Declination and compass configuration

[neilmny]

Thanks for posting that Michael. It's an interesting piece of work though it looks potentially fragile to my
uneducated eyes. Neil.

[photohiker]

I'll let you know about that next June. Just ordered one.

[Rob A]

Easier said than done. I haven't seen many, and definitely not the M3 Global which is what I'd buy if I saw one.

Prospectors out at Baulko and all round Aus seem to carry them. Your pom prices are better but the A30 is what I would be after and at its price point theres nothing to be saved.

Tell you what, their field books might be worth following up on .

[johnh]

Will grab a Suunto next time I see one.

G'day photohiker,
I bought my Suunto M3 Global on-line from bogong.com here in Melbourne. Also, outdoor-gear.com.au sell Suunto stuff. They're based in StKilda.
Also worth mentioning, Victorian Mountain Tramping Club ( of which I am a member ), run an excellent navigation training program, with two field trip weekends in Whroo Forest and the Bogong High Plains. We also have an extensive trip program where guidance and mentoring in real situations are encouraged. This is not meant to sound like an advertisement, just meant to be helpful!
Cheers,
johnh

Easier said than done. I haven't seen many, and definitely not the M3 Global which is what I'd buy if I saw one. My UK Compass does not have declination adjustment, so I might pick a Global M3 up from the UK. Plenty in the US, but they come with Mile scales and 1:24000/1:62500 on the bezel. There are some on ebay (inclinometer missing, but the correct map scales) and I have seen some in UK online hike stores, eg: hitchnhike.co.uk. UK pricing seems to be the most reasonable, be even better if the store rebates the VAT 20% which would probably cover much of the freight.

neilmny, does your Silva Explorer have a global needle? Other wise it looks to be very similar to the M3

[photohiker]

I'll let you know about that next June. Just ordered one.

And it arrived over Christmas. Interesting bit of kit. The needle is a fine, low mass affair. The magnet is the hub but the needle is not fixed to the hub, it floats in a slot on either side:









In the last photo, you can see both the screw for adjusting declination and the little tool attached to the lanyard.

[David M]

That's the MC2-G compass, the only other Suunto with global needle.

Note that there are several variations of the MC-2 compass (the MC-2G is also a valid model number for this compass), I could have got mine a huge amount cheaper - base price - from the US but couldn't find anyone offering the metric version in the US for reasonable shipping so I bought it locally...

The versions seem to be metric and non-metric, luminous or non-luminous markers (four versions). Mine has luminous markers, metric and inch rule, and 1:50,000 and 1:25,000 scales.

[David M]

I am concerned about compasses whereby the local declination can be adjusted by the user. It is not obvious that this has or has not been done and if another user uses the compass they may not know that it has been adjusted. If one is using a compass, presumably they are using a map and can make the appropriate adjustment when using the map. I leave my MC-2 unadjusted so wherever I am I will make adjustments when using a map and also not have to worry about if the declination is set for some local place when I am elsewhere,

[photohiker]

Unless the other user is particularly unobservant, I doubt this is as big a problem as you think. When a compass is adjusted for declination, the alignment of the needle on the baseplate looks wonky, especially when finding north.

But I think there is no right or wrong in this, either adjust or not adjust as suits your preference.

[neilmny]

I agree Photohiker. My compass is adjusted for local and it is very obvious the moment you set the compass to 360deg.
Looking into the compass at the orienting lines you can clearly see that the declination has been changed because the pointer doesn't
line up with them. Having said that our local declination is 11 to 12 degrees and very noticable once adjusted.

The Suunto looks the goods. Thanks for pictures.

[NathanaelB]

I use a Brunton sighting compass with a declination adjustment screw — and I fear that one day I'll be used to working in Grid North and have forgotten to adjust the declination and forget how to work with Magnetic North

[PilotMan11]

Working out your compass track from the declination markings on the map always remember this easy way.

East is least West is Best.

Subtract the declination if it's noted as East or add it if West.

Do the opposite if you're wanting to transpose your compass heading to the map.

That's how we're taught to remember it when we do navigation training for our pilot licence

[Hermione]

I walked with an adjustable declination compass for the first time last year, but found I preferred the old tried and tested method of converting between map and compass bearings.