Brunton 8099 Eclipse Compass Reviews

• Not Worth the Money

  
  By AZ86XA8U86GGK on 2005-10-23
  I was dissapointed. Quality was poor overall. The cover was supposed to lock in various positions, but just flopped around helplessly. The indicator would only float freely when the base was held off-level. Lanyard interferes with cover action. I went out and bought a $15 cheapo that works better.
  
  It does work however and the instructions were OK. I expected a much better quality instrument for the money I paid.
  
  

• The good, the bad and the bubbly

  
  By A14J2XIP2HOQ38 on 2006-04-01
  I love compasses. I don't go anywhere without one. In my car, in my backpack, on a plane, If I'm going out...a compasses is going with me.
  
  I bought a Brunton 8099 a while back. I wasn't sure I liked the Brunton's circle in circle idea so I was hesitant to buy one. I finally decided to give it a shot and purchased one. After playing with the compass for an hour I decided I really liked it. I love the design of the compass although the rubber base gets in the way of opening up the entire top. But the 8099 has all the features you could want in a compass and then some. I liked it so much that I decided to buy a 2nd one a month later to have one in my camping stuff and one for local use.
  
  After having these compasses for a while now, I am very sad to say that I will not recommend it to anyone. There are two huge reasons why I cannot.
  
  1st. The circle in circle idea. On the surface it sounds great. And when you see it in action, as a quick once over, it comes across as great an innovation as Brunton pitches it. And there pitch is that it is more accurate then the line compasses. However, if really put to the test it doesn't hold up. Why? This is a bit hard to explain in words but if you go to your local outdoors supplier and check it out, hopefully you can see what I am trying to get at. If you look straight down on the compass and align the circles all is fine and dandy. However, if you view the compass by the mirror or from a large angle (yes I know the center line down the mirror is so you are not looking at it from a left and right angle but bare with me), the accuracy comes into question.
  
  To see this in action, place the compass on the edge of something solid and view the compass through the mirror set at the 45 degree position. Now if you change your view higher or lower you will see the circles start to appear misaligned. So of course your reaction is to turn the compass to align them. But if you were to look straight down at the compass you would see they are in fact not aligned now. And that viewing problem becomes more pronounced the closer to left and right the N and the blue circle are pointing. Just viewing the compass straight down and moving your head around a bit will show the same thing.
  
  When you are out in the field and holding it by hand, you cannot guarantee that you are going to hold the compass at the exact same eye level every single time when viewing through the mirror. So the question becomes how do you really know when the compass is reading true.
  
  So, the circle in circle sounds great, but it is flawed. I would prefer Brunton go back to the standard parallel lines. With the lines, even if you view the compass from an extreme angle, or the mirror isn't in the exact same position, you know when the compass is aligned right. How? Even if the needle doesn't `appear' to be centered with the guide lines, when viewing from an extreme angle, if the needle and the guide lines are parallel with other, then you know your compass is reading true.
  
  2nd. As I stated above I bought two of these. Both formed bubbles in them without going to any extreme temperature or elevation. I sent both back and paid the $5 per compass fee for repair. One of them has once again formed a bubble. I don't even plan to send it back for repair.
  
  I really really want to love these compasses. There is so much to them. But these two huge issues are keeping it down.
  
  
  

• every you neeed

  
  By A2MUCXGNYH6CL9 on 2007-01-19
  This compass tells all the information you need so you won't get lost.
  You want to know the lay of the land? This compass is all you need.
  Excellent instructions and just large enough so you don,t have to squint to see what you are looking at. Great compass!
  
  

• Buy a Silva Ranger

  
  By A1VGBBNI4D7Q5Q on 2007-12-20
  I'm on my 3rd Eclipse. No matter how you handle them, they develop big bubbles in the face. Sure, Brunton will replace the compass, but who wants to go to the trouble of that when you can have a Silva Ranger that lasts forever? As an archaeologist who uses compasses to map archaeological sites in the field, the Brunton is useless because the orientation lines are only on the margin of the compass face and, to top it off, are horribly distorted where they cross under the magnifying lens built into the baseplate. These would be life threatening problems if one were trying to navigate the backcountry with a topo map without GPS (and batteries die sometimes!). All of this is surprising since the Brunton Pocket Transit is a time-honored classic of archaeological fieldwork. I must say that, when you only need to get a quick bearing, the circle-over-circle gimmick is really cool. Too bad this overpriced compass is a waste of time. Buy a Silva.
  
  

• terrible

  
  By A3HDVD85XOCBWD on 2008-07-12
  POS.
  The stop detents won't hold the cover in place at the 45-degree angle. Its like wet spaghetti. Don't bite.
  
  

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