Boy Scout Sighting Compass - Adjustable Declination Mirror, Compass Base Plate, Orienteering & Hiking Navigation - Military Grade, Backpacking & Camping Tool

This is a perfectly good $10 compass, accurate and better quality than most.I cannot understand why other reviewers complain about the declination adjustment, which is accomplished with a tiny screw on the bezel in the NE position, and a matching metal shim is provided that functions as a screwdriver. In my accompanying photo, the compass can be seen set for 14°W declination, which is correct for my area; that is, the red outline arrow (not the magnetic needle) Is aligned pointing to the 14°W position on the inner chapter.The declination adjustment screw is not a set-screw that is loosened to free something else, but is a worm screw that actually adjusts the declination: turning it one way moves the declination to the west while turning it the opposite way moves the declination to the east. Once set, the declination remains stable, which is what the vast majority of users want if they tend to stay in more or less the same area. Frankly, if you travel enough where you need to keep changing the declination, you should be spending a lot more than $10 on your compass.In normal use, the bezel is set to the desired bearing relative to true north, and the entire compass (and its user) are rotated to bring the red half of the magnetic needle into the red outline arrow, commonly described by the mnemonic "red in the shed." I didn't do that in the photo in order to give better visibility of the red outline arrow relative to the declination scale; in my photo, the bezel is set for a bearing of 130°, slightly east of southeast.The description is clearly wrong in that my compass has a 1:24,000 scale rather than 1:25,000 scale. Note that in the US it is far more useful to have a 1:24,000 scale to agree with the standard US Geological Survey 7.5-minute quad maps.The compass has an inclinometer, not mentioned anywhere in the description, but that's the tiny red arrow mounted on a freely rotating clear plastic wiper (pointing to SE in my photo), intended to point downward if the compass is held vertically and the baseplate edge is aligned with the horizon. One could in theory use it as a very crude sextant if truly desperate.You will definitely get your $10 worth.

I've always used a Lansatic type Compass, since Boy Scouts and also in the service (USAF - Vietnam 70 -72), but I've always been curious about these "Sighting" type compasses. I still have my USAF Military Lansatic compass, I just bought a new one with more features, but I also bought this one to learn and experiment. I still do a fair amount of backpacking hunting trips (5 t0 7 days) into the wilderness, even at 73 years old, I plan to give this Sighting compass a comparative try. I really like the quality on build and the floating compass is very high quality, as is the mirror. So far I think it's more than worth the price as advertised.

The compass seems to be good and accurate. Works well when tilted, adjustable declination and it does seem to have a global needle (even though I am not a big expert to tell that for sure). Issues - poor quality of the mirror and the bezel does not move as smooth as on the more expensive products. Overall - good value for the money.

Waay cheaper than a Silva Ranger with exactly the same features!! I'm gonna buy a second one, for that price you cannot beat it

The media could not be loaded. Feels quality enough for the price. Has a declination adjustment. No good place for the key used to adjust but you can just tape it on there like I did. The bezel felt a bit stiff at first but just give it a few good turns and it’ll be good. Overall good choice if you need a compass.

The tool is so large it tends to chew up the screw. A clockwise turn advances towards West Declension. Haven't used it yet but it seems fine and pretty sturdy. Great deal if your not involved in life or death compassing.

I own a number of compasses, and was looking for a mirror sighted compass as a back up compass. This one was inexpensive enough for the my needs. I appears to be well made, though it came with no directions whatsoever, and for a while, I couldn't figure out how to make the Declination adjustments. The Adjustment key stuck into the inside of the box it came with , and therefore without directions, I had no idea how to make the adjustments. Even with the key, I had to play around with it for quite a while before I figured out how to adjust it.The compass adjusts accurately, and it appears to be accurate as to where North is. And as a bonus, there were no bubbles in the housing.Declination is very hard to set, in the sense that the arrow covers up Zero Degrees. So You have to use a large magnification magnifying glass to get an accurate adjustment.The adjustment key is very hard to hold onto making adjustments very difficult if You have larger hands.The adjustment key was separate from the cord. Usually, they are attached to the cord at the factory. Because there were absolutely no directions, and no information on adjusting the compass, and because the key was stuck in the small cardboard box, I assumed that there was no adjustment key, and went on the factory website and looked for information. There was nothing on the website. I attempted to send an email to the website, but the email would not go through.So if You are planning on purchasing this product, there will be no support.Since I own other compasses, and good quality ones, I would just as soon purchase a Silva or a Suunto up front, and just be done with it. Or, if You want a decent quality compass just as a backup, or want to learn on, You can always purchase a small hand compass like the smaller Brunton Baseplate compasses which have a very easy declination adjustment which is very accurate. However, they are not mirror sighted compasses. though for me, I prefer the standard baseplate compasses.