Handheld Compasses

Recent Handheld Compass Reviews

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 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

Cammenga Tritium Lensatic Compass 3H

An accurate and tough compass that will give a lifetime of service. The Tritium won't, but this can be replaced by Cammenga every 13 years or so. I have used this compass for the past year but have tried out a phosphorescent version for some time. I use the 3H mainly for navigating at darker times as we move to lookout areas for early morning calling. I do take it out on hikes and walks to keep skills up and really like the lensatic compasses for navigation. When they are quality built they are… Full review

Brunton TruArc 15

Very well made. And before you complain as many have done regarding the double bearings...LEARN THE COMPASS VERY WELL! Somebody has commented that the double azimuth is confusing and the mirror in this compass is placed wrong.  Well do not make a conclusion, unless you have made your homework very well.  Before a product is made, professionals are involved. So before your complaints...do your homework very well in learning the compass in this case. The destination arrow is black. Which means the… Full review