New Compasses

I just bought a couple of inexpensive compasses. One is a simple baseplate compass but the other is a sighting compass that I’m liking a lot.

http://www.smkw.com/webapp/eCommerce/products/compass/Explorer%26%23153%3B+Folding+Compass+-+ClearGrey/EXP30.html

For only three bucks, it’s hard to beat. It has several scales and a sighting hole in the mirror. It has some luminous points but it’s missing one for north on the bezel. The north/south alignment lines on the bezel also move when you adjust for declination, which isn’t a good thing but it’s not unworkable.

This one (which I did not get)-


http://www.smkw.com/webapp/eCommerce/products/compass/Explorer%26%23153%3B+Compass+with+Signal+Mirror/EXP51.html

Reminds me a great deal of my old Brunton. The Brunton has an excellent sighting system and adjustable declination that doesn’t require tools. The new Brunton-


http://www.thecompassstore.com/8040g.html

Has improved north/south alignment lines on the outside of the bezel so they don’t move when you set your magnetic declination.

Here’s the one I’d like to get but it’s just a little too expensive.


http://www.thecompassstore.com/mc2gmetric.html

I do prefer metric scales over imperial as they’re easier to use with UTM grids.

My only real concern with the very cheap compasses is that the liquid in the needle capsule may be water and subject to freezing. The expensive compasses use alcohol or oil that won’t freeze. Needle response on the two I got is good.

Of course I have a very good military lensatic-


http://www.thecompassstore.com/military27.html

but they’re not as easy to use as some of the others and you have to remember to allow for declination as they don’t have declination adjustments. They're also relatively heavy.