I have been lurking on the Orienteer Kansas Forum for quite a while now but haven't participated much. I am quite enthusiastic about "O" but have only been to four meets so far. I would like to get more involved. I understand that orienteers use special compasses designed just for competition and have thought about buying one. I am unsure what kind of compass would be best. Could somebody suggest a good kind of compass for orienteering? Where can I buy orienteering compasses? How much should I spend? Thanks for your help!

-- Orange Moraine (orangemoraine@yahoo.com), December 14, 1999

Answers

I suspect Orange Moraine posted this question as a clever, yet subtle, paradoy of recent discussion on the ONET. But, what the heck, maybe someone would be interested in answers to Orange Moraine's questions.

Could somebody suggest a good kind of compass for orienteering?

There are basically two options -- a thumb compass or a base-plate compass. Either works fine for orienteering. It is probably a little easier for a beginner to learn to use a thumb compass.

Where can I buy orienteering compasses?

Some outdoor stores have them -- check Sunflower in Lawrence. There are also a couple of people who sell O' equipment. Among them are: A- and-E, Gale's O', SM-and-L Berman, and Joe Scarborough. You can probably find links to them on the USOF pages (www.us.orienteering.org). How much should I spend? I don't know. A top-line Silva might run 70 bucks. A into-level Silva might run 10 bucks. You pay a lot for compass needles that settle faster and are more stable.

A final comment...no matter how good your compass is, if you don't read the map well you won't orienteer well. A good orienteer can do well with a cheap compass (or even without a compass).

-- Michael Eglinski (meglin@juno.com), December 15, 1999.

There are different ways one might use a compass. For example, one could carefully set the compass to a specific bearing by setting the rotating compartment with the needle in it to a particular angle for future reference. That might result in an orienteer running the most accurate route. Alternatively, one could simply forget about manipulating the compass and look at the needle to determine if one is running in the intended direction (say, relative to north-south). Some compasses have a compartment that swivels and others don't. I suspect that beginners would like to be able to set the compass on a specific bearing, or at least have that option.

Setting an actual bearing would be useful if you were at a night-o (say, a DVOA meet for example) and saw that the coursesetter put a control on a rootstock in the middle of a hillside full of other unmapped rootstocks matching the height of the one you were looking for. A compass bearing might help, or again it might not if the woods were so thick that you couldn't run straight.

I would say that setting a bearing is best on a base-plate compass and think beginners would like baseplate compasses. (I have to respectively disagree with Spike's opinion here.)

If you run, a fast-settling needle is nice. It can even be disasterous if you have a slow-settling needle and don't wait long enough for it to settle down after you've held the compass level and still. If you walk, then I don't see why it would matter much at all how fast the needle settles. A walker might as well save a bit of money and get a $10 compass. You can check the needle at a store by flipping the compass upside down or shaking it then watching how quickly the needle settles. If it ever gets stuck with the needle oriented 180 degrees in the wrong direction then that would be an inexpensive compass.

Very nice compasses are the Moscow Compass, higher-end Brunton or Silva compasses (Brunton makes a line called "Nexus"), and presumably Suunto compasses. Those companies make compasses for orienteering.

-- Mook (everett@psi.edu), December 16, 1999.

You know this little compasses that you can win in the penny-pitching game at the church fair? The kind that comes in a little rubber tire, with a needle that shimmies like an aspen leaf?

They're not so good.

-- J-J Cote (jjcote@juno.com), December 17, 1999.

Hey! Don't knock those tiny little compasses with the jittery needles! My first compass was one of those things! Of course, I didn't win it at a fair, it came with my G.I. Joe.

-- Mook (everett@psi.edu), December 19, 1999.

I would just like to personally thank those of you who helped me identify good sources for orienteering compasses. I received a Silva compass from my wife at Christmastime and have been out in the woods taking bearings and practicing my compasswork. I look forwards to using it for the first time on a real orienteering course in a few weeks.

-- Orange Moraine (orangemoraine@yahoo.com), January 28, 2000.