Suunto

MC-2 Compass

Name: Suunto MC-2 Compass
Brand: Suunto

Manufacturer list price (MSRP)

$70.00

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Overview

A full-featured mirror-sighting baseplate compass with tool-adjustable declination, a clinometer for slope angle, and luminescent markings — the compass most navigation courses and mountaineering programs put in students' hands. The mirror allows precise bearings to distant landmarks while keeping the needle in view.

Specs

Brand: Suunto
Weight: 74 g · 2.6 oz
Type: Baseplate mirror-sighting compass with adjustable declination and clinometer
Item Weight: 2.56 ounces
Material: Plastic
Product Dimensions: 3.98"L x 2.56"W

Weight vs. category

This product2.6 oz

Category average2.4 oz

9% heavier than the category average.

How it measures up

Against every one of the navigation tools in the RidgeNote register with a published figure. Manufacturer-listed; sources and dates are on this page.

Weight: 2.6 oz (74 g); Lighter than 25% of 4 weighed · #3 lightest; +41% vs the median 1.9 oz
Price: $70.00; Cheaper than 33% of 6 priced · #4 cheapest; +5% vs the median $66.50 · $26.82/oz (median $39.34/oz)

The lightest of the navigation tools on record is Zpacks Silva Pocket Compass Thermometer at 0.4 oz — 63 g less and $50.05 less.

The cheapest is Zpacks Silva Pocket Compass Thermometer at $19.95 — $50.05 less and 63 g lighter.

See every one of the navigation tools measured →

RidgeNote verdict

The MC-2 is the compass handed out on navigation courses because it does everything an instructor needs to demonstrate: tool-adjustable declination you set once for your region, a sighting mirror for accurate bearings on a distant peak, a clinometer for judging slope angle, and luminescent markings for pre-dawn starts. If you navigate off-trail or in avalanche terrain, those features carry weight. If you do not, this is more compass than your trips require. Its price and 74 grams buy capability that a budget sub-ounce baseplate compass covers for hiking marked trail with a map. The mirror is the fragile part - it sits in a hinged lid and it cracks if the compass gets crushed under a pack lid. Declination adjustment needs the small key, which people lose. And it ships in hemisphere-specific and global versions; order the wrong one and the needle drags badly south of the equator.

Similar — lighter or cheaper

Zpacks

Silva Pocket Compass Thermometer

0.4 oz · MSRP $19.95 · lighter · cheaper

Silva

Ranger 2.0 Compass

1.1 oz · MSRP $57.25 · lighter · cheaper

Garmin

eTrex® SE

5.5 oz · MSRP $149.99

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