With Christmas coming, and in consultation with my FIL, I have decided to buy my nephew a compass and a book on land navigation & map reading. He is active in the Scouts (Webelos) and next year they start teaching this subject so it seems like a good time for this.

Problem is I am unsure which one to get him. I am leaning towards a Silva Ranger but I thought I should check with the brain trust for other suggestions. I am looking for something in the $40-ish dollar range.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

That's a great compass, and in my experience works much better than the lensatic type for map work.

Check out this link
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Silva used to be the official Boy Scout compass, and I think they do the job pretty well. I own both a Silva and a Suunto. If I had to choose between them it would be the Suunto.

quote:

Originally posted by sooma:
That's a great compass, and in my experience works much better than the lensatic type for map work.

For map work, you absolutely want a baseplate compass (one with a flat, clear plastic base with markings designed for working with a map - the Silva Ranger is a baseplate compass).

Lensatic compasses are a type of sighting compass. Sighting compasses are designed to take precise bearings to distant objects.

There are also some baseplate compasses that have sighting features, like the Silva Ranger 2.0 Mirror Compass, which is basically the Silva Ranger with a mirror sighting cover attached, and is a few dollars more than the standard Ranger.

I think a combination baseplate/sighting compass is more complexity than is necessary at the Webelos level, or even later in Scouts - I made it to Eagle without ever having had a sighting compass, and consistently did very well in orienteering competitions.

If land nav is a hobby/interest, a combination baseplate/sighting compass might be a good idea. Even a simple sighting compass like the Ranger 2.0 lets you take bearings within 1-2 degrees.

OKCGene, thank you for the link. It never even occurred to me that this might have been discussed (and especially not so recently).

I think, given that it is a minimal cost difference, the Ranger 2.0 may be the solution. It might be a little more complex then he is likely to need but the sighting tool may come in handy later.

I am going to dig through thecompassstore.com and look at some of the other models listed in the other threat and the Suunto but the Ranger 2.0 seems like the right choice.

quote:

Originally posted by maladat:
For map work, you absolutely want a baseplate compass (one with a flat, clear plastic base with markings designed for working with a map - the Silva Ranger is a baseplate compass).

Lensatic compasses are a type of sighting compass. Sighting compasses are designed to take precise bearings to distant objects.

Yes on all that.

Every formal land navigation training I’ve had, plus learning on my own, has started with map work. As a starter compass for initial training, I’d therefore recommend the type intended for that purpose. Although not ideal, that type of compass is also usable for navigating outdoors. A dedicated sighting compass is much better for actual navigation, especially across wooded or difficult terrain, but it is not as good for map work.

Either Silve or Suunto. The Ranger is a good choice.