can anyone recommend a good handheld compass?

i would like to get one for when i sail. i pretty much stick to the coast, but i'd like it for checking how close i am to the wind and things like that (seems like i really can't get too close to it). i've seen a few sailors carry them on lanyards around their necks. the compasses they had weren't anything fancy, they weren't electronic, and they didn't look expensive. i know how you guys love to spend money. so, can anyone recommend one that doesn't cost more than twenty dollars? this is probably a long shot, the more i think about it.

also, does anyone know where to get a sailor's duffel? i need something lash to the tramp when i sail. again, the more basic the better; it doesn't even really have to be waterproof. i can just wrap the contents in a trash bag and save a hundred dollars. i just want a duffel about the size they used to use.

Best I have used is the Trampoline Storage Bag, Item # 3128, page 4 in the new catalogue, and its only $49.95. I used to use the little one, to carry spare drain plugs, shackles etc, #72005B. Now we put the little bag in the big bag, then we add some snacks, drinks, spare windbreaker etc. If you are a starving student, you could make one up. We tried, and quickly realized that by the time one adds up the price of the fabric, the thread, the running around etc, better we bought a real Hobie item.

Sits low and out of the way, but right there when you need it. And yes, we have turned a couple of apples into apple juice.

The best compasses are the kind you see in the catalogue, or that you might see at a kayaking store. Clips on or ties on with bungees. Check out eBay or similar. The cheap ones are not always that accurate. We used a teeny one from Mountain Coop during our trip to Europe last August, and its fine if you can hold it still and steady. How we would ever do that on a Cat is beyond me.

Minus 32 Celcius last night, can't wait for May.

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you should move here. it hasn't dipped below 60F here so far this 'winter', and the wind was blowing 15-20 mph most of last week. i don't have a hobie catalogue; can anyone post a link to that particular bag?

What you are talking about is a hand bearing compass.

The lanyard ones are not necessarily cheap. For example, this one:

from West Marine is $130.

This one:

is only $40, but it's a lot more fragile.

why is everything so damned expensive?

It's a conspiracy, I tell you!

On the other hand, a full-featured Tic-Tac compass with speed and wind is well over $1500...thankfully you can't race with one and I'm not sure you could mount it anywhere that you could read it from both sides (though people put them on their Musto skiffs which are pretty much as wide as a cat when you figure in the racks...)

If it costs that much, make sure it floats or is very well attached. Had a friend who got a $100+ sailing watch and found out it was neither

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Cyrano,

Can't remember the brand but I found one at West Marine (i.e. The Jewelry Store) that I found more than adequate. It's designed for Kayaks and is so visible that I mounted it on the front crossbar. It's also very accurate. There's no use in being able to see it if it's not giving you the correct information. I can see it from anywhere on the tramp and most places on the wire. The cost was under $50.00. Hope this helps.




Happy Sailing,

David

You may want to look on ebay. I just did a quick search and saw several similar compasses like in DavidBell47's picture. I don't know much about the quality of them but they were all under 50 bucks.

an ebay search yielded what i was looking for, but it seems like i'm not going to get out of this for less than forty bucks, so it will have to wait.

what about a sailor's duffel? any thoughts on that?

Hobie sells the Suunto Pioneer compass for kayaks for about $40. I've mounted two of them on the cooler lids of my Getaway and they work great.

If you want a hand bearing compass, I'm afraid it's going to be more expensive (upward of $100).

It depends on what you want to use them for. The deck mounted compasses at great at small boat main compass (i.e. keeping track of your heading etc.)

The hand bearing compasses are essentially navigation instruments; i.e. use to take bearings on known objects (lighthouses, points, buoys, etc.) and triangulating them to find where you are precisely. This is more a big boat activity (and a disappearing one in this day of GPSs).

I use the two Suuntos all the time, but bring out my old Mini Morin hand bearing compass when there's a lot of current and I need to check my drift for example.

You mean like this?
http://www.sunjammers.com/category/9

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