Outdoor Survival Compass Navigation Equipment

The GPS is flat and you are two ridges out.

Digital navigation is brilliant right up until the battery goes. Phone flat, 12V system played up, no signal in the gully — and suddenly the thing you were steering by is a paperweight. A compass does not care about any of that.

This is a metal sighting compass with a folding lid, a fluid-filled capsule and a built-in clinometer for reading slope. It is the backup that lives in the glovebox or the top of the pack and does nothing at all until the day it matters.

What It Does

Sight a distant landmark through the prism lens and read the bearing off the floating 360° dial, graduated in single degrees. The fluid damps the dial so it settles instead of swinging. The clinometer reads the angle of a slope — useful for sizing up a hill climb before you commit the rig, or working out how steep that descent really is. Luminous markings let you hold a bearing after dark. Black or army green.

Key Features

• No batteries, ever: nothing to go flat, nothing to charge, nothing to lose signal. That is the entire point of carrying one.
• Fluid-filled capsule: damps the dial so it settles quickly instead of hunting back and forth like a cheap needle compass.
• Prism sighting optic: read the bearing and the landmark at the same time, rather than sighting and then looking down.
• Built-in clinometer: reads slope angle. Handy for 4x4 work, and not something most pocket compasses carry.
• Luminous dial: hold a bearing after sundown without putting a torch on it and killing your night vision.
• Folding metal lid: shuts over the glass so it survives being loose in a pack.
• Comes with a carry bag: and a manual, which is worth reading before you need it and not after.

Limits

A compass points to magnetic north, not true north. The gap between the two is called declination and it changes depending where in Australia you are standing. If you are navigating off a map, you have to allow for it — the declination figure is printed on most topographic maps. Ignore it over a long leg and you will walk a surprising distance off line. Nobody sells a compass that fixes this for you; it is how the earth works.

• Metal and electronics throw it out: take a bearing standing on the bonnet of the ute, next to a winch, or with your phone in the same hand, and the reading is wrong. Step well clear of the vehicle first.
• It reads to one degree, not better: that is plenty for walking a bearing. It is not a survey instrument and the clinometer is a field reading, not a measurement you would build off.
• "Engineering metal" is the supplier's phrase: they do not state which alloy. We are not going to name one for them.
• No water rating is published: not specified by supplier. It is a sealed fluid capsule in a metal case, but treat immersion as unknown.
• A compass is only half the kit: on its own it tells you which way is north, not where you are. You still need a map and the know-how to use both together.
• No weight or dimensions published: not specified by supplier.

Q & A

What colour do I get?
Black or army green — pick at checkout. Older copy on this page said it was army green only. That was wrong; both are available and the compass is otherwise identical.

Do I need to know how to navigate to use it?
To take and walk a bearing, a bit of practice helps and the manual covers the basics. Learn it at home in the backyard, not when you are already lost.

What is the clinometer actually for?
Reading how steep something is. Four-wheel drivers use it to judge a climb or descent before committing, and it is handy for anyone working out slope on a block of land.

Will it work in the cold or the heat?
The supplier rates it from -20°C to +50°C. That is their figure, and it covers most of what this country throws at you.

Is this better than the compass in my phone?
Different job. Your phone is more convenient right up until it is flat, wet or broken. This one is the backup that still works then.

Specs

Free delivery to Australia and New Zealand. Allow 10 to 14 days from the day you order, and up to 3 weeks.