registered: 02/03/06
Posts: 6800
Loc: Gateway to Columbia Gorge
We have that kind of forest in the lowlands here, two, with trees several hundred feet high. Unfortunately, much of the underbrush and deadfall is so thick that I wouldn't even consider trying to go off-trail in it. Silde alder, devil's club--familiar words to us northwesterners! Poison oak, too! Most of my off-trail navigation has been close to or above timberline, in the Cascades and in the Rockies. Or on the east side of the Cascades where the forests are dryer and therefore more open.
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May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view--E. Abbey
Registered: 09/15/12
Posts: 202
Loc: Northern KY USA
Originally Posted By oldranger
I knew there was a reason I have always preferred to be at or above timberline......
Yes, OR, I wish I had that luxury here. The mountains that we have here, are foothills of the Apalachian. Not very tall, can be very steep and covered top to bottom with trees and brush.
When I was a young G.I., I was stationed in Colorado, And loved hiking above the tree line, and would often decend into the trees at night (where allowed and legal), and build a small toasty fire to unchill, in weather that required it and to get a little privacy from other folks.
I still always carried a topo and compass, but rarely if ever had to use it. I did get lost, once, for about 3 hours, but managed to navigate to a river stream, and just followed the stream down until I came out to civilization.
Where I travel here, I don't have that luxury, of hiking above a tree line, and getting into thick trees and vegitation, it can be a little difficult to navigate, so I always carry a topo and compass, now, to make sure that I always know where I am.
I was issued a Suunto orienteering compass when I joined SAR. We use compasses to double check what the GPS gives us while navigating.
I also teach people how to use it. I've used it to navigate out of forested places before, but most of the time it's fairly easy to read a map and triangulate.
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"In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities. In the expert's mind there are few." Shunryu Suzuki
I worked in forestry for many years. I often worked in flat or rolling, heavily forested, rainy and foggy country with no visible landmarks. In country such as this, the ability to navigate with a map and compass is essential if one wishes to go home at night. Travel by dead reckoning is certainly not always necessary. But, if one does not have such navigation skills then it is much easier to get lost when landmarks disappear in the fog or the forest. To me, having a map and compass, and the knowledge of how to use them, is like having insurance; seldom needed but occasionally necessary.
Registered: 02/07/07
Posts: 3917
Loc: Ozark Mountains in SW Missouri
Yeah, I agree with that. I grew up in Northern Illinois and there's some flat land around there. Fog, or even heavy cloud cover can confuse you pretty quick if you've just been rambling around. There wasn't really anyplace big enough to get lost there, but there are a few where you might think you are.
It's an odd feeling though when you realize you don't know what direction to go. Hit's you pretty hard.
That really is an odd feeling the first time it happens (with repetition, it starts feeling more normal.)
I always carry a deck of cards in my pack for such moments. I just stop, get out the cards, and start playing a game of solitaire - someone will soon show up to tell me the red jack goes on the black queen, and I just follow them home.
Registered: 02/07/07
Posts: 3917
Loc: Ozark Mountains in SW Missouri
Originally Posted By Glenn Roberts
That really is an odd feeling the first time it happens (with repetition, it starts feeling more normal.)
I always carry a deck of cards in my pack for such moments. I just stop, get out the cards, and start playing a game of solitaire - someone will soon show up to tell me the red jack goes on the black queen, and I just follow them home.
Registered: 01/26/02
Posts: 572
Loc: Santa Cruz CA, Sierra Hiker
Just a cheapie that cost maybe $10. I used to carry a ranger, but eventually I switched to a little one that I strung a cord thru and when I am really off trail tuck my map in my waistbelt and hang my compass on my neck...
When I was looking for a compass, I saw a lot of old timers extoll the amazingness of the Silva Ranger. So, I wanted that one. But with a little more research, realized that the old Silva Ranger is not the new one. The companies are different. If you want the old Ranger, then get the Brunton 15TDCL. Well, at least that was the case. It looks like things have changed again, also if you look a the Brunton site, they don't show the 15TDCL at all, so I am thinking they discontinued it. Brunton So, now it looks like if you want that type of compass, Suunto it is. I almost forgot......I have a Brunton 15TDCL made in Sweden.
Edited by finallyME (10/05/1209:20 AM)
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Registered: 11/23/03
Posts: 430
Loc: Kitsap Peninsula, WA
I have taught navigation for a mountaineering class for a few years and here is my opinion. Any base plate compass like a Silva Starter 1-2-3 compass will work fine as long as it has 2 degree graduation. I use the Brunton 9020G Compass, Base Plate, with Declination Adjustment. I enjoy using my map and compass, but in hundreds of trips out I have only had to use it a few times to find my way. Mostly I use it to ID mountains or find out where I am on the trail even though I am not lost. It is mainly used, by most people, in an emergency, even though they "should" practice with it more often.
Jim You say you teach nav - and you say that you have only pulled out your compass a few times. You also comment that most only pull it out in an emergency. Since compass navigation requires keeping track of where you are - could you tell us how to use a compass in an emergency siruation when it has only been pulled out after that emergency starts? This is not a casual question and "oh it helps you find north" is not an adequate answer. How do you use a compass to find someplace [your vehicle]when you are lost? Jim
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These are my own opinions based on wisdom earned through many wrong decisions. Your mileage may vary.
I use a Brunton 7DNL (0.95 oz) but usually don't need it when I'm hiking. I'm mostly hiking trails in the GTW and keep a topo map handy. I'm pretty good at locating myself on the topo just by looking at the topography around me and keeping track of where I'm going and where I've been. I can triangulate with the compass if I really need to pin point my location.
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