Customer Reviews:
 A good, basic compass July 1, 2006
Abhimanyu Katyal (San Francisco, CA USA)
9 out of 10 found this review helpful
This is a perfect companion for basic hikes. Not fancy, easy to slip into your pocket, easy to read...it performs the job of a basic compass very well. For the price, this is an excellent buy.
Mmmmmm, Compassy! December 28, 2006
S. Jacobs (Ashburn, VA)
7 out of 9 found this review helpful
This compass is just what you need if you're trying to navigate using maps. It's well made and very reasonably priced.
The compass is easy to read and is well damped by the liquid inside.
This isn't the type of compass you'd want to use for regular hiking, but it very well suited for use with maps and charts. Since it doesn't fold, you'd have a hard time putting it in your pocket.
For normal hiking, I prefer a lensatic compass. It's very easy to shoot a bearing to a landmark. Brunton makes a pretty decent unit.
 Good design but durability lacks April 2, 2007
Jim Morrison (Hansville, WA)
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
Some of the reviews I read sounded like they were written by people who had little real wilderness experience. A compass like this one is exactly what Boy Scouts learn to navigate with. Contrary to one review, this compass does have a declination adjustment. It is a bottom plate with an alignment arrow that turns independent of the top. So, in my case, I set the alignment arrow so that it is +19 degrees off of of zero (N). Now all I have to do is align the magnetic needle with the off set arrow and the compass readings all read true. There are several types of compasses. This is what I call "Type A". A magnetic needle operates independently of the compass card. It is the most popular type. You should read a book or on line to figure out how to do a few simple things like orienting the compass and taking a bearing, and understanding declination. My only complaint on this compass is that after rattling around in my pack for a few years the letters and numbers on the base plate almost wore off. Perhaps you should purchase a case for your compass. I helped teach a mountaineering class yesterday and this is the type of compass is what everybody used. 4 teams bushwhacked through steep terrain following a compass heading for over a mile and all (independently) came out within 100 to 150 feet of their destination. Conclusion: this type compass is good for woods navigation, a site mirror or a lensatic type is not needed.
I gave it only 3 stars because there are so many brands that are similar I can't say it is better than average, except it looks pretty cool with the colored base, and is easy to read.
Compass dead on target February 20, 2008
Kirk Groeneveld (Athens, OH United States)
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
The Brunton Classic Compass is a good choice for the price. It delivers everything that you'd expect from a maptop compass... plastic base, bearings marked around the housing, easily rotating needle color coded for north and south, it even has a place for a lanyard or string to be attached.
The size is just about right for either a shirt breast pocket or to be carried in the hand in the field. The adjustment for declination and graduated measurements along the edge make it a most versitle tool.
In short, I am very pleased with this unit, and will recommend it to my students in the upcoming compass orienting and map reading class I am about to teach next month.
You could do a lot worse by buying a cheaply made compass. This one works well for the right price. Thank you Amazon.
Confusing but it works. February 18, 2007
Tamar Brooks (Los Angeles, CA USA)
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
I really thought that a compass would point at the letter representing the direction that I was facing. I was mistaken. It's a little more complicated than that. I called the company and a very nice guy named Mark carefully explained how to use this compass. It was not as I had imagined. But it does indeed work. Just yesterday I needed to find my way home from Long Beach. I remembered my tutoring from Mark and figured out which direction I needed to go. But I wish I had the simpler kind that just automatically points to the direction on the compass that I am headed in. Ignore this evaluation if you already know how to use a compass. The problem must surely exist between the hand and the user.
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