AOFAR Military Compass AF-M2-B Geological Multifunctional- Lensatic, Fluorescent, Waterproof and Shakeproof for Geological Exploration, Hunting, Hiking with Pouch and Strap

A compass is an essential piece of kit to have on hand when out hiking or using a map for exploring and using landmarks to determine location. This compass works well and can be relied on for accurate readings in such situations.

This is an excellent geologists compass. I enjoyed reading the reviews. The compass is very easy to open if you use the two slots on either side of the clasp. Just hold the compass with the hinge down and use a thumbnail in the slot provided while pulling the body away. It is difficult to open any other way. The Chinese have used magnetic compasses for thousands of years. They read the South end of the needle rather than the North end. If you read the South end, the bearings are exactly the same as an American compass. If the East and West appear backwards, you are holding the compass backwards. If the needle sticks, lower the mirror, or press the little button on the left.

This is a Geological, Pocket Transit with the everything appearing on the compass opposite of what is found on a normal compass. I had to find instructions online of how to properly read a "Brunton Pocket Transit" and it is still not as easy to use (for me) as the lensatic compass I am used to reading.As long as you understand that this will not work like any other compass you have used (unless you have used a backwards Pocket Transit) and if you are willing to learn how to do everything differently, then this appears to work fine and it is fairly well built. I'm glad I have this different type of compass since I also teach boy scouts how to use compasses and have never used one of these before, it is nice to have one so I can teach the differences between the types of compasses that are available.

I got these for my boys for a bushcraft class. They looked and felt great. My 15 year old son was over whelmed by the instrumentation. So I ordered him a flat compass. I am glad I did. When they got to the class the instructor pointed out the the compass is upside down. Very disappointing.

It is a good compass for kids who might be interested in how things work.It is a well made product and as far as I can tell, the only thing wrong is that the needle takes a long time to steady which makes it practically unusable in most instances.

I was looking for a specific feature on a compass, a lockable needle. This model has exactly what is stated, which allows me to perform an infrequent test of pole strength. Plus all the extra features might come in handy someday. I would recommend this to anyone wanting a durable, precise compass.

The quality is not better than should be expected from the low price. The 2D bubble level is not quite level, but fairly close. At my latitude the magnetic field, and also the needle has a pronounced tilt from horizontal. Better units have a balance weight to make the needle level, but it is missing here. There is no fluid damping and motions take a long time to settle (I measure 27 seconds). The case is plastic. The magnetic declination adjust is a plastic gear that engages the readout ring. Turning that adjustment will cause the whole front of the case to lift and start falling out, unless you hold the faceplate down with your other hand. The inclinometer bubble is between 1 and 2 degrees off level (per the reversal test). The inclinometer scale does have 1 degree divisions, but they are short enough to be completely covered by the readout tab (! see photo) so that only the 2 degree divisions are actually usable. The adjustment lever is stiff and sticky enough that it is very difficult to make incline adjustments smaller than several degrees, in any case. The white plastic ring around the edge of the dial glows weakly for a while in the dark, after exposure to bright light. but it was difficult to make use of this. None of the markings themselves (critically including the needle) glow at all, so you could not use it at night without a flashlight. Apart from the inaccuracy, the product does work and demonstrates the physical principles involved. For any real-world use that I can imagine, I would look elsewhere, eg Harbin DQL-8 for somewhat more money or of course a Brunton for vastly more.

AOFAR has excellent customer service. Sara worked with me when I had an issue with my first purchase, and followed up to make sure I was happy; and I am.I have property in a wooded area. I use the compass to help me find the 4 corners of my 6.2 acres of trees and underbrush. Sightings are easy and just what I needed to “walk the line”.