I'm pretty bad with compasses, which is why I'd always have to carry an eperb if I did any serious hiking/boating etc.

Must be my magnetic personality - yeah that was meant to be bad.

I laughed anyway. >_> I was reminded of those jokes on popsicle sticks.

But Raptor, this is what I was talking about.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...wL._SS500_.jpg

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...500_AA280_.jpg

I meant do they have any advantage over something like this:

http://www.motorcycle-uk.com/acatalog/expedition4.jpg

(or a more expensive model)

It looks like that compass you linked to has the same function as what I linked to. I don't understand the need for having two separate things, is it just more accurate or something?

On the compass side of things, you can't get as accurate an Azimuth with the one you linked because there isn't a peek hole (or is there? I can't tell), and it only has degrees. On the protractor, there isn't either degrees or mils on it, so every time you want to use it you need to orient your map to the compass... which is just silly. But aside from that, no, there is not missing functionality from having them combined.

No, there's no peek hole. There are similar compasses that do have them though. I'm not sure if the second one I linked to is one of them but it claims it has "precision sighting system, which allows for bearings accurate to +/- 0.5 degrees to be taken". That's a pretty high end baseplate compass too, and probably your type even beats that. They're cheaper though, at least they are here, and they look smaller and lighter judging by the pictures.

You don't have to line the map up with magnetic north each time to use it if that's what you meant, so you don't have to stand there spinning the map around. And turning the compass around on the map takes pretty much no time at all.

As far as the peek hole, there is a difference between holding it, and actually looking at whatever you're aiming at as well as the direction at the same time.+/- 0.5 may make a difference, depending on your start and end point. Obviously accuracy degrades over distance. That's why some like to use mils, because there are 17.5 mils in 1 degree. And if you were wondering, that compass and protractor I linked combined are about 16 USD combined. That's a lot cheaper.

Not exactly what I meant. You're right in that it takes the same time to turn a map to match a compass as it does to match a protractor with degrees on it. I meant that it would be a little more difficult to get that azimuth accuracy because you have to use a separate edge to connect the two points, which I think is a little bit of a hassle and a greater chance to slip from human error. Like when you mark distance on a piece of paper from the scale and place it on a map, it's easier to just use the protractor for most common distances. Anyway though, the one I linked has a hole in the center for a piece of string or wire so that you can plot the azimuth and at the same time have an edge to draw it. It's not essential, but it's very convenient.

Yeah you don't get the hole and wire with the baseplate type.

I think you're looking at some imitation compasses. The internet tells me that the US military use Cammenga brand, is that right? They sell them to the public for $95, or for $55 for the version without tritium. Maybe you can get them a bit cheaper elsewhere but I wouldn't have thought the price would be much different unless you're looking at second hand stuff. As for the +/- 0.5 deg, it looks like that's better than the military spec which Cammenga have to follow (+/- 40 mils). It's likely they do better than 40 mils but they don't give an actual error value on their website. That compass with +/-0.5 deg is pretty much $95 though so they're fairly similar.

I'd probably get the compass in my first link, it doesn't have a sighting system but that would still be accurate enough for me going hiking and it's the equivalent of $30. There are even cheaper variants but they're lacking in markings.