Customer Reviews

Brunton Key Ring Compass black

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4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

As an amateur astronomer, I only need to know, approximatly, which way is north. As such, this compass functions fine. However, a few things should be known about it. If you intend this to be a compass for just about anything beyond the most basic of direction locators, look at another model.

For example, the housing is made out of the most basic plastic...no ABS here. It is, however, both bigger and better built than I expected, and will most likely handel all the drops, etc, you can throw at it. If stepped on, though, it I can almost gurantee breakage, especially the plastic fringing around the bubble that gives you direction and has the keyring hole.

Nevertheless, it does have a lifetime warranty. For the few dollars I paid for it, and its intended use as a key chain compass, I can't fault it. For my purposes, its 100%. Realistically, anyone that needs a compass for anything more than establishing basic direction on a back-country road should look at the next model up. I wouldn't trust my life on this unit, but it is a great and compact way to establish approximate cardinal direction, and is leaps and bounds better than the almost useless, dime-sized "zipper" compasses.

I was looking for a small keychain compass for my survival kit, it's perfect. All I need it to do is point mag north accurately and it does that.

Its MUCH bigger than it looks in the pic and much bigger than the description indicates. It would be huge on a "keychain" for instance. Its basically 2 inches across. And looks like 1/2" thick (probably more). Its big. If you put it on your keychain you're going to have an pretty big bulge in your pocket.

And, you cant return it, so make sure a 2 inch compass is waht you're looking for. No returns on this product according to amazon. Something about 'hazardous materials'. I assume they mean the liquid inside it, tho no idea why thats considered hazardous (or how come they get to mail it but we cant). Anyway, its only [...] so not a huge loss.

That said, as far as how it works, it works very well. The compass needle is strong, and works well even when not totally level, and swings forcefully to point north, every time and reliably. Its one of the better compasses i've seen.

So if you want a 2 inch compass, then this is a great buy. If you are expecting something much smaller for your 'keychain', keep looking.

I just received this from Amazon today. It came in a box that was roughly 15" long and 8" deep. All this for a little tiny compass. There was one crumpled piece of brown paper in there and of course the compass wasn't inside the paper, it was at the bottom of the box. So, first observation, it was poorly packed.

Second, one side of the compass pointer is red and the other white. It seems that if you are facing north or south, you need to look at the red side of the dial for an accurate reading. If you are facing east or west, you'd better read the white side of the dial to know what direction you are really facing. This thing is either defective or crazily designed. Considering how ridiculously it was packed, it's probably damaged. If someone wants me to pay to return it, for a $10 compass, it's not worth it.