SUUNTO MC-2 Compass: Top-of-The-line Compass for Professionals & serious Hikers

Other members of our SAR teams in the county use this one, but we cheaped out at first and tried less expensive ones (from $5-18)...all of which failed either accuracy or function requirements. Between us and a few others, we compared about a dozen different mfrs and the Suunto always came out on top for reliability, accuracy, ease of use, and features. I really like the declination adjustment as it makes it easy to set our 11 deg once and not have to do the math on every azmuth we shoot.The MC-2 not only works reliably, it have other design features which made spending the money a no brainer. It's a lot lighter than my old military-style, lenzatic compass I was using.I used mine in low-light conditions practicing land-nav and the glow-in-the-dark portions of the compass which needed to glow, stood out very well, but needed to be saturated with light regularly, but I don't see that being something we will need much.If you are trying to decide about spending the money or not, to me, I say don't waste time, or money with the others. The couple other brands which passed the requirements for our SAR teams, still had minor things wbout them which put them down on the list of which one would I buy again, knowing what I know now.Lastly, I like how there is a Northern Hemishpere option and the different scale choices so I was able to get the model which best fit our needs. I did end up using a eyeglass screwdriver to adjust the declination as I didn't much like the little tool on the lanyard provided, but it is there for those who don't mind the 'fishing lure' tool. Come to think of it, it might work pretty good in my emergency wilderness kit, as a fishing lure!

I was a little worried after seeing some of the reviews here, but the SUUNTO MC-2G USGS (360 degrees and global needle variant) I received is very nice. The numbers and directions are printed clearly and precisely, and there are no manufacturing defects nor structural integrity issues. A very well made compass.I only have a couple minor nitpicks. The first is that setting the magnetic declination is a little challenging to get precise, but once you have it where it needs to be it's reliably accurate - double check it by lining up the "shed"/"doghouse" directly ahead and view from the mirror line. For me the local magnetic declination is about 3 degrees west, which is one and a half marks counterclockwise from true north. The second nitpick is that the hands of the compass can get held up with the pitch angle plumb line arm. This seems to only be an issue when using the pitch angle function of the compass, but not when holding it flat and using it as a compass. For that it spins freely and accurately.I attached my own lanyard with pace counting beads - to stow the compass in a breast pocket or chest plate carrier admin pouch and let the lanyard hang out from there to use.So, based on the one I received at least, I can highly recommend this compass. Thanks.

Excellent compass. I have used it a couple of time already, and I will keep it since it's built with quality.

I have used Suunto compasses for 35+ years now with my forestry practices. Yes, there are cheaper compasses with built in declination ability, but I know this Suunto compass will be top of the line in quality and functionality through the end of my career before it gets handed down to the next surveyor/forester/engineer in the family.

Wish I bought one of these sooner! These are great for camping/hiking/emergency/survival!Love the extra features it comes with: Rulers for different scaled maps 1:50000 & 1:24000, ruler for 1:24000 maps that measures how many miles the distance is up to 1.1 miles, and a ruler in INCHES 3.5in, on the cover of the compass' sides there are declination angle marks, and of course the signal mirror is a great addition for emergency signalling or if you have some stuff stuck in your teethI flashed the compass with my surefire and the glow was visible in daytime for a short duration and works great at night time!I dont think its as rugged as a lensatic compass but luckily I only have to worry about 1 Marine possibly breaking this