User Review: Suunto MC-2G Navigator

Suunto MC-2G Navigator
Above: The current MC-2G Navigator, which may differ slightly from the version reviewed.

Reviewed February 18, 2008 by ke7mbz

Rating:
Price Paid: $59.95

The needle on this thing is incredible. It's amazing the angles you can hold it at and still get accurate readings. It should work at just about any latitude, regardless of the magnetic dip. Sometimes this needle will block your view of the clinometer, though.

The luminous dial is pretty useless. You can only read the points for a few seconds before it dims. The cardinal points are not illuminated which would be much more useful.

The lanyard is too short. The slide catches, and is very hard to work. I liked the Ranger better on this point.

It lacks the tapered cover like that on the ranger, which gives you a much better view of the azimuth in the mirror. This makes it hard to take quick bearings using the mirror. However, it does force you to adjust the mirror to to the correct angle.

I got the metric version. I don't really care what's on the baseplate, though, as I usually use a UTM grid card for map work.

The dial has tighter tolerance than the Ranger. This makes it a little harder to turn, but less likely to get sand and debris under the dial. I actually got a chunk of wood stuck under the Ranger dial.

The reverse protractor on the clinometer is great. That combined with the extra sighting notch, make it easy to take clinometer readings in the mirror. It also makes it easier to adjust the declination screw. There's a luminous mark on the baseplate that allows you to use the clinometer marks to set the declination. This gives you a more accurate adjustment, and means that you don't have to keep flipping the compass over to set the screw.

Merging the MC-2G with the Silva Ranger would be just about perfect. They're now made by the same company, so I can't see why they haven't done it. I think the Ranger has better overall design, but lacks the features of the MC-2G. I mainly got this compass for the clinometer and the global needle. Otherwise, I'd prefer the one-handed convenience of the Military lensatic. It's a pain to turn the dial with mittens on.