Well I had a buddy and his kid get lost last night in the woods and ended up spending the night under a pine tree in a swamp with the temps in the 20's and a storm dropping 12 inches of snow on them. They went in the woods at 1:15pm Sunday and got rescued this morning, Monday around 9:00am! I hunt the same woods and have for the past 10 years. I got turned around in this same cedar swamp after dark for a minute or two earlier this year. So I now want to get a good compass, what kind do you all use, looking for suggestions on a good one!
I would suggest the SUUNTO Navigator Compass or You can look at the army navy surplus store and get a CAMMENGA lensatic compass. Both are durable, time tested (and battle tested) tough pieces of equipment. The Suunto has a mirror that can be used for signaling if need be.
Nice buck by the way!
my favorite compass is the Sunnto DP-65 Matchbox compass. this one had the Suunto global needle. you can get it for around $60
rusty
Ever use a GPS? I still bring my compass and Topo map, but a good GPS is something you might want to think about. It's got me out of trouble a few times. ,...Lloyd
I learned from lots of coon hunting that a compass is a must at night.
I like a Cammenga military style compass or a Brunton 8099. Neither are much good without a good map of the area you'll be in.
I also like a Garmin GPSmap 60CSX to mark my truck. need to make sure you have extra batteries, just in case.
I would never recommend carrying just the GPS. You never know when your batteries will go dead and you may lose the extras. Keep the compass on a lanyard around you neck to keep it handy.
Any compass that points north!... and checking it before going in...works! It's only common sense!
a cheap compass that is less than 10 bucks that has a 2nd dial to show you the way back to your car or camp is just the thing to have on at all times. I have it tied onto my backpack. I also had one time stay in a cedar swamp, with the snow coming down and could not tell were I had come in to the swamp and how to get back to camp. I have now used the compass in the big woods up north of NY, and it sure helps to make sure you get back to my SUV. As in some cases the roads can be several miles away.
Bill
I use a cheap Silva compass, the flat see through kind for map reading with. Been using them all my life and wouldn't change a thing. Very simple, very cheap and very durable.
I would never use GPS. Too much to go wrong and control of the whole system is in the hands of the Pentagon.
I went to the local outdoor store, I believe it was Eastern Mountain Sports (EMS) and bought the basic compass there. It is gold colored military style compass. I believe it cost under $20. It has worked great for me. I use it every year in the swamps of Maine. I also carry a cheap gps, Garmin Etrex. GPS to point me in the right direction and the compass for keeping me on course while walking.
An inexpensive compass will do. One with a mirror is worthwhile as was mentioned above. I have used a Silva for about 30 years.
No insult intended to anyone, but there is no point in carrying a compass if you don't know how to use it. :goldtooth:
By this I mean at a minimum doing basic navigation with a compass and map (USGS topo), knowing how to adjust for declination, and being able to plan and walk a route on multiple bearings. If you spend much time in the woods, taking a basic orienteering course is a good idea for that one time when you get turned around.
That being said, the most important thing of all is "staying found" a compass doesn't help you much if you don't know where you are to start with. At that point, it becomes a tool that enables you to walk in a straight line - which is good if you know the general direction to the road where you parked.
Except maybe the ones they used to put in Cracker Jacks, they'll all work. The fluid contained types are good but some of those will freeze so be aware. Keep in mind, GPS is nice but there are places it simply won't work. In those same places a compass will work and everywhere else. In what could have been a very easy place to get lost, John Nail and I had a GPS go dark on us. The hollers were too narrow and deep to pick up 3 satellites. We had a compass and topo map and a Ranger school grad with us (John).
Get a GPS and a compass. You will probably never get lost using both. You can get a quallity GPS for under $100.
I know it's a bit gimmicky! :cool: I just got a Casio Pathfinder that has a digital compass, altimeter and barometer! These beasts are used by experts and joe public alike. Havnt gotten lost yet, but hope it will do the trick!
http://www.casio.com/products/Timepiece/Pathfinder/
Hope this helps. :)
J
Silva Ranger. It, in conjunction with a topo map, is the only navigation tool I use. It won't run out of batteries, get confused under a cannopy, be less acurate when all your satalites are bunched up in one part of the sky, or any of the other problems that GPS users encounter.
