Review on Brunton F TRUARC15 TruArc 15 Compass by Christopher Jackson

The Climber Navigation Committee bought one from Revain and one from Backcountry to get two from different lots. The packaging is over the top. Keep the bandages handy to open the plastic wrap. Freeze test is good. Neither compass froze. The liquid in the case must be good. Mirror hinge - both were good, normal hinge action, not too loose and not too stiff. Bezel Rotation and Centering - The bezels are slightly loose and can rotate almost on their own. They may not stay tuned when following azimuth over rough terrain over long distances. We don't want a frame that's too tight or too loose. We need one that can be rotated with a gloved hand, but won't rotate on its own if it wobbles. The bezels have been neatly centered and aligned within the baseplate, contributing to accuracy. The bearing is read from a small bubble on the near side of the base plate, not the transom side. And the stock values are very small and hard to see in this bubble. Also, the "front" camp is deeper in the bladder and is even harder to read than the "back" camp. The cable is short but strong. Some people like the quick release cord style while others tend to lose their compass because of it. This is firmly connected to the base plate. Scale. It has various scales but no UTM specific scale for UTM grids 1:24000. A UTM Romer scale would be useful but other scales and markings can be used with UTM grids. Lupe - yes, she is. Very few consumer grade compasses have this feature. Not a required feature, but I won't mess with it. Information Cards - These are found in the packaging and contain various information, instructions and scales. Mirror - Good, not deformed. There's a nice vertical line and even a short horizontal line down the middle. Declination adjustment - adjustment without tools. To be honest, we don't like this feature. When you press the bezel to adjust the tilt, the entire bezel may pop out. We've seen that on all TruArc models. Very few of our navigation students can adjust declination without the help of an instructor. I'm sure there are many results. The length of the needle is 1-1/8 inch. Pretty short needle and small bezel. This makes it difficult to look at and see through. It has a global arrow. The arrow is heavily crooked in Washington State, which can make alignment difficult (along with the shorter arrow). Reading bearings from a map. Don't forget to remove the white plastic protection from the clear base first. - Yes, there is a rating: Awkward and unintuitive tool-less deflection and tendency to break apart definitely takes a star off the tool-less declination function.