Clipper

I had so many compasses by now, I stopped counting. Yes, I never go outdoors without one. Yes, I rarely use them. So why do I always carry one - learned the hard way. Many years ago I got so lost among rolling hills deep in a Canadian forrest that if I did not have my latest Silva with me (which I put in the poket as a joke) I would likely not be writing this now. With this purchase I got the Sun Company MiniComp II and the SUUNTO Clipper Compass. Why? A momentary lapse of reason. They look so cute and the price allowed me to satisfy my curiosity I love them both, so I will keep them. Quality is top! Both are liquid filled (important). Can they be used for actual navigation - absolutely! They look like toys but are not. They are accurate and have everything needed to navigate. I am fluent in operating a compass and the tiny size is, in my case, an advantage. If you never operated a compass these might confuse you (depends). I do like the Sun a bit better. The bezel is easier to rotate. The longer base makes it very intuitive to use, like a Compass Bonsai :) I really love the free floating design. There is no needle to bang against on long hikes or motorcycle rides. It is a serious tool that takes itself not too seriously. The SUUNTO is very nice too! But the bezel is unnecessarily tight. The lack of “body” makes it a bit less intuitive. However it can be clipped to a wrist band, where the Sun cannot do this. It is a serious tool that takes itself too seriously. Yes, there is a needle, but it is in liquid, so from a functional and longevity stand point - needle or free floating - we are splitting hairs here. So - bottom line, I can now carry both discretely, have fun, and the kids will not roll their eyes … Ah … the compass … again :)

Verified Purchase | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Let’s be honest: I am a full-grown, large human being. When this package arrived, I thought Amazon had accidentally shipped me a toy from a LEGO explorer set. This thing is *tiny*. It’s about the size of a postage stamp and weighs less than a single potato chip. I half expected a tiny plastic Indiana Jones to come with it. But don't let its cute, "I belong on a keychain for ants" appearance fool you. This little clipper is a absolute tank. I clipped it to my watch band, and it immediately went to work. It doesn't need batteries, it doesn't need a software update, and it doesn't care that I have zero cell service. While my expensive smart watch is busy telling me I haven't stood up enough today, this tiny piece of plastic is calmly pointing out that I am currently walking in the exact opposite direction of my truck. The Pros: Weightless:You will forget it’s there until you actually need it to survive. The Clip: It grips onto a watch strap or backpack webbing like a caffeinated crab. It’s not falling off. Luminescent:It glows in the dark just enough for you to see exactly how lost you are at 2:00 AM. The Cons: It is so small that if you drop it in the autumn leaves, you aren't finding the compass—you're going to need a second, slightly larger compass to locate the first compass. If you have a habit of wandering off the trail because a cool rock caught your eye, just buy it. It clips out of the way, does one job, and does it perfectly. 10/10, would avoid wandering aimlessly into the wilderness again.

I learned orienteering in the days prior to GPS, tested on the water and in the wilderness. I learned on a simple transparent orienteering compass, using the Silva 1-2-3 method, used by scouts, and orienteering competitors alike back in the day. You lay the compass down on your map, pictured is getting the bearing, say you are in LA, looking to go to Las Vegas as the crow flys. In this example, its 48 degrees, NE that I got from the map - (I'm ignoring the slight magnetic offset from true north just to keep this simple). To navigate simple hold the orienteering compass in your hand and put the red dial on "N" and look at the "read bearing" arrow to a far away point on the horizon, or a tree/rock if you are on a lake or something. follow that, repeat and if you were going the long distance from LA to Las Vegas, you'd be headed in the right direction as the crow flys. That's what a bezel is for. The thing is, this is not a transparent compass easy to lay down on a map, it's very small, so even if it was, it would be tough to get a accurate angle/bearing. After I've used for year, the compass falls out of the bezel many times - so I just gorilla glue it into the bezel, making it unmovable, and the compass never falls out. I think the bezel is a toy. So, why do I even have it? If I was doing the drive from LA to las vegas, it's not as the crow flys, I just want to know to go NE on a road to get there. Even with GPS, if I plan a new route, until the car moves, it's very handy to know quickly which way is north so I know which way to turn every now and then. It is accurate in that its worked on a commercial flight (as a passenger). it's a great simple backup to a gps, or real compass, but, forget the bezel, it's a gimmick imo. It does glow in the dark and orients fast and accurately, I love having it for what it simply does well. Glueing the bezel down makes it reliable....

Small. Good quality. It stays where you put it. I ride motorcycles. I don’t like relying solely on electronic devices for navigation.

Compass fell out of housing during very light daily use. I reached out to suunto customer service. They said the item was not covered under warranty because it was lost. Yet half the item was still intact and not lost. All customer service did was offer me a $3 discount through their website which still added up to more money than I originally paid for it. I’ve owned several of these mini clippers in the past. I will not get more and cannot recommend anyone purchase these items. A compass that falls out of the base/housing does you no good in the field of navigation. What a shame.

First one was lost in the washing machine as it took on mysterious amount of water. Great compact compass to have hitched on the strap of your backpack and ready to function as needed while out in the outdoors. Accuracy is really good, not as great as the upper tier units, but more than enough for you to find your footing at local State Parks and what not.

This great for clipping to a map but not much else due to the clip being so narrow. I planned on clipping this to my watch band but since the clip is too narrow to allow the clasping edge to fully extend over the band it causes the compass to sit lop-sided with the 2 pointy edges digging into my skin. I then tried to attach it to the strap on my backpack, but again, the clip is too narrow to allow the clasp to reach the other side of the backpack strap. This causes the compass to easily fall off. This is a great concept with many uses but in its current form the only kind of strap it could secure to would be something as thin as a women's watch band. I am returning this but would buy again if the clip was wide enough to securely hold onto a mens watch band or backpack strap.

This Suunto Clipper is exactly what I needed. It fits perfectly on my Luminox watch with a solid gold. I compared it to the compass on my iPhone and it’s perfect.

Comes in professional packaging. Yet to use but seems fabulous

Kompas po jakimś czasie się odkleja od obudowy. Miałem dwa i dwa razy to samo 🤪

It's pricey for the weak/brittle plastic attachment point. Which BTW if broken you have no other way to attach the the compass to anything. The Compass part is on point. Good quality, what you would expect from Sunto. As well the bearing indicator dial is stiff as you would want. I used it on a week trip to Spain. It worked well in unfamiliar city's and mountain hikes.

Great piece of kit, sits well on my watchband and is well usable in dark as well. What i did not understand (or notice) from the description - L/B is for those who wear watch on the left hand - luckily I'm just that person. Tested precision against 2 other, larger compasses and seems it's accurate to about 5 degrees - reasonable for the size of it in my opinion. Check youtube for some great instructional videos how to navigate with this.