Lighted Compass

Advice
#1

For night navigation I am looking for a good battery powered, waterproof, lighted compass.



Any ideas?



Thanks much, neo from SC

#2

Bushnell
Bushnell makes a digital compass but I would think this would be based on GPS technology.



Any thoughs?

#3

I only know one
brunton (or nexus) 70 une. does not sit flush but you can buy multiple brackets and use one compass for all boats.



Some folks use red glowsticks (the mini ones please). I’ve heard of some folks who make holders to clip them near the compass. NIce. The you could make a holder to bolt under a nesus 70P, and then have a little clip in it to hold the lightstick. That would be a look to match your qcc. Also a red filter on a good waterproof flashlight would work fine.

#4

Silva
I have found a real lighted compass that looks ideal for Kayaks:

http://www.silva.se/marine/prod_com/mul_70une.htm



Cannot seem to find it in the US. Ideas?

#5

Plastimo Iris 100 compass
I found another. This is sold in the US and uses a standard AAA batery.

#6

70 UNE vs Plastimo
Here is one site for the Plastimo:



http://www.marisafe.com/store/viewItem.asp?ID=202010060&CID=20202000#



I wonder which is better? Anyone have any experience?

#7

If you search the terms I gave you

– Last Updated: Jun-02-04 10:51 PM EST –

you will find plenty. Does the "70 une" term look familiar. Nexus brought silva, brunton bought nexus and there are couple of bankruptcies in there somewhere. I think they still go by the name silva in sweden and some markets where it still has value.


thanks for pointing out the marisafe unit. Though it's big (windage counts when you are on the ocean) it looks very high quality. I've e-mail them about waaterproofness in surf and other stressful places. I will post answer.


Use us well

#8

Plastimo
After going through all of Google I think I will get the Plastimo. It uses a standard AAA battery.



It is removable so only the mount stays in place unless being used.



It seems to be the most popular.



neo

#9

popular with who
I’ve never seen one on a kayak. Never heard of one on any paddling board before. Aside fron the windage and vulnerability of sitting pretty high up off the deck it does look really nice.

#10

Windage
The compass has a small bracket. This has little windage. You only mount the compass when you want to use it.



I could not find this topic in archieves so should be good for reference.



Here are some nice pictures on a sailboat:



http://www.catalina25-250.org/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=4392





neo from SC

#11

What’s the point of having a compass…
…if you’re not going to keep it on the boat all the time. It’s a basic navigational tool. I wouldn’t be without one.

#12

For Night Use Only
The QCC 700x which I have placed a tenative order on has an optional compass in the front hatch which I ordered. It will be great during the day. This lighted compass combined with GPS is for night navigation.

#13

plastimo lighting not waterproof!
so it’s not for me. brunton 70 un or une with if I need a lighted compass. got e-mail fron the factory.

#14

Flux Gate compasses are digital
and sense the earth’s magnetic field. They use more power than a simple light. Buy a compass with a light or wire an LED to a battery. Seal it in a ziplock bag and tape it over the dome of your compass.

#15

Esteemed bnystrom
sometimes I wish I had gotten three brackets and one 70 un. About 150 bucks less than the three 70p’s that I own, but would look nowhere near as cool. If I needed to have two of my fleet in the water I have an orca sitting about.

#16

NIce Idea!
A photon 2 sealed up in the latest version of a seal-a-meal bag would probably be pretty good. Now to see if the mini light affects the compass!

#17

A simple inexpensive solution
Rather than getting a second compass, simply tape a glow stick the the deck right in front of the existing compass when you paddle at night. Either that or use a headlamp to read it. You’re required by law to have a directional light anyway, so the headlamp can serve both purposes.

#18

Current and untwisted wires affect
magnetic compasses. An LED pulls very little current and twisting the lead wires will cancel their electromagnetic field.

#19

Orca compass
I’m using a orca compass with a princeton led mini light that has a red light in it. It clips under the compass so that it still fits flat against the deck. The compass glows red when the light is on so night vision is not affected.



The light is waterproof and runs off of batteries. This setup works great for me. I already had the compass so just the cost of the light around $20.00 and no modifications!