I know I'm biased. GPS's are very good tools, and relyable. I just can't stand the thought of carrying one while hunting.
ch
thats some serious stuff... gettin lost in the woods and spending the night. i carry a compass, but the only way i know how to use it is to get me in the direction of a road.
i also carry a bunch of strike anywhere matches in a air tight vial the my company produces.
i hope i never have to use them, but its a little piece of mind.
jamie
Silva makes a cheap "key fob" compass that is simple and very reliable. I have bought several over my 30-some years of hunting,and have used them without fail,from little swamps and woodlots,to the "Big Woods" of N.Y. and Maine.
Just use the key ring to hook it on the zipper of your jacket. (I replaced the key ring with a leather thong and I just loop it through the belt loop on my pants) It is handy and always right there in front of you. Basic North&South, East&West, should easily get you out of anything but the most remote back country.
It's easy to get "turned around" in the woods,but in reallity we rarely ever hunt areas that we haven't "scouted out" and are fairly familiar with. So acually we are never "lost" just "Fearsome Confused for a month or so" in the words of "Jack Frapp"
(Brian Keith in "The Mountain Men")
A cheap compass should serve you well. Keep it handy,and use it often.
any good compass and a gps.
i also have a liquidless strap on the wrist compasss that was in a survival kit i once purchased from a surplus store that works great, too.
remember when bear used to come with a compass embeded in the handle?
I also use a Silva Ranger and have for 30 yrs. But, like others said, doesn't help a bit if you don't know to use it. Also, Murphy's law is always in operation, be prepared for the unexpected and to spend a comfortable night in the woods. Stay put and you will be found. (nut)
Silva Ranger been using one for years. For high country adventures I'll throw in my altimeter. And of course and appropriate map as necessary.
I like to carry 2 compasses just in case for some silly reason one gets lost.Don't really have a favorite.I like the pin on ball type but be for warned some cheap made in China one's the pin is brass plated steel and sooner or later it will get messed up.Another thing to watch for is if you use 2 way radios don't get them near your compass it may never read the same again....probably a cheap one again LOL but I've seen it happen
If ya use a GPS carry extra batteries AND an extra compass.....hey ya never know
Any good map compass Sunto or Silva, topo map of the area, basic knowledge of navigating. I also carry a Garmin 60csx gps unit with area maps loaded in the unit. Extra batteries for my flashlights and gps. There are a lot of programs that allow viewing of topos,aerial maps and google earth on line where you can sinc information with the gps and then print out your own maps of the area. I happen to use a program called expertgps. I prefer the scale of the printed maps 1:24000 over the gps maps which are at 1:100000.
I just use a coleman. I have a few of them around.
We tracked a deer this past year in the dark and I am always amazed how easy it is to loose perspective.
If you use one, always trust it and not your instinct.
Silva Ranger, had one for a long time and used it exclusively until GPS' came out. I now use GPS to navigate and compass to stay on track.
Big cedar swamps are a bugger. I've been turned around too many times in them not to carry a compass.
Mike
Get a cheap silva. the military ones are heavy and expensive. I use a compass, map, and gps to navigate. Nothing like being able to mark something for later and using the go to function in a pinch.
Everyone has their favorite. Mine is a Marbles pin on compass. It stays pinned to one of the shoulder straps of my Bison Gear fanny pack so it is never left at home. It is right there in the open where I can glance down at it regularly. I also carry a Buck compass in the pack.
We always "USE" our compass, my brother and I were taught how to use one before we were taught how to shoot. We grew up using a Marbles pin-on, always in your view and easy to constantly check. But now that they are "made in china" we are using the TRU-NORD pin-on's, they are made in Minnesota,USA.Great compass w/lifetime warranty. Cindy & I are trying very hard to stock items made in the USA when possible.
I agree with Dirtguy. I teach Orienteering classes as well as organize competitions. I carry a GPS (Rhino because I like the radio aspect) extra batt. and a compass. When leaving a known landmark I ALWAYS take a compass heading and a GPS landmark. That way if the GPS fails I at least have a general idea of the direction I want to go.
I think every outdoor person should take an Orienteering class. Its fun and I guarantee you will learn something. My first Question is always "How many North's are there?"
"Captain's in the chart room
Navigating on a star
Can't tell where we're goin'
Cuz he don't know where we are..."
