What is it for?

[FirstBubba]

It's pretty simple "what" it is, the question is; "what is it for"?





Is anybody out there familiar with or used one?

[dewman]

Hard to see on my phone FB but I believe your compass is set up to calculate true distance(elevation, dip, slope etc). Think trigonometry. Might be to figure longitude/latitude (poor man gps) in degrees but I don't think so.

[PigHunter]

Brunton ComPro Pocket Transit Compass (0-90°) F-5007 B&H (bhphotovideo.com)

User Manuals – Brunton

The ComPro Pocket Transit Compass (0-90°) from Brunton is a specially engineered analog navigation device built to resist magnetic interference and deliver accurate readings. This configuration of the Transit series uses a round rare-earth magnet to resist demagnetization and align with magnetic north better than other magnetic materials. The needle's reduced center of gravity is designed to minimize needle dip when used near Earth's magnetic poles. The molded composite compass housing is silicone sealed for waterproof performance, and is compatible with Brunton's ball and socket tripod mount. Brunton Outdoor Group has been designing and manufacturing compasses since their establishment in 1894; whether you are a bird watcher, hunter, or hiker, Brunton has been making gear for nature enthusiasts like you for over a century.

[fitch270]

Agree with dewman, looks like a bubble level for both direction and elevation. I’d guess it’s a compass a surveyor might have used.

[PigHunter]

[FirstBubba]

As I understand it, it's a "mapping" compass.
So yeah fitch270, it's something a surveyor (engineer?) might use.

[MattM37]

Bubba, just curious, did you see that at an outdoorsmans' show, or in a store, or have it given to you?

My brothers both had compasses like that from the Army and Marines, don't really recall much but I used to play around with them. I don't believe they were that complex, though.

[jhjimbo]

I could not listen - she has the worst voice on U tube.

[FirstBubba]

Bubba, just curious, did you see that at an outdoorsmans' show, or in a store, or have it given to you?

My brothers both had compasses like that from the Army and Marines, don't really recall much but I used to play around with them. I don't believe they were that complex, though.

It was a "find". It was left in an abandoned office. The clean up lady gave it to me.

[Milldawg]

Trust me they don’t give marines anything that complicated!

[Milldawg]

Bubba, just curious, did you see that at an outdoorsmans' show, or in a store, or have it given to you?

My brothers both had compasses like that from the Army and Marines, don't really recall much but I used to play around with them. I don't believe they were that complex, though.

They had a lenstatic compass I may have spelled that incorrectly but I’m an old jar head. Like I said before they don’t marines anything that fancy. You forget we destroy everything.

[DakotaMan]

Without googling it I would have said "A really good compass".

There is still value in having such a really good compass once you learn how to use it. I have been navigating by GPS a lot since about the late 1980s but where you can't get a GPS signal or the overhead structure obscures your satellite signal, this compass would help. One example is in the Rocky Mountain wilderness where dense overhead forest cover blocks satellites or where your cell phone gets no communication signal. In a locale like that, I always carry a compass (not one that good) and have used it to find my way back to camp several times. In many wilderness locales, cell signals just don't exist for apps like maps and navigation.

[FirstBubba]

Without googling it I would have said "A really good compass".

There is still value in having such a really good compass once you learn how to use it. I have been navigating by GPS a lot since about the late 1980s but where you can't get a GPS signal or the overhead structure obscures your satellite signal, this compass would help. One example is in the Rocky Mountain wilderness where dense overhead forest cover blocks satellites or where your cell phone gets no communication signal. In a locale like that, I always carry a compass (not one that good) and have used it to find my way back to camp several times. In many wilderness locales, cell signals just don't exist for apps like maps and navigation.

Last time I went to Kodiak fishing, the guide headed out to a GPS location on his boat. There was NO signal. When I asked how far out we were, he just smiled and said, "You're in international waters!" and laughed. We were like +/-20 miles off shore. The rock fish bite was fantastic. That is the only time I've been out of sight of land when fishing Kodiak.
Here in south Texas, there are two spots we frequent where there is no cell phone signal.

[DakotaMan]

For several years off of Jacksonville, I fished at around 50 miles at least once a week. I never lost GPS as satellites are all over that part of the world. Cell towers lose signal quickly there so I depended on my VHS radio, a tall antennae and neighboring vessels when out that far. If was funny, when I moved from there to Atlanta, it took me three months to get over waking in the middle of the night and jumping for a rod with a squealing drag. I had great fishing dreams and was accustomed to taking naps on the boat. My wife was elated when I finally acclimated to dry land.

[DakotaMan]

About a decade ago, I went hunting with a novice buddy. We were hunting in the middle of about 25 miles of solid and heavy timber. When we started, I asked if he had a compass and he didn't so I gave him one. I told him that if he got lost there was a fence about a mile east of us. That would lead him to a big fire trail a couple miles south of us. Following the fire trail east would lead him to our truck. He looked doubtful but sure enough, he got lost. I found him walking down the fence line and he was most thankful for the compass. He said he had already used it several times to alert him to the fact that he was walking in circles as he hunted.