Catskillmountaineer.com Forum

I would like to buy a decent orienteering compass. I'm new at this.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks

I like the Ranger model by Silva, althought there are other good brands out there. With the Ranger you flip the mirror up, set your azimuth, look into the gunsight notch on top of the mirror and off you go. I haven't been lost yet.

See this link:

http://www.adkforum.com/showthread.php? ... ht=compass

Thanks a lot. I'll check it out.

Personally, I would invest in a GPS. But, learning how to use a compass is useful. I have been using a GPS exclusively since 2008.

The best thing about a compass is that the batteries never go bad.

Thanks for all your input. Going camping/hiking in the Catskills next month for a week. I'll buy one before then.

dundee wrote:The best thing about a compass is that the batteries never go bad.

I'm split on this decision. I kind of agree with Mike. Since I've gotten my GPS I only whip out my compass when I need a scale bar for photographs. I use a Brunton model which they don't make anymore, it is very similar to the Silva model people are suggesting here.

I did my first 4 or 5 trailess peaks in the Catskills with just a map and compass. While I felt a greater sense of accomplishment, I found out also how easy it is to get turn around, off the route, and almost lost in the dense canopy of some crevasses of the Catskills. I wound up getting back to the right path each time, but it did add some nail-biting hours to my treks. For this reason it makes hiking with a GPS seem like using cheat-codes for a video game. Sometimes it's just better using the map and compass, you feel more authentic. I'm sure some pure naturalist will tell me how even using a compass and map is cheating!

However, when I hike trailess with the GPS I can walk in nearly straight lines through dense brush and not worry. I can always know if we are descending the correct limb. I can always know if we were off course and missed a col. I can make it to summits quicker and more efficiently and put myself in less danger.

Also note depending on your model, 1 pair of AA rechargeable can last a pretty long time. I usually have 2 batts in my Garmin etrex HC and 2 spare batts I carry in my camera case. The extra weight is minimal. Maybe once in a blue moon I will have to change them out on-trail. While continuously on outdoors the battery life is surprising, lasting 2-3 days. This all depends on useage of course. Most of the time as long as I remember to turn the unit off after a hike a single pair of batts can last 4 or 5 hikes. I use the green-top rechargeables so I don't blow the budget on batteries, but the system has worked for me for over 5 years without fail, and I have never been in a situation on trail where I was out of batteries and the GPS was dead. Granted I don't take any backpacking trips for longer than 3 or 4 days. I'm sure if you're going out for several week long expeditions this might be a different story.

I carry the old fashioned stuff, paper map, compass, ranger beads and altimeter. I also am almost always running the GPS app on my smartphone in 'airplane mode.'

I use the smartphone mostly for capturing tracks, so it's in my pocket and I'm rarely looking at the screen. This is at least partly to save power.

The compass is always around my neck or in my hand on bushwhacks. I do a pace count if the forest is fairly open, don't even try when pushing through the dense stuff. I find that my real "go to" is the altimeter. As long as I haven't forgotten which mountain I'm on, altitude and aspect of slope usually get me plenty close enough.

I don't know when the last time I did a sight resection was (except for teaching). When I can see enough identifiable distant objects to resect the sight, I'm at an overlook, and I know where I am because the overlook was most likely my destination! (I'm not very good at climbing trees.) If I hiked in the West, I'd use sight lines a lot more often.

Like Jon, I use a Brunton mirror sight compass that they're not making any more. I'm going to have to find something to replace it with, since it's got a bubble in it. Maybe this time I'll upgrade to a military-style lensatic, otherwise, does anyone know who makes a decent mirror-sighted one with a clinometer and adjustable declination? Those were the features that made me choose my old Brunton.