Compasses

Recent Compass Reviews

Suunto Core

Three Suunto Core watches died on me in rapid succession. I had three Suunto Core watches in 2010. The first one lasted about six months then crashed. I returned it to the store where I had originally bought it and they replaced it with a new one. It lasted about a month then stopped working. I returned it to the same store. They gave me another new one. A few weeks later this third one died. The store took it back but only gave me an in store credit which I used over the following few months. I… Full review

Silva NOR Thumb Compass

A completely clear thumb compass that's great for orienteering and adventure racing. Good for someone just getting into orienteering, an experienced orienteer may prefer a more stable needle. Ease of Use: Thumb compasses in general simplify and speed up navigation. Place it on your thumb, the direction of travel arrow is already set for you. Place the compass on the map with the direction of travel going from where you are to where you want to go. Turn around until the needle lines up with north… Full review

Brunton TruArc 15

Literally useless as a compass. Compared its bearing to a Cammenga Lensatic compass as well as two electronic compasses and found this to be off by almost 20 degrees sometimes. The bezel's two glow dots actually affected the needle itself, pulling it away from North and along with the direction of the glow-dots as you rotate and would actually pull the needle around off North. Not sure if this is a batch of lemons as I cannot understand how some people give 4-5 star reviews and others like me have… Full review

Suunto MC-2G Global

Superb compass. I cannot imagine a better mirror compass. Many small details that make navigation a lot more fun. This mirror compass stands out among other mirror compasses with big names, but lacking the qualities of this superb Finnish product. Some details I like very much: the opening in the mirror with the notch in the middle makes aiming to the target a lot easier. Nearly all other brands have a ridiculously small opening in the mirror, making it very difficult to find that one landmark in… Full review

Suunto Clipper

Brand new Suunto Clipper compass leaks. I expected hell of a lot more from a Suunto compass than this. I just received it a couple of days ago and today a bubble suddenly appeared. I am in Florida so no cold weather affected it. Full review

Suunto Core

14 years old and still going! Purchased this watch for a deployment to Afghanistan in 2007 and have been wearing it off and on ever since. This includes 14 years of rough military training.  Customer Service from Suunto was great after I failed to seal the battery cover and caused water damage at year two or so. They replaced the computer for $80 then bezel and bands for free. Yes, it was the same watch based on distinctive marks in the casing.  So hear I am, fourteen years later, just finding… Full review

Suunto Clipper

A handy compass, easy to read, can be clipped on to backpack shoulder straps, bike packs, whatever. I've had my Clipper since 2009. I bought it from Brunton, where my niece and sister-in-law worked assembling the classic Brunton Pocket Transit, which I used many years ago for surveying along with a plumb bob, surveyor's chain, and of course, topo maps. My niece was the production manager at Brunton, and when they downsized she was the only one assembling the Pocket Transit, in Riverton, Wyoming. Full review

Suunto M-3D Leader

Very good well made compass. Hard to see in dim light. Nice choice for regular long distance navigation use. Unlike old model, new models lack outline box to center southern portion of needle over. I like the older model. Full review

Suunto Clipper

The Suunto IS available again. Good small compass. I put a small lanyard through the clip and put it in my pocket—not on a wrist. Excellent for general direction finding. I would have preferred the old "Comet" model, which was the same compass, but mounted on a small baseplate instead of a clip on. Takes a few moments for direction indicator to settle—not for racing. A great choice for backup of GPS, or ultralight backpackers. Unlike eBay knockoffs, markings are engraved (not just printed) onto… Full review