Suunto Orca Mulitpurpose Compass - 2006 BCS

The visibility of this compass, even from a foot away is really good. It hooks nicely onto the kayak straps. The only problem is there's a hazy line around the bottom of the glass and if the compass is at the wrong angle, you can't read the numbers. It's a bit pricey, but the quality is there. Solid materials.

I bought the Suunto Orca to use on my canoe after experiencing the excitement of trying to find the correct, non-dead-end waterway (out of a selection of like 5) to paddle down while trying to avoid powerboat wakes, avoiding snags, with darkness impending, yadda yadda yadda...all while trying to keep my handheld compass pointed the right direction and take a bearing off it.

Having a compass attached to the yoke of my canoe, suddenly seemed like a bonny idea.

The Orca is a great solution. It's very well damped - much more stable than a handheld compass. Your direction is clear and easy to read. The straps can be adjusted. I shortened mine up a bit, so I can just wrap them around the yoke and clip them to one another.

The only part where I felt slightly misled in the advertising was with regards to the "luminous capsule," which I had hoped meant "self-luminous tritium capsule." It really meant, "we molded the dial out of glow-in-the-dark plastic, so you'd better have a good headlamp, you ninny."

Still, for 40 bucks, it's a very worthy investment. If you lose your visual landmarks, or don't know which one is which, you'll be very happy you bought it.

I like the Orca compass just fine, fits the cowl of my Current Designs Sea kayak, as well as all six of my other boats. Being caught in sudden whiteout fog in the middle Lake Michigan's Sturgeon Bay with no visible landmarks, I was inspired to go for the Suunto Orca compass. It is easily read while paddling, no fumbling for a tiny compass dangling from my PFD. As it was, we were thankful for the little survival compass/whistle that is always attached to my PFD. I made a spray deck that attaches with Velcro for my 15 ft Ocean Kayaks fishing Prowler's open cockpit, and have sewn in loops backed up with a spar for the compass also. It will see action on Northern Lake Huron this weekend, kayak camping on some Potagannissing Bay islands. Lessons learned about unexpected fog, even at age 65, I never go for any lengthy distance without the Orca.

Completely assembled. Well constructed. Easy to read. Multiple ways to mount. A well thought out instrument.