A new direction! compass

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I just purchased the Suunto SK8. Looks great but have yet to dive with it. I got the bungee strap but can be equipped with a watch strap aswell.

It had great reviews and was recommended bu numerous LDS
 
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The SK8 is a good compass, I have one as well as a couple of SK7 models. The only thing about suunto is that they are expensive and one needs to be careful when packing/stowing as it is possible to easily crack the top of the plastic capsule (the face of the compass). Typically it is hard to tell there is a crack but the tell tale sign is the formation of an air bubble in the compass due to the oil inside weeping out. Surprisingly the seeping does not happen during the dive where water penetrates the capsule, but rather on the surface where the oil is displaced by air.

The bubble is of little consequence when it is small but eventually it can/will grow to a size that affects the performance of the compass.

Some regard the compass as a "precision" instrument...but underwater navigation with a compass like that is a game of approximations. For the price one would think Suunto would make their compass more robust....but they don't. My recommendation is to save some money and buy one of the Dive Gear Express models (DGX) for about half the price. They do the job, seem as robust if not more, and if you do crack the capsule you won't be crying or as pissed off as you would if you crack an SK8.

-Z
 
There are 3 main models of compass's that all rebrand in the industry.
Suunto is one. Supertilts like Sherwood, Aqualung, DGX deluxe model, and generic like Saekodive, Trident, XS Scuba.

Suunto's are the gray bezel. Supertilts have the flat bezel and stereotypically pure white glow cards. Generics have the concave bezel that curves slightly and off-white cards.

And then there's Scubapro's weirdo of a compass......
Choose based on your aesthetics. They all work the same.
 
Deep 6 also has a really nice compass.

Except it is listed on their webpage as out of stock.


-Z
 
I've used pretty much most of the Dive compass variants
As said above they all do the same thing. Depends how much you're going to use it?

All my "generic" compasses have leaked pretty quickly (all less than 6 months) although that might be more to do with our climate

I decided to try the SK8, it' working fine despite frequent use and being tossed into a dive bag at teh end of a days teaching still attached to my BCD (I use a bungee mount - but instead of wearing it all dive I clip it to my BCD)

So yes I'm happy with my SK8 but I can't get excited over it, it's just a compass after all
 
My suunto clipper compass has been working better than I thought and clips to my dive watch strap. Does everything I need it to and cheap to replace.
 
The DGX Tech compass is only $39.

Underwater Navigation Compasses | Dive Gear Express®

Mine is about 4 years old now. It has pretty much lived its whole life in a mesh bag with my dive lights, wet notes and some other small accessories, inside my dive bag. I.e. no special care at all. It is still perfectly fine. I used it weekend before last in some cold and dark quarries and managed to come back to where I started every time.
 

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