Hand Bearing Compass Recommendations?

[camaraderie]

Pelorus...isn't that some kind of dinasour. (G)

[tommyt]

I have one of the cheap Davis handhelds on board and it is a piece of crap. Someone dropped it (yes, things do get dropped on board) and one of the plastic sights broke off. Now a tool for kids to play with! I would go with something that will do the job AND take a beating.

If you have not already covered your binocular buy you can also get a set with a built in compass and cover both bases at once. I find a set one of the most used tools onboard.

[Giulietta]

I (sigh) agree with SD, on this one and recommend the Plastimo one.

To me its one of the best as you don't need glasses to look at, aproach it from your eye, aim, look thru magnifying glass built in. Submersible, water proof, shock proof, child proof get some velco and store it on the wall. Even comes with a string to attach it around the neck. And come in many colours.

Simple light efficient. And no you don't need glasses to see it and if you're short sighted works the same...where did you get that idea??

[sailaway21]

Good post, Robert. I'd say you summed things up well. i'd throw ya some rep points but, apparently the system is not designed to reward people who know what they're talking about-won't let me do it.

A rarely found device, used on merchant ships, is the alidade. It substitutes for the bearing circle on the gyro repeater and has a telescope and an adjustable prism. It will bring that distant lighthouse up close as well as allow you to take an azimuth on a dim star. I liked them as a young man, when everybody else said they were for the old guys with bad eyes, now that I'm an old guy....

[SEMIJim]

Originally Posted by Giulietta

I (sigh) agree with SD, on this one and recommend the Plastimo one.

Very well.

Originally Posted by Giulietta

To me its one of the best as you don't need glasses to look at, aproach it from your eye, aim, look thru magnifying glass built in.

Ah, so you don't need to hold it right up to your eye to read it?

Originally Posted by Giulietta

Simple light efficient. And no you don't need glasses to see it and if you're short sighted works the same...where did you get that idea??

Well, "short-sighted" means being able to see well close up. I'm more like "medium-sighted" (probably from too many years looking at a computer screen over an arm's length away, and watching TV). I can see well at distances from about 1 meter, out to about... say somewhere around... 10 meters or so? For longer distances a mild corrective lense sharpens things up significantly. Under 1 meter or so, maybe 600cm, I need reading glasses. (As in: It's all a blur.)

As to where I got the idea that it had to be read close up: http://www.plastimousa.com/compass_iris.htm

Jim

[Valiente]

I have the crappy Davis one, as yet undropped, but I got this recently:
http://www.suunto.com/suunto/main/pr...=1185143044422


It has a recording barometer that I use frequently, and a bearing compass that I have to use by eye because it needs to be at least 1.5 meters off my steel deck to work! However, by using other methods to compare, like "parking" off a known nav aid and comparing the angles on a paper chart, it appears that I can get within two to four degrees of accuracy, which is fine if it keeps me from having to go down into the pilothouse to check the more "official" binnacle compass and fluxgate.

Besides, if I have to take to a liferaft, it's already attached!

[sailingdog]

Jim-

It really depends on how far "medium" is... I'm nearsighted and have no problems with it...

[SEMIJim]

Originally Posted by sailingdog

Jim-

It really depends on how far "medium" is... I'm nearsighted and have no problems with it...

Well, for reference: I have to hold Boater's Bowditch 17" (43cm) away to read its print clearly. It starts to blur, moved any closer. At half the distance it's probably unreadable for me.

Jim

[BarryL]

Hello,

I have a hand bearing compass. I bought it in 2003 when I bought my first sailboat. I used it once then, and since then it has sat on the boat collecting dust.

I do my navigation / piloting with a GPS and my eye balls. Honestly, for the type of sailing I do (day sails, weekend and some longer, trips in the Long Island Sound) even GPS is overkill. I'm never more than 8 miles from shore, there are lots of bouys and other nav aids. You don't need a hand bearing compass when you can sail 200 yards from a bouy, and confirm that you are where you think you are on the chart.

I have two GPS's on board, a 5" color unit that runs off the ships electrical system, and a Garmin hand held that uses batteries. The GPS confirms that I am headed in the direction I want to go. If I am going somwhere, I will record my position on the chart with a pencil, including course, speed, and time.

How many of you actually USE your hand bearing compass today?

Barry

[camaraderie]

Oh-Oh Barry....now you've gone and done it!! (G)