Nexus 7DNL Compass

I ordered 18 of these to teach land navigation to a bunch of kids. I tested them all before the class and found every one of them to be as accurate as I had the ability to measure. They have all of the essential features you need for basic map and compass orienteering (north seeking arrow, clear baseplate, direction of travel arrow, orienting arrow, orienting lines, rotating dial, and index line). They are not adjustable for declination, but have a declination scale( *both* of which are “nice-to-have” features). While not liquid filled, the needles are quite stable and settle quickly. Thirteen kids aged 9-13 all sucessfully completed my course which included field work (locating positions from known points, plotting locations on the map, and navigating to points on the map) with this compass. Many of them were dropped, tossed, or otherwise roughly handled (“Hot potato” with a compass, anyone? The boys couldn’t stand still for more than 5 seconds at a time..!), but none came off the spindle, lost free movement, or lost any measurable degree of accuracy. There are certainly “better” and more full-featured compasses out there, but for one that will meet the minimum requirements AND come in at a nice price point, this one is an awesome choice. If you are looking for a compass to learn on, a small/light compass to toss in your kit, or a rock-solid backup, you won’t go wrong with this little Brunton. They are inexpensive enough to toss one in every kit! Pro’s: All of the “required” features (listed above) The dial is marked in 2 degree increments (plenty accurate for land-nav) A declination scale Compact and light weight Kid friendly (I won’t say “proof”, but they sure held up!) Imperial (inch) and metric scales. Easy to read Price Con’s: No luminosity, so you need an external light for night navigation No declination adjustment (yet, I challenge you to find that feature on a quality compass at this price piont!) None of the “traditional” (1:24,000, 1:25,000, 1:50,000, etc) scales Bottom line — two thumbs up..!

Nothing fancy about this compass but it works very well. The numbers are large enough for me to read (I use reading glasses and some compass bearing markers are still too small). It feels well made for an inexpensive compass. No extra features of any kind so no bells and whistles.

I am not sure if I was just unlucky but mine got an air bubble in about 2 weeks sitting on my desk. I was told to use a blow dryer and it worked....for a day, then the next day the air bubble was twice as big. I think from now on I will buy non liquid filed compasses.

It's a basic compass that has everything that's needed for basic/casual orienteering. It's easy to read, and the rounded base makes it easier to hold in-hand for those quick bearing checks. I gave one of these as a gift to a friend who them took it along on a Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness trip. It served him just fine, and has proved durable. It is a little more compact, so it fits better in my waist pack, or in my cargo pants side pocket.

A compass and a map will get you where you need to go if all the electricity in the world goes down. Don't rely on GPS so solely that you lose the ability to navigate without it. This is a good little compass. I use these in the Boundary Waters. Yes, a GPS map is nice for orienting yourself, but nothing beats just following along on your map with a compass on the floor of your canoe beside it.