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| Average Rating: 4 out of 5
No. of Reviews: 2
RRP: £14
Year: 2001 Description: Wrist-ighting Compass
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|  | | Posted: 13/07/01 | | 'Cheap and efficient' | | Strengths:
Sturdy, light, waterproof,unobtrusive, effective | | Weaknesses:
Not designed for precise land navigation, cheesy wrist strap | | Overall:
When you pull it out of the box, the M-9 doesn't look like much with its plastic case and cheesy velcro wrist strap (admittedly, the strap does its job). But it's actually a very good outdoors compass.
Designed to be worn on the wrist, the M-9's compass can be read from above or through a small sighting window, allowing more accurate bearings to landmarks. It's only marked in 5-degree increments, but is sufficiently accurate for basic land nav and things like coastal navigation, ocean kayaking, etc. The M-9 has large luminous surfaces to enable easy reading at night after being charged with a light source, and is more rugged than you think - it's a favorite of U.S. paratroopers for getting their bearings for the dash to cover immediately after landing in the jump zone. |
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| | | | Performance | | 60% | | Reliability | | 80% | | Value | | 80% |
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| | | Posted: 26/03/04 | | 'DESIGNED BY A GENIUS FOR PRACTICAL COMPASS WORK' | | Strengths:
simple sighting compass; offset lubber line facility; very, very usable | | Weaknesses:
inappropriate strap; can make yr eyes water; sticky card | | Overall:
By simply bevelling the card rim, the M-9 can be read from the side or above, thus doing away with the need for a prism. Genius.
The strap is a small 'arno' strap, and eminently 're-cyclable' for other uses. I replaced it with an old 'animal' type watch strap.
The instructions are fine but miss out the lubber line offset facility. Briefly, with the desired bearing under the tail of the lubber line arrow, the arrow points along the line of march. Holding the wrist across the body in a natural position and turning the capsule so the arrow points straight ahead allows one to walk directly on that bearing to within a ±1 metre in 50 metres. The arrow may be set to the natural position of the left or right arm when walking, running, cycling, horse-riding, etc. Brilliant.
All card compasses stick and the M-9 is no exception. In the sighting mode, good practice is a quick swing either side to check the card is free before taking or making the bearing. At waist level, it moves about 5° either side when walking, ie, within the bounds of the lubber line arrow's tail. For older eyes, the effort of accommodation required when sighting may be considerable.
Mechanically, the pivot comes with a 5-year guarantee and the compass is light and is probably strong for its weight. Graduations are every 5° and it is quite capable of being used within this level of accuracy. Damping is effective but not obtrusive.
Natural competitors are the Silva Type 54 (three times the price and with a stickier card) and a wide range of yachtsmen's bearing compasses at the price of the Silva. It just needs a protractor (free from me), to beat all of these into a cocked hat for practical walking purposes. Pity about the strap
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| | | | Performance | | 100% | | Reliability | | 80% | | Value | | 60% |
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