-Joe Walsh, The James Gang/Eagles
I always bring a GPS. If there is an emergency, med-evac type situation for me or my hunting partner, I want to be able to call in the exact co-ordinates NOW not rely on my woodsmanship skills to build a stretcher etc. That being said I have taken "Compass and Survival Training" though realistically most need to practice their skills and most don't so they don't really have them when they need them.
I use a Brunton 54LU compass. This baseplate map compass features in-vial sighting, which gives you an instantaneous reciprocal bearing. (Best of both worlds-lensatic/baseplate). Very useful when you are crossing a wide open field, get a little "confused" and want to find your entry point to reorient. Extremely accurate, the 54U has a +/- 1/2 degree accuracy. I have two but only because I cracked one. I also have one on my key chain and a bubble compass. Hell, I have a GPS in my truck! :)
I have seveal of the "pin on" compasses made by Burlinton. They are small and work just fine.
When I hunted Idaho for elk I also carried a gps etrex Legend by Garmin. One night after dark I used it to get to a spike camp. I used my compass to get to the trail head but when I got there I wasn't sure to go left or right. Turned on the GPS amd went left for about a two miles to camp. I think it is a good idea to carry both compass and GPS.
I'd never recommend being in the woods after dark without a compass :bigsmyl:
I've been harping to my Shrew Crew up at camp to carry a compass. I learned many years ago that it comes in handy after you hit a deer. I once made a shot on a buck, he whirled and the arrow took him back in the guts. I could hear the deer as he ran through the woods then I heard a crashing sound. I took a reading with my compass to pinpoint the location/direction of the sound.
There was no blood at all but I found the buck within 100yd's in the dark with my flashlight using my compass. The broadhead went in the gut area, and up through the diaphragm and didn't exit. A intestine plugged the entrance hole and all the blood was inside. Without the compass it would have been a lot harder to find him and I may not have found him at all. Things look a lot different on the ground than from up in a tree.
If you do go by compass dial in a deliberate error so that you know you will end up north of your truck on that trail as an example.
I have a small ball compass pinned to my left arm just above my elbow. It is suprising how handy and useful it is even in the small patches of woods I roam. Like Jacobsladder stated earlier, lots of time in the dark hunting coons taught me the need for a compass.
Dennis
don't know how you feel about technology--but I thought this looked interesting. My GPS is more complicated than I need. This is very simple. Get you to your stand, or back to your truck. Only stores 3 waypoints. That would be enough for me. I would still carry a compass as a backup though. Mike
http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/product/standard-item.jsp?_DARGS=/cabelas/en/common/catalog/item-link.jsp_A&_DAV=0314_gps-search_redir&id=0062794229625a&navCount=0&podI d=0062794&parentId=cat21350&masterpathid=&navAction=push&catalogCode=2UG&rid=&parentType=index&indexId=cat601233&hasJS=true (http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/product/standard-item.jsp?_DARGS=/cabelas/en/common/catalog/item-link.jsp_A&_DAV=0314_gps-search_redir&id=0062794229625a&navCount=0&podId=0062794&parentId=cat21350&masterpathid=&navAction=push&catalogCode=2UG&rid=&parentType=index&indexId=cat601233&hasJS=true)
Watched a show where they had a competition with team A using the traditional map/compass and team B using map/gps. All were well trained in their devices.
Team A smoked them. . . GPS team got all tied up.
GPS are way cool, but not the complete tool.
Get a compass. .
I carry a little ball compass (or three) at all times in the woods. It doesn't take long to get twisted around on rainy overcast days or at nite and just knowing which way is north can get you back to the main road. ...( if I am north of an east/west road just gotta head south). Have a Cammenga military to use with real maps in real backcountry ...to many years as a jarhead in the middle of nowere to ever trust anything with batterys.
I have a Brunton professional pocket transit. It will work any where, any time,water proof,even north of 60 where your needle wants to point to the ground. Has declinometer as well for those mountains. I plan to get a gps but i never leave without the compass. Some things stop working at -20 to -50. My compass does not.
Rob
A quality name ball compass is on my coat at all times. VERY easy to look down and tell what way you are going and what way is back.
ANY compass a person has on them and they USE is the one to have.
