Button compasses

[Ralph]

Are they any good? I know they're not as good as the silva type compasses and the experience I've had with them have been minimal. Last time I had a proper 'play' with one I ended up 16 miles west of where I wanted to be thinking I Was facing east . Is this the compasses in general, me or the compass I was using on that cold December morn?

 

[Odie]

a button is a useful backup in case you lose your main compass - but i wouldnt rely on one for main navigation.

their small size makes it hard to take a bearing and also makes them easy to lose as their nature makes no provision to lanyard them.

 

[addyb]

I've got one in my survival kit, among other things.

 

[Nemisis]

I like the brass ones like the mables I would imagine they are more accurate than most of the plastic ones http://www.campingsurvival.com/mapibrboco.html or this one the trunord a few more carry options and calibrated for your location
http://www.trunord.com/about/products/
Dave.

 

[pumbaa]

Silva do a compass called the huntsman , it does have the square plastic baseso you can align it to a correct direction , and at approximately 1x2 inch is plenty small enough for your tin
BCB do one similar too
Pumbaa

 

[innocent bystander]

How about a Suunto MB6 - matchbox compass. Small enough to be handy, large enough to be useful ?

 

[philaw]

I think I'm right in saying that button compasses are generally useful for finding north, and therefore general orientation, but that's about their limit of precision. I kept a 20p one on my keyring to orient me on coming out of the subway, and it was so good at that that my big lensatic compass didn't leave home, but I would only use one for serious navigation in an emergency. Also, where you really need a good compass, you probably need a spare one of a similar standard.

Keep them in survival kits, attached to your jacket zips and keyrings, by all means, but don't expect too much, especially from unbranded cheapo ones.

 

[Stuart]

As philaw has already said button compasses prove useful for general direction and should not be expected to provide a means for accurate orientation, but all button compasses are not created equal

A while back I did a quality test of all the button compasses available for a Survival equipment manufacturer

sample of compasses where provided by the following manufacturers

the largest manufacture of button compasses 'Sun' provided:

Item No: 809
Product MiniComp II™
Description: Micro Map Compass

Item No: 895-AA
Product 20mm-diameter Compass, Grade AA (.79
Description: Highest-quality (Grade AA) Compass

Item No: 895-A
Product 20mm-diameter Compass, Grade A (.79
Description: Medium-quality (Grade A) Compass

Item No: 895-B
Product 20-mm diameter Compass, Grade B (.79
Description: 20mm-diameter Compass Capsule

Item No: 893-AA
Product 18mm-diameter Compass, Grade AA (.71
Description: 18mm-diameter Compass Capsule

Item No: 893-B
Product 18mm-diameter Compass, Grade B (.71
Description: Economical (Grade B) Compass

Item No: 891-AA
Product Grade AA 14mm Compass
Description: Luminous dial, liquid-filled

Item No: 891-A
Product 14mm-diameter Compass, Grade A (.55
Description: 14mm-diameter Compass Capsule

Item No: 891-B
Product 14mm-diameter Compass, Grade B (.55
Description: Economy (Grade B) Compass

Item No: 889-AA
Product Grade AA 10mm-dia. Compass
Description: Liquid-filled ultra-micro compass

pyser-sgi provided:

the Francis Barker model 1605 NATO button compass, Stock Number 6605 99 522 0223
All brass and glass construction
North and south seeking luminous points
Jewelled sapphire bearing
Niva tipped brass pivot

Silva Sweden AB supplied:

Silva SERE 40 35766-1610 Compass 40 luminous, with lanyard hole

Sunnto supplied:

Suunto Micro Compass (clipper model) Luminous:

A number of compasses where provided for test by other manufacturers but where discarded from test during the initial stages after showing obvious flaws (pointing the wrong way, needle not moving etc)

Tru-Nord compasses where not available for the test

tests where undertaken to assess quality of construction, accuracy, user practicality and durability

the biggest surprise of the tests was the apparent poor quality of the Silva SERE 40 I tested a randomly selected batch of 100 Sliva SERE 40's and found that a +/- 5 degrees inaccuracy from new and 85% developed bubbles at room temperature inside the liquid filled housing during the test, severely reducing the this already substandard accuracy. I have not expected this result due to Silva's reputation for high quality, which it would appear does not extended to its SERE 40

the Sun 891-AA Grade AA 14mm Compass was found to be exceptionally good and of considerably higher quality than the rest of the Sun line. highly accurate and with good luminosity it did not develop any bubbles during the test, though now some 4 years later the one I have in front of me has developed a bubble. very good value for money

The Sun MiniComp II is also worthy of special note as unlike the other compasses in this test it is a full baseplate compass suitable for orienteering, it is not as robust as its counterparts but its accuracy was found to be +/- 2 degrees (though only a very small batch where available during the test) and it developed no bubbles during the test or subsequently. its features make it the most practical micro compass on test and provided that its larger size in comparison to its counterparts is small enough for requirements it should seriously be considered, the only improvement would be if Sun where to use a grade AA compass unit to improve accuracy and provide luminescence

the the Francis Barker model 1605 NATO button compass performed flawlessly as expected, but then one would expect it to at a cost of £20 per compass!!!
it is however not user friendly, it is not liquid filled and although this lends considerably to its robustness it means that the needle is undampend and in order to get an accurate reading it must be placed on a level surface free of movement and allowed to settle.

