Durable compass

[Quixoticgeek]

For a trip I have planned (if we ever can travel again). I would like to take a compass with me. The route is a long one, with all bar about 20km out of a couple of thousand being on roads or well made paths. But that 20km includes crossing a plateau. I would feel a lot more comfortable having a compass with me for this.

I have a lovely Silva baseplate compass, but I'm not sure how well it would cope rattling about in the bottom of a bike bag for a couple of weeks. Can anyone recommend a simple durable compass that can put up with being knocked about in the bottom of a bag, around various other magnetic sources (steel framed bike, phones, sat tracker, light wires, etc...)?

Thanks

J

 

[SCOMAN]

That's a pretty hard call, I have to admit I'm quite precious of compass as inevitably I expect to have to rely on it. It's one of those items that may appear to be losing it's place with the advent of GPS but in reality it becomes all the more important because you may be in dire straits when it's needed so you need it to be able to function and be reliable. Therefore it should be protected from demagnetising/damage as much as possible. There are various simple baseplate compass pouches available that'll let you have it on a belt, shoulder straps or even round your neck. The Silva Ranger compass itself is small and you'd not notice it around your neck but what accuracy of a bearing is needed?

 

[Quixoticgeek]

That's a pretty hard call, I have to admit I'm quite precious of compass as inevitably I expect to have to rely on it. It's one of those items that may appear to be losing it's place with the advent of GPS but in reality it becomes all the more important because you may be in dire straits when it's needed so you need it to be able to function and be reliable. Therefore it should be protected from demagnetising/damage as much as possible. There are various simple baseplate compass pouches available that'll let you have it on a belt, shoulder straps or even round your neck. The Silva Ranger compass itself is small and you'd not notice it around your neck but what accuracy of a bearing is needed?

I won't be wearing a belt. Round the neck I have a steel pendant I always wear (it's a section of bike chain, which has a lot of meaning to me), and what few pockets I have will have a mobile phone in it. Accuracy is largely about being able to orient the map correctly, and keep me going from the road up to the plateau to the road off on the other side. If it's sunny weather I expect I can get by without the compass. But if things get cloudy, I'd like it as a backup.

I am wondering if an orienteering thumb compass might be the right tool for the job. They are designed to be bumped around a lot afterall...

J

 

[SCOMAN]

Never used one to be honest but they'll still suffer in the bottom of a bag around ferrous metal.

 

[Quixoticgeek]

Never used one to be honest but they'll still suffer in the bottom of a bag around ferrous metal.

The bag is the furthest I can get from ferrous metals on the bike. There's some aluminium in the bag frame, but the rest is fabric.

J

 

[lostplanet]

I think you've got to look at protecting the compass you already have. No matter what you buy if it gets beaten around its most likely going to let you down when you need it most. I would never leave something as important as a compass at the bottom of a bag, it would be in a pocket on me (cord around a belt loop) somewhere out of immediate harms way OR in a map case.

I cant find the case i would like to suggest. these helikon ones look ok but never trust it as waterproof, just use your common sense.

Helikon Map Case Olive Green

Invincible Helikon Map Case in Olive Green colour is available now at Military 1st, the UK based outdoor online store. Explore an extensive collection of outdoor cases and tactical holders. Fast and free delivery across the UK.

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if you want something good quality, accurate and small, check these out

CMP-20 Compass Necklace - Polymath Products

Rugged and reliable navigation aid with precision luminous dial.

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The ones i have are out of stock . You should be able to mount it on the bike somehow but its tiny anyway.

 

[Jared]

Suunto make a compass in a match box style, the MB6. Though a small/micro pelican case would be lot cheaper.

 

[Paul_B]

Demagnetisation? Never had that despite carrying mine in bike bags and other places. Anyone know if an RFID pouch would protect against demagnetisation?

 

[SCOMAN]

I wouldn’t have thought so

 

[Van-Wild]

I have a suunto MC-2 which is a clamshell sighting compass. Its very sturdy.

If you're only needing the compass to check cardinal direction and not for hard out bearing and pacing, I assume you wear a watch? Slap on a wrist compass. They're cheap, reliable enough to check your direction and tough. 'Bingo Bango Bongo.......'

Woodlore - Offline for maintenence

Sent from my SM-G970F using Tapatalk

 

[Quixoticgeek]

I have a suunto MC-2 which is a clamshell sighting compass. Its very sturdy.