A gps is a great locator but as been said BATTERIES.
DEATHMASTER
I use a Silva
Lots of good info in this thread...Been using a compass at work for the last twenty years for mapping tracts of land...for use in the woods get a compass with a mirror (Silva Ranger). Its the most accurate method for taking a bearing with a handheld compass...I have two GPS units that I also use. One is Garmin Etrex Vista ($300)that is used for just hunting/general use and its small and handy. The other Is a $5k mapping unit that I use for collecting data and drawing maps. Its usually accurate down to less than 3 feet. I don't depend on either one to get me out of the woods. If you don't have above good woodsmanship/navigation skills, don't buy a gps. It will give you enough confidence in the woods to get you in trouble when it fails and IT WILL FAIL, eventually. Get a compass. Learn how to use it in conjunction with a map. And, Like Mr. LaClair said, it might help you locate that buck. A gps is a great addition, AFTER learning how to navigate with map and compass. GPS units are handy for storing all those hotspots you find. Just don't become too dependent on them...JMHO YMMV...
David
I'm not big on the GPS thing! The technology is great but thats not the route I want to take! Thanks for the great links and compass ideas! I have a cheap one and wanting to upgrade and sure are some great ideas on here!
I like the Silva Ranger, or any compass with a clear base.
It helps to plan the hunt if you have a map, you can lay the compass on the map and see through the clear base to plan routes.
It also can be "aimed" like a military lensatic to take a heading.
Most are good and are worth having.
Won't argue with anyone's .02 on their favorite...but,
without a lite source, can you even see your compass to get a reading?
Don't wanna hi-jack the thread;
what lite source works for your chosen compass/gps?
and...could someone give a location or listing of where to attend a land nav course?
Flashlight,
Also Joe, ya may wanna check out primos buck roar call. Built in compass makes as a decent backup.
Good point Billy,
I would go with a military lensatic with the tritium dial, but it still needs an external light source, like a flashlight, to "make it glow".
My lowrance GPS has a backlit screen. I'm sure most of the others do as well.
I haven't bought a new compass in quite a while so I don't know which ones have a built in light source or not.
John
What's better than a compass......two compasses.I have a Silva hanging around my neck and a pin-on in my pack.I also carry an extra lighter,cotton balls soaked in vaseline,whistle,extra 1 AAA flashlight,rope,and small emergency space blanlet.I might have to spend the night but I ain't gonna freeze.
I use a small Silva compass that's built into a whistle body. It has a magnifying glass and thermometer on it as well and most importantly, it's small enough to *always* hang around my neck when I'm out in the woods.
More importantly, I've mastered the Patrick McManus "Modified Stationary Panic". It saves lives.
I have an older Swedish-made Silva-brand Ranger compass that has served me well and is superb for wilderness navigation. Silva of Sweden cut off the importation of this compass through Silva-USA in '96, and since 98, the Ranger models sold in the US are no longer Swedish-made Silva products. They are now fairly sub-standard compasses made by various low bid manufacturers with a Silva-USA label. Many are junk.
The same highly regarded Silva of Sweden Ranger can now be purchased in the US under the name Brunton Nexus Elite. Well worth the money as your life may depend on good manual navigation.
http://www.trailspace.com/gear/brunton/nexus-elite/
I have used a Silva Ranger for 40+ years along with a topo map of the area in which I plan to hunt. I always draw in pencil the declination lines across the map spaced about an inch between lines :) [I find it easier to use the map with the declination lines already drawn in rather than trying to adjust the compass]. It may sound a little crazy, but sometimes rather than reading a book or article as I pop off to sleep at night, I enjoy studying a topo map of areas I plan to visit, hunt or go roving in. The map paints a story, and I can imagine where game or interesting prospects might appear. I can also plan how I will approach and traverse the areas I want to visit. Hard to beat a basic compass and a topo map. My son and I periodically pick a couple of points on a map and will make a bushwhack between them. Having said that, I have a Garmin 76CXs that I am just starting to use. However, I will always carry my Silva Ranger and marked up topo map. Tox Collector
I carry two compasses. One around my neck and one in the pack. I had one break one time. I also have a gps in the pack for finding stands in the dark. It has a compass on it but it is worthless. A compass and topo are my go to navigation equipment. Gary