Recommend me a decent budget compass

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Realising i am at risk of becoming stationary with a new job looming ive decided to unpack the walking kit and dp a few walks.
However since last i wandered distances my old reliable compass has become well unreliable
i'm lookin to replace/retire it but i'll need a resonably frugal option( new job looming but not begun and a month before i get paid)
what do you recommend folks?
 

Robson Valley

Full Member
Nov 24, 2014
9,959
2,665
McBride, BC
Look over the Suunto and the Silva lines. Pick one slightly over your budget.

1. My first was a Recta in a steel case, now some 54+ years old.
Excellent but it developed a big bubble after 5 years. Interferes with needle movement.
The needle was balanced for the northern hemisphere only (N is "down" in OZ!).

2. I Have a Brunton Eclipse 9033 prototype with a doughnut magnetic element (25 yrs old?).
Lots of useful instruction cards, rubber armoured case and the same damn bubble problem.

Now I live where there is only one road into and out of each valley.
Plus the peaks and glaciers, hard to get turned around.
Sudden snowstorms? Don't leave the road.
 

Janne

Sent off - Not allowed to play
Feb 10, 2016
12,330
2,294
Grand Cayman, Norway, Sweden
Could you use a compass function of your mobile phone for a couple of months, then buy a high quality one?

Seems like a waste of money to buy a cheap one now and a more expensive one later.
 

Billy-o

Native
Apr 19, 2018
1,981
975
Canada
I don't know why, but I prefer the Suuntos. Last Spring I spent a lot of time ogling this MC-2 G 6400

https://www.amazon.ca/Suunto-SS016326000-MC-2-G-6400/dp/B01M0W4S0Y/ref=sr_1_1?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIn7ap0Y284gIVEozICh2oeQnZEAAYASAAEgILofD_BwE&hvadid=284509194136&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=1002451&hvnetw=g&hvpos=1t1&hvqmt=b&hvrand=8756293529439775885&hvtargid=kwd-577152559188&hydadcr=22915_10093354&keywords=suunto+mc-2/g/6400+compass&qid=1558973716&s=gateway&sr=8-1

Just something to add to the collection and drool at in the end. Although I did go an paw it once or twice. Didn't buy it after all. My great aunt on my dearest wife's side of the family was a long time scout leader and remains an avid hiker at close to 80. She gave her old Suunto to our daughter, so we used that this past Summer and Fall.
 
Last edited:

Robson Valley

Full Member
Nov 24, 2014
9,959
2,665
McBride, BC
[QUOTEI don't know why, but I prefer the Suuntos. Last Spring I spent a lot of time ogling this MC-2 G 6400][/QUOTE]
That's every bit as good as a compass needs to be. I like that one.
GPS does not work here in dense wet forests when it's raining.
Steep mountainsides make it worse. Batteries are a crutch.

Get disoriented in fog or snow, that kind of a compass will get you home again.
 
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