For a long time, one of the human inventions that has fascinated me most is the compass, not only because of the ingenuity our species showed in discovering the forces of nature and putting them to use, but also because of the historical impact that discovery had on human progress.
Nowadays, this tool matters little in everyday life, since it has been overshadowed by current technologies such as mobile phones, whose various sensors and receivers can give a precise location at any time and almost anywhere, as long as their battery lasts.
Today I’ll tell you about this little Finnish gem, the Suunto KB-14, which I had my eye on for a long time. Since it’s a relatively expensive instrument, I hadn’t been able to get one. Thanks to eBay, I found this used one at a very good price (under US$100), which is a great deal compared to the price of a new one.
The KB-14 model name covers a whole line of Suunto compasses that look alike but differ in how the compass dial is graduated. In the case of the model I own, 360Q means that the dial is graduated in degrees but arranged in 4 quadrants of 90 degrees each (hence the Q).
As you would expect, the body of the compass is made of aluminum, which is a non-magnetic material, that is, one that cannot be magnetized. Inside this aluminum body is the dial, which sits on a needle, the part that actually responds to the earth’s magnetic field. This whole assembly (dial and needle) pivots on a sapphire bearing, as in mechanical watches, which reduces friction and helps the needle move freely. All the parts that make up the dial are in turn housed in a liquid-filled capsule that dampens the movement of the system, and this capsule is protected by an acrylic window.
The top of the dial shows the four quadrants of 90 degrees each, with marks every 5 degrees. However, when you look through the sighting window on one side of the compass, you can read the dial in 1-degree increments, and by interpolation, readings can be taken to within 0.5 degrees. All of this makes it a very precise measuring instrument.
One drawback of this particular model is that it can’t take bearings on landmarks that are above or below the level of the person taking the reading, since that inevitably means tilting the instrument, which ultimately results in incorrect horizontal readings.