The outright winner in regards to quality, accuracy, practicality and durability was the Suunto Micro Compass (clipper model Luminous) it is the only compass on test other than the Sun MiniComp to feature a rotational bezel making it highly practical, the luminous markings added to this. is accuracy and build quality where second only to the Francis Barker model 1605 NATO but being liquid filled it was much easier to use. I would use and recommend this model (the civilian version is blue and non luminous, try if you can to obtain the military version)

 

[wizard]

Great info from Stuart! I have to agree a button compass is pretty useless for serious navigation to any precise point. Generally for military purposes they were used as an aid to general direction for evaders such as downed aircrew when trying to travel in a direction taking them closer to friendly territory. While the sun will orient you to a general direction, most evasion is done during darkness or periods of limited visibilty. That made a small, hideable button compass an asset to a service member trying to reach a friendly border or territory. The small ones could even be swallowed in a dire circumstance and retrieved later for use. Not the most desireable way I would think!
Myself, I use a Silva Ranger for navigation and carry a small Silva Huntsman as a backup. It is accurate enough for some near precision nav and small enough to stow away, very lightweight also. I would not attempt to swallow it, it would be a real pain in the @55 to retrieve! Cheers!

 

[underground]

It may be that the true value of a button compass can't be anticipated till it's needed. One of my caving pals always carries one in the pocket of his oversuit, and I always wondered whether there was any point to it - until the day we resurfaced on the mountain from the Croesor-Rhosydd mine in thick fog as dusk was fast approaching. Out came the compass and we were on our way relatively easily, ensuring that we made it back down to the pub with plenty of time left!
For the size and weight, why not just take one everywhere in a survival kit or with a whistle and emergency knife etc?

 

[philaw]

Nice one Stuart! You upped the quality of the thread a little there, when you revealed yourself as apparently one of the foremost experts on button compasses in the world , and you remain one of the people that keeps me coming back to this site.

I'm going to take a look at getting a Suunto Micro Compass based on the reviews, as the 20p model I talked about has long since died. Ones like that are okay in the city where it's failure is a matter of mere inconvenience, but it still feels wasteful when you throw it's carcas away, and you know you coldn't really trust it.

There's probably a fair comparison to be made between LED keyring lights and button compasses: the LEDs don't provide much light, but provide enough for basic needs and get plenty of use because they are there when you need them. Button compasses fulfil a similar kind of basic need/ emergency role.

 

[Mantic]

For those who carry a button compass secreted in a survival kit, beware. You need to check them on occasion as they lose their mag north finding ability far more quickly than a decent compass. I've owned three of them and none lasted more than a few years (the shortest working ownership was 2 years).

Just remember to give them a gander now and then : )

 

[Schwert]

Stuart...excellent info.

I have to agree with your finding on the Silva (Brunton) SERE. Keith Lunders (who makes the K&M matchcases) was returning upwards of 97% of each batch as they were non-working as supplied from the manufacturer. His luck with the Suunto Clipper version has been excellent.

My Marbles brass version stopped pointing somewhere towards north in very short order but my TruNords are still going strong.

The Sun compasses look like the ones in zipper pulls and the like...with so many models it is no wonder some of the items sold work and many do not.

 

[lostplanet]

stuart,
after searching around for suunto micro clippers it appears that the recta models are the same compass, i see that recta is a subsidiary of suunto so does that mean the recta's are as good quality as the suunto.i know looks can be deceiving.....

i have a recta comet which looks exactly the same as the suunto version.is it safe to say they are the same thing?

http://www.coastlineadventures.com/ca1/compasses/micro.html

http://www2.recta.ch/FMPro?-db=rect...uct_subclass=6&ID_language=e&-Token.1=1&-find

 

[Stuart]

i have a recta comet which looks exactly the same as the suunto version.is it safe to say they are the same thing?

I have no experience of Recta so I can only speculate at this point

Companies often have subsidiary brandnames which they use to sell items of Budget quality without harming the image of their 'premium' brand.

this may be the case with Sunnto and Recta, Recta compasses certainly seem to use many of the same components as Sunnto and some of their compasses appear identical (the Recta DP-6 is the seem to be the same model as the Sunnto MB-6) but without physical examination of both brands product line it is not possible to confirm the quality gap, if any exists.

The Recta Clipper however seems identical to the Sunnto Clipper in all but disk colour and brand name, the fact that they share the same model name further convinces me that they are probably identical and manufactuered in the same factory. It is remotely possible that the bearing is different as Sunnto states that it uses a jewelled bearing in its clipper, where as Recta make no statement about the bearing at all, but it seems very unlikely, I would say they are the same.

Recta's model DW button compass is interesting, in an ingenious stroke of marketing they state that the bubble in the housing (something that is avoided by compass manufacturers) is deliberate and is in fact a spirit level! They have even put a spirit level marking on the compass housing. Whilst a pointless feature it does I suppose mean that because they have built the compass with the bubble in mind they have allowed room a the top of the housing for the bubble to rest without it interfering with the compass.

I wouldn’t mind examining the Recta DW if only to add data on it to my old report, but now I am really beginning to sound like a nerd

 

[Stuart]

you revealed yourself as apparently one of the foremost experts on button compasses in the world

I wonder if I could put that on my CV

my only defence to counter the conclusion that I must be sad lonley individul who dusts my button compass collection, is that to some extent it is my job to know the answers to such questions.

 

[philaw]

"apparently one of the foremost experts on button compasses in the world"
-I ammused myself with that one, too, but it's still true!

Also, to be boring for a second, button compasses are precisely the kind of kit on the borderline between gimmickry and utility that need proper testing, and going through the tedium of doing it did everyone a little favour. Go ahead and put it on your CV!