If you're only needing the compass to check cardinal direction and not for hard out bearing and pacing, I assume you wear a watch? Slap on a wrist compass. They're cheap, reliable enough to check your direction and tough. 'Bingo Bango Bongo.......'

Woodlore - Offline for maintenence

I don't wear a watch. I used to wear one all the time, but I took it off when I got on a Dive boat in 1999, and never put it back on.

I have been looking at the wrist compasses like that tho. The other one I pondered is the Suunto Clipper. Probably good enough for my needs...

J

 

[Paul_B]

I wouldn’t have thought so

Looked it up and you can block or reduce certain magnetic field strengths with enclosure using materials that absorbs the fields and carry It through the material not pass into the enclosure. Not effective for all field strengths and probably not portable.

Mind you as I also said demagnetisation has never been an issue for me despite doing everything to test the compass I've owned over the years. Bottom of bag, top of bag with electronic equipment, glove box near speakers, door pocket near speakers. Had one that seemed out on a hill but replaced it and later on found it was no different to my new one or friends compasses. I guessed that day out I was temporarily turned around and it was my sense of direction and lack of trust in the compass that was wrong, operator error if you like.

Durability, I've never had any issues with baseplate compasses. In general I only replace when I want something different or when they've updated the Silva version to include 1:40,000 roamer scale used with Harvey maps. Sure the plastic can get a bit scratched up but that has never stopped the compass being used.

Silva and other brands orienteering compasses generally don't have the accuracy of normal baseplate compasses, indeed some with the spectra system only have coloured segments. There's a difference in needs for normal navigation and orienteering navigation I reckon. The only advantage of orienteering compasses is the damping that allows for rapid settling of the needle or disc for rapid checking of your bearing even when running. Very specialised compasses.

 

[Erbswurst]

Why don't you put your existing compass in a little plastic box with some foam around?
It belongs into the handlebar bag anyway and there it's relatively protected.

 

[forrestdweller]

i'm using a recta dp65 since 2003, since 2005 i've been on a walkabout for 11 years -- including a one-year cycling trip around New Zealand. so far i've had no issues with it. not sure how much protection it offers from magnetic fields but to reduce the risk of damage i keep mine in a small wooden container (open on front so compass slides out when used). can't remember what i paid but it's not exactly a bargain...(works worldwide, though) my back-up compass is a silva ranger mini and both point the same direction

 

[Erbswurst]

Recta an old Swiss compass maker was bought by the serious Finnish compass maker Suunto. Nowadays the Recta models are made in Finland under the brand Suunto.

 

[Nice65]

I’ve only got a little SERE CountyComm brass button compass that is on a neck cord, before GPS my folks did a lot of walking with maps and compass. I’m sure they used a Silva, but I‘d assume any decent compass is built to travel and be able to suffer the knocks and bumps?

Ferrous metals won’t damage a compass, just affect the reading if close to it, so you need to move away from the metal. And hope you’re not on iron rich ground. Magnets, and they’re often in locks, immobilisers, mobile phones, speakers, microphones and other electrical equipment will cause problems.

I think this is right, but I’m happy to learn more. It’s one of the oldest navigational tools and still in use, it must be able to be put in a pocket or pouch in the bag, or stored safe somewhere?

 

[Jared]

Yeah, think the main issue is the needle's polarity being reversed, because it'd have no visible damage that the compass is not showing the correct direction.

Putting it in a case at least ensures any other magnets/electronics can't get close.

 

[forrestdweller]

Recta an old Swiss compass maker was bought by the serious Finnish compass maker Suunto. Nowadays the Recta models are made in Finland under the brand Suunto.

i knew recta was owned by suunto when i bought my compass but wasn't aware they're made in finland (i always seem to learn something new on this forum ); some recta models are used by the military where exposure to metal is a frequent occurrence....

 

[forrestdweller]

Yeah, think the main issue is the needle's polarity being reversed, because it'd have no visible damage that the compass is not showing the correct direction.

Putting it in a case at least ensures any other magnets/electronics can't get close.

sorry in case that's a really dumb question: if somehow the polarity gets reversed the end of the needle supposed to point North points now South and vice versa --- as long as someone is aware that happened (by checking where the sun is / using another compass / a watch with the hour hand pointing to the sun ) the compass should be still useable?!

 

[TLM]

Needle reversal also causes another problem, the needle is mass balanced to magnetic field direction to certain latitudes (unless it is a world model) reversing the needle would cause it get stuck unless the housing is kept at the new required angle (that might be slightly odd).