BUYER’S GUIDE
Brunton Conventional Transit
MATERIALS
Aluminum
WEIGHT
6.8 ounces
DIMENSIONS
3.1 by 2.8 by 1.3 inches
MSRP
$440
URL
PROS:
Extremely high craftsmanship
Proven durability when cared for
Impressive to look at and hold
CONS:
Heavy
Expensive
Not useful for map reading
Everything about this precision compass exemplifies high quality and durability — and for its stratospheric price, it’s about what we’d expect to see. From the oiled leather case that it arrives in to the heavy (nearly 1/2 pound) cast-aluminum body, it definitely looks the part of a tool designed for serious and long-term use.
Designed in 1894 by Canadian-born mining engineer David W. Brunton, the Transit is widely used to this day by professional geologists and engineers. The movement of the needle is smooth and very fast, with immediate dampening and ability to “lock on” to magnetic north faster than any other compass we tested. This is because rather than being filled with fluid like most
