Suunto Compass MC-2

Great quality. I have several of the MC-2. The latest one is a global one. It his well made and reliable. Good for navigation beyond mere cardinal directions.

I have used this for navigation during day and night in the Lake District and New Forest, it is the best compass I have tried. A couple of less obvious points about it:First, the luminosity of the dial, the needle and the direction of travel markers is very very bright, assuming that the luminous paint has been sufficiently charged up by a light source such as your head torch. Second, the base plate is substantially thicker than other compasses, and it has a very robust feel. Also with the mirror extended flat, it is possible to orient quite long lines on the map.The compass has a feature for measuring the incline of a slope, which looks like it could be really useful, but I have not used yet.It comes with a comprehensive user guide that actually gives you a primer on several important navigation techniques.Two very minor negative points. The magnifier on the base plate is quite small, so less useful than on other compasses... there just isn't enough space on the base plate for it. The direction is indicated only in mils, it would be nice if there was a secondary scale showing degrees. Finally the distance measurement scales are present for 1:25000 (OS Exporer maps) and 1:50000 (OS Landranger maps), but it would be nice to also have 1:40000 (Harvey maps).

I’m ex Army. Also I enjoy map reading. Dartmoor is where I’m happiest. But I’d never trust a map alone. And this compass is one of the best.

Great quality. In my opinion, no other compass-clino comes close to Suunto for this price range

This certainly has a quality feel to it and I hope it will stand the test of time. I decided against getting a Silva compass to replace my previous Silva one. It developed an air bubble in the fluid. I see that others have experienced the same problem after a while.The action of this Suunto is nice and smooth. The degrees are well marked and so it is easy to read. There is a small magnifying area in the base, which helps to magnify difficult-to-read detail on maps, but other compasses have a larger magnifying area. I need glasses anyway to read detail on a map, so it's not really an issue for me, but for those who are in the early stages of Presbyopia (perhaps in your mid-forties) then you might struggle without some form of decent magnification, particularly in lower light levels.The base plate has useful scales, so whether you use 1:50000 Landranger, or 1:25000 OL (preferable where possible) then you can use the base plate scale to measure distances.I think the only small issue is the "SUUNTO" inscription on the base which could have been more wisely placed to give better definition to the registration lines. When you want to register the lines in the circular area with the grid lines on your map it would be best to have as much clear ability to do this as possible, without having part of the area obscured by the company logo. I get around this by "juggling" my direction of travel along one side of the base plate with a clear grid line on the map aligning with the "red lines" in the centre of the rotating part, so I am sure my orientation is correct.The mirror is an excellent addition to improve accuracy. It enables you to "look down" onto the "red-on-red" to ensure it is properly aligned and the direction you are intending to follow represents the direction you SHOULD be going in. Both Map to Terrain and Terrain to Map are improved by using the mirror. There is a "V" notch at the top and also a cut-out at the bottom, both of which help you to accurately sight, plus there is a line in the centre of the mirror that enables you to ensure everything is aligned properly.There is also an in-built declination adjustment. You don't need to do this currently in the majority of the UK, I understand, as there is only about 1 degree West currently, but if you were going to use this on the Western Seaboard of the USA then you would certainly find this handy. There is a small device that attaches to the lanyard that comes with the compass. You just turn it over, insert the little "screwdriver", turn to the required declination setting (East or West) and then this is "automatically" applied when you use the compass.It also has the ability to read the angle of a slope. This is all well and good, but I tend to get more information from reading the map contours and applying Naismith's Rule to determine the additional time I will require when walking a route containing moderate (or more) ascents.Overall, a very good addition to the kit. No one piece completely makes other equipment obsolete. Firstly, to my way of thinking, there will never be a time when I leave the map at home, even though I have GPS. Studying a map, for me, is still the number one when researching and determining a route and also seeing where I am/where I need to be on a walk. Sometimes I will need the compass if I am struggling to interpret the map and need to check something. GPS is great and there should always be charged batteries and spare batteries, plus failure is probably rare, but nevertheless I don't think there will be a time when I ever leave my map and compass at home and walk out with just a GPS. This compass is light, robust, good quality and not too large, so I'm hoping it will go with me for many a trip.

This is a top rate compass. Can't say I use it a lot but just love knowing that I have it in the back-pack. Always worth understanding how to use a compass properly before deciding if you need one.