Suunto Compass MC-2

I teach day/night land navigation as a hobby. I use and recommend this feature rich compass to my students. The scales match USGS topo maps widely used in the U.S. If you are outside of this area, use a Suunto designed for maps in your area/hemisphere. There are many different Suunto MCs, so do your homework before you buy. Some reviews mentioned that the compass needle is not accurate. I am retired US Army Special Forces. I have used the Global version of this compass in many regions of the world with no major issues. One of the first statements I make to a class of students is “Land Navigation is not surveying”. Your compass should be accurate enough to orient your map to the world around you, then orient to local terrain features to find your general location on the map. It should assist you in keeping a general bearing as you move across terrain, day and night, in all weather. This compass will easily do all of those things. Land navigation accuracy is determined using other techniques such as using backstops, waypoints, hand railing and identifying terrain features. Prior route planning using the appropriate map is essential. If you don’t know understand these techniques, get some professional training. Regarding the included lanyard and declination adjustment tool. I do not hang any corded device around my neck that will not break if it could become entangled. This includes a compass. Loop the lanyard through a buttonhole on your shirt or coat. I replace the supplied lanyard with a much longer section of para cord and then loop it through a buttonhole on a shirt breast pocket. The compass comes out to take a bearing or orient a map, then goes back into the pocket. Anything attached to my person won’t be lost. My backup compass is the same. You do carry a backup, correct? The declination tool is taped to the cover. The knife point of a pocket knife will work if the tool is lost. Declination should be set during route planning and before one goes into the field anyway. By the way, the built-in magnifying glass is meant to read small objects on a topo map. Don’t rely on it for fire starting. It’s too weak to bet your life on. Other tools and techniques are appropriate for fire starting.

I love having well made, well designed tools. This one replaced an entry level Silva that I have used for 10 years. I could have purchased a comparable Silva instead of the Suunto, but for various reasons (price, instant gratification, etc.) I got the Suunto. I would have been happy with either. Their products are very similar in quality and features. I used the entry level one for off-road motorcycle adventures just to quickly verify position. With the mobility of a motorcycle, it wasn't all that important to be accurate. I had to stay on trails and I had the speed to make a few mistakes and quickly backtrack if needed. Now that I'm hiking fairly long distances (10-15 miles) instead of riding, often in the desert with no established trails at all, it is more important to know exactly where I am and how to get to where I need to be. Mistakes are more serious and difficult to correct. The MC-2 provides the accuracy I need in taking bearings. I navigate primarily with compass and map, and verify my position with GPS only after plotting it on my map. The results are rarely off by very much between the two techniques and the compass/map solution is safer and more reliable (no batteries, no high tech). I haven't found the inclinometer to be all that useful to me, but it is interesting sometimes. I occasionally use it to determine if I am higher or lower than some landmark in the distance. If you hold the inclinometer on edge, use the needle to get the top edge perfectly horizontal, then sight along the top edge, the point you are sighting on is exactly as high as you are. So, for example, if you are on a 5000' peak, you can sight other peaks in the distance and determine if they are higher or lower. Sometimes it is useful if you want to verify that you have correctly identified a peak that you are using for bearings. Additional data that can be used to cross-check my bearings is always welcomed. Quality product. A pleasure to use in the field.

Overall a nice product with lots of uses and made well, it is lightweight, a little thick but the trade off would be expense, and that to me would be more of my concern with it, it is fairly pricy for a compass, but in order of importance for me would be effectiveness, which this has in spades, then durability, followed by price then weight and lastly thickness, so I think this thing definitely has lived up to my expectations with my personal preferences. Plus the magnifying glass is a nice touch for aiding in seeing small print as well as an additional combustion device if needed.

Although trained in its use, I have it for backup navigation in case my electronics fail me for whatever reason. This is a very nice, feature rich compass. Although all of my exploration and adventuring is vehicle based, and better suited to electronic navigation, this compass will be used if I find myself on foot and needing to move. My life will probably depend on it, so I wasn't about to cheap out. I am satisfied it won't let me down.

I teach basic land navigation and map reading. In my opinion, this is the best compass on the market. Just make sure you get one with the scales you want to use.

I've had this for over a decade and am still happy. I expect this to be the only compass I need for hiking/skiing activities. I purchased this model in particular for its slope measuring capability for my avalanche level 1 class.

If you don’t want to rely on a GPS signal out in the rough country then this compass is the best you’ll find! It has everything an orienteering person could ask for.

Did a lot of research and this one meets my needs at the right price and weight. As some online research will tell you, the numbers are not printed into recesses in the plastic so will be vulnerable to wearing off. I intend to reduce this risk by treating it with care and minimising friction contact by keeping it in a soft, snug pouch when in my pack. Should get a good few years use I think.

It’s a great compass but I thought it would be the global version…MC-2G Global Compass like it said on Amazon and in the heading of this review! It’s not. It’s as shown in my photo; a MC-2USGS which I’m pretty darned sure is a northern hemisphere balanced unit…the “G” signifying global is missing from the model number embossed on the baseplate. If I’m wrong, I’d happily stand to be corrected. Since I don’t think I’ll be tramping through any South American rain forests anytime soon I’m not terribly concerned. It’s a fine piece of kit…just as good as my 20 year old Silva Ranger which still remains perfect. The only noticeable differences are the Suunto is of course newer, is a tiny bit bigger, has the sighting hole, has a luminous bezel and has the built-in magnifying glass. I’m going to carry both with the Silva stowed away as a back up. I’ve checked them both against each other and against a Garmin hand held GPS and they’re all spot on. I’m no kid so I prefer the old school baseplate/mirror devices and a map! I guess, since I paid more for what I thought was a global balanced compass, I’m a little soured on the transaction. As it stands, the compass is excellent…just not what I thought I’d ordered and paid for.

La meilleure boussole que je n ai jamais possédé ! J utilise des boussoles silva depuis 20 ans, je ne sais pas pourquoi c etait pour moi la marque de référence, depuis quelques années je trouve que la marque silva made in china ne tiens plus la route, j ai repris il y a quelques mois la expedition neo S qui fonctionne bien mais a des finitions vraiment mediocre (120 euros quand même !) et qui de plus ne possède pas le système globale (pour hémisphère nord et sud) je me suis alors penché sur cette version en G soit (global) l aiguille fonctionne sur toute la planète. Alors déjà la finition suunto ... Merveilleux ! Mais la différence de qualité est vraiment flagrante, on a un objet très bien fini avec aucun jeu, les graduations de pente sont géniales, le boitier est solide et léger... Je ne repasserais jamais chez silva et resterais chez suunto désormais. Je recommande les yeux fermés super produit !

Not in a shiny blister pack..! But at least, it points to north 🤔 (tested on several locations)...

Wygląda OK, jakość lepsza niż silva neo s. Zastanawiam sie tylko dlaczego igła jest z plastiku? Na zdjęciach jest raz plastikowa a raz metalowa..... I za tę rozbieżność minus jedna gwiazdka. Sam kompas działa ok. Zakup naprawdę szybki 24h.