Brunton - TruArc 20 - Compass

This is an excellent compass that seems well constructed and durable, with a boat load of features, it's made in the USA, and it holds a limited lifetime warranty (it sounds like as long as you don't abuse it or misuse it they'll fix or replace your compass for life). It's easy to use in sighting an azimuth. All of the features you'd need for maintaining a bearing are accessible with the rubber protective boot on, and the remainder of the features are accessed simply enough by simply taking the rubber boot off for map work, etc. It comes with two map reading cards, one in metric, one in imperial with various map scales in both UTM and standard miles. One of the features that I didn't know about when I bought it is that there are actually two clinometers. The first is simply a scale on the compass lid hinge that you line up the baseplate level then line up the grey body with your angle to be measured and read the angle on the side. The second, which I find more useful, uses the sighting mirror, declination scale (which goes to 90* in both directions) and a gravity seeking arrow (I supposed the correct term is a plumb). You set the compass to 270* west, turn it 90* on its side, and sight through the window while reading the angle in the mirror. Overall the compass works very well, and I would suggest it to anyone looking for a good compass.I would like to point out a few misnomers that I feel have led to many of the negative reviews.Firstly, the tool less declination adjustment (for those who don't know: declination is the measurement of difference between magnetic north as detected by the compass needle and true north as expressed on a map, this angle is given in degrees east or west depending on where you are). Is the tool less declination difficult to adjust? A little, but I'm pretty sure this is by design, so your declination doesn't change while you're using the compass to not get lost. Having your declination suddenly change while you're trying to keep a bearing could turn out disastrous, even deadly. Is tool less declination needed? Not really. Unless you're hiking all over the place, you'll likely set your declination once and leave it alone. I believe that most people are having a tremendously difficult time setting the declination because they're doing it wrong. Brunton's instructions are a little on the annoying side and difficult to understand, especially since the instructions that come with it, while technically for all of their compasses, shows pictures of the tru arc 5. While the instructions all basically apply the same, this could cause more than a little confusion. To make the adjustment easy, you first have to understand that there are four parts just to the inner circle of the compass (5 including the baseplate): the black knurled ring, the outer white 360 degree marked compass face, the white inner face with declination measurements, and the clear center capsule that holds the needle and declination measurements. To adjust the declination, you have to grip the clear center part, precisely under and on top of the needle, this is the part that's going to spin and make the adjustment; NOT the white ring with the declination measurements. I then find it easiest to grip the black knurled ring and while pinching firmly on the clear part with my right hand, adjust the black ring to rotate the declination adjustment. It's a little finicky, but I have no problem adjusting the measurement in under 5 seconds.The second issue I have read negative reviews about is something to the effect of "I can't use the compass for map reading with the rubber boot is tied to the lanyard, but if it's not tied to the lanyard I'll lose it" type complaint. At risk of sounding like a jerk, there is a simple solution. These folks complain about poor design, where I say it's entirely user error. You have to be 2% smarter than the compass. If you look at my pictures, I solved this problem pretty easily. I tied the lanyard to the compass with a larks head knot, then simply threaded the lanyard through the hole in the rubber boot. To keep the boot from falling off, I then slid the cord lock onto the lanyard, and just as an extra safety precaution, I tied a knot at the end of the lanyards. Now, when the boot is on, the lanyard just goes right through the boot and works great, and when you need to take the boot off to do map work, simply let it hang on the lanyard.The last issue I recall reading about is the compass needle "bottoming out" or pointing down. This is how the needle is designed. It's designed to work anywhere in the world at most angles. As an example of how this isn't an issue, my compass is currently sitting on my desk. On the underside of my desk are metal drawer guides which are attracting the compass needle. The needle is completely bottomed out pointing out the metal, but if I move my compass the needle still rotates freely, pointing to the metal. As soon as I remove it from the false magnetic field (just as if you were near an ore deposit while hiking which might give you a false north reading), it returns to pointing north.

This is a pretty good compromise. Maybe I was more lucky than most - quality control is a challenge everywhere - especially since the sixties. My TruArc20 arrived with all parts and a general instruction page for this group of compasses, not just the one I bought. I was able to find what I needed to know and how to adjust and position of all relevant parts to perform all advertised features and function - EXCEPT... the bullseye bubble level was glued into the base quite indifferently. I am sixty and I could see that it was way off just looking at it from the side. It also came right off with the pliers from a multitool. A new dab of glue and a known reference table and I was able to get it in there correctly.It is light in weight, so it won't be bulletproof. It all comes apart into plastic components so drying it out after a dunking in muddy water will be easy, and you WILL want to be sure that any grit is washed out from the several moving parts so operation remains easy. The sighting mirror is a bit small for signaling but easily moves 180 degrees to an open face position for maybe getting grit out of your eye. There is a detent provided to assist with holding the mirror in the "Sighting" position. Again, keep way from grit or clean it before it becomes damaged. The provided neck lanyard will help keep the compass protected and available inside your shirt, tunic, coat or poncho. It is a bit on the large size but that works better for older eyes.I keep mine stored in a 21oz storage tin by Heygidday that holds 2 altoidish tins for basic first aid and tinder, a sub 4" stainless folding knife, ferrocerium piece, and disposable lighter with room for the compass instruction sheet and space left over for other clever bits to be named later. Functional, educational, versatile... a book or reading online about advanced uses and how inclinometers are used is advised.Feb 2020 more thoughts. Increasing my star rating...I know what magnetic declination is. I knew what value I wanted to set the compass to. When I worked the bottom plastic cover off and pulled much too hard - the capsule popped out of the frame. So I popped it back in with the value I needed to set it to.Knowing where and what Polaris is is hand for checking the accuracy of any compass. Mine passed this test when new as a quality control test. Do you know why, or where to find out?These low rating reviews are to do with not doing the necessary reading about compass basics. It is not the tool, it is the user. In a bad situation this could be a Darwinian pass/fail test with permanent consequences.A person might drop, loose, or be deprived of any tool. What is in your head, knowledge, training, and experience, is never lost until you loose your mind (panic never helps). Your mind is the most important tool!There is no perfect product for all application and all users.If it is made by man, it will fail. Therefore you need at least one backup.I have continued to read and inquire about other uses for this, and many other compasses.Using this compass as an improvised sextant, much less accurate than a real sextant, is possible if you know what a sextant is, what is does, and more that just a little about the sky over your head.The knife on my belt, scrap-metal on the ground, metal in buildings around me, the car or truck I am standing near to, an iron concentration in the local area or any other magnetic interference can disturb the readings I get from my compass. But gravity is the pretty same as it always has been and Polaris moves so slowly you will never notice with the naked eye. The sun is pretty darn predictable. Our ancestors got around quite well without modern tools - are you up to the challenge, or will you fail the test. What example are you setting for your kids?

While l love the overall feel and capabilities of the TruArc 20, to me it is not for the newbie. The compass mirror is challenging, one must be mindful of the direction of movement in reading the compass, whilst the mirror is too narrow for ease of use. Despite the above, l find the magnified reader, as well as the green index marker very convenient plus the the size of the baseplate is very comfortable to hold. The use of removable runner chassis and plastic top cover is ingenious. Finally, l find the bezel rather too easy to move. In my opinion, it would be a useful tool for an experienced user.