Brunton 8099 Eclipse Compass Review

I'm on my 3rd Eclipse. No matter how you handle them, they develop big bubbles in the face. Sure, Brunton will replace the compass, but who wants to go to the trouble of that when you can have a Silva Ranger that lasts forever? As an archaeologist who uses compasses to map archaeological sites in the field, the Brunton is useless because the orientation lines are only on the margin of the compass face and, to top it off, are horribly distorted where they cross under the magnifying lens built into the baseplate. These would be life threatening problems if one were trying to navigate the backcountry with a topo map without GPS (and batteries die sometimes!). All of this is surprising since the Brunton Pocket Transit is a time-honored classic of archaeological fieldwork. I must say that, when you only need to get a quick bearing, the circle-over-circle gimmick is really cool. Too bad this overpriced compass is a waste of time. Buy a Silva.

Buy it here now!