Review on 🧭 Optimize Your Fieldwork with the Harbin Geological Compass DQL-8: A Reliable and Efficient Tool by Aaron Collins

I have a Brunton but I'm teaching field geology this fall and found our collection of real Bruntons in a sorry state. A search of the internet turned up a Harbin compass and I bought it on a whim to see if it would even fit the needs of our class. I confess that my expectations were not high. Of course it's about nothing. But surprisingly, the instrument itself is really solid and beautiful. It has a metal body (painted black), freewheel, weighted stylus, azimuth dial with inclinometer, aiming ability (and aiming arms stiff enough not to dangle), better damper than my real Brunton, and a little latch that keeps the Tip stays level with rest of compass when top is closed. The various parts are held together with real screws (so you can adjust the stiffness of the hinges) and the internal components are held together with metal latches, just like a real Brunton. The end result is much better than the plastic-bodied Brunton that my department bought a few years ago. My only comment (besides the black body, which is easily lost in the field) is that the arrow is white with a red end on the SOUTH rather than the north end. I'm going to remove the glass from my new compass (there's a holder and that's it!) and fixed this paint blob issue. I'll also paint the hull bright colors someday so I can find it in the field. Another necessity is to buy a better case. As some other reviewers point out, a good leather case ($38) costs almost as much as the compass itself! I'm honestly amazed that Harbin made such a good instrument at such a low price.