A hand compass (also hand bearing compass or sighting compass) is a compact magnetic compass capable of one-hand use and fitted with a sighting device to record a precise bearing or azimuth to a given target or to determine a location.[1][2] Hand or sighting compasses include instruments with simple notch-and-post alignment ("gunsights"), prismatic sights, direct or lensatic sights,[3] and mirror/vee (reflected-image) sights. With the additional precision offered by the sighting arrangement, and depending upon construction, sighting compasses provide increased accuracy when measuring precise bearings to an objective.[4]
The term hand compass is used by some in the forestry and surveying professions to refer to a certain type of hand compass optimized for use in those fields, also known as a forester or cruiser compass.[5][6] A hand compass may also include the various one-hand or 'pocket' versions of the surveyor's or geologist's transit.
- ^ Frazer, Persifor, A Convenient Device to be Applied to the Hand Compass, Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, Vol. 22, No. 118 (Mar., 1885), p. 216
- ^ SCFC, Get Acquainted With Forestry Tools Article
- ^ Johnson, Mark, The Ultimate Desert Handbook: A Manual for Desert Hikers, Campers, and Travelers, McGraw-Hill Professional (2003), ISBN 0-07-139303-X, 9780071393034, p. 134: A direct-sighting compass uses a magnifying viewfinder mounted in the compass body to directly view a degreed dial and superimposed indicator line; it therefore differs from a lensatic sight (which uses a simple magnifying lens on a folding arm positioned over the dial), or a prismatic sight (which uses a magnifying optical prism).
- ^ Suunto Oy, The Suunto KB-14 Story, Article Archived 2008-04-09 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Rutstrum, The Wilderness Route Finder, University of Minnesota Press (2000), ISBN 0-8166-3661-3, pp. 47-55, 64-72
- ^ Mooers Jr., Robert L. Finding Your Way In The Outdoors, Outdoor Life Press (1972), ISBN 0-943822-41-6, p. 47: The term cruiser compass derives from the practice of foresters cruising or estimating the value of a stand of timber by taking compass readings to ascertain the size of the stand.