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What are some people's thoughts on buying a compass that has a built in inclinomter? Both pieces of gear are necessary but should I buy the tools separate? I'm looking at something like this

http://www.rei.com/product/737543/brunt ... cl-compass

Any input would be appreciated

ortovox s1 has both and iv never used them, but i always carry a standard compass.

The Brunton compasses are solid. Used one of those for all field work in my undergraduate geology degree. The inclinometer works really well and the compass is tough and is accurate. Would be perfect for use in the backcountry taking slope angles and navigating.

I use the compass and inclinometer on my Ortovox S1 transceiver. The one benefit of the Ortovox S1 transceiver compass is that when you travel between hemispheres, you can format the compass for that hemisphere, rather than buying a new compass. I still carry a regular compass in my first aid kit just in case though..

how do you format it for northern hemi?

Chris

Just calibrate it when you get up there. Just follow the instructions in the manual. Pretty easy to follow.

Multi-use gear is a great way to save weight. Although I'd guess that the weight of my compass plus my chincy little inclinometer is still less than the weight of the compass you linked too having one less piece of gear to monkey around with is a definite plus.

I have this one and it's perfect... http://www.rei.com/product/737542/brunt ... cl-compass
The inclinometer & sight mirror are nice to have all-in-one and I can use the mirror in an emergency as a reflecting signal or to check my makeup...lol
This is also the smallest & lightest compass that I could find that was full-featured enough for backcountry use and still included an inclinometer.

iphones have a very sweet inclinometer ap

I have the compass with Inclinometer and use it. But I just purchased the Pieps 30 Degree Plus from Backcountry see http://www.backcountry.com/pieps-30-degree-plus. As I wanted something already attached to my ski pole that I could instantly use to measure slope angles. Prefect for a "Snow Geek" like me. Accurately measure slope angles is a huge part of "terrain selection"

Backcountry Skiing: Skills for Ski Touring and Ski Mountaineering By Martin Volken, Scott Schell, Margaret Wheeler:

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Well my point is; having tools readily at hand to evaluate snow pack and terrain selection (without having stop and dig in you pack), allows for quicker and more assessments, with interfering with your tour.

I use a Suunto version like this. Its great to have the mirror for navigating as well as signaling. No matter how much make up I have, the reflection always looks terrible

While most "all in one" devices have some kind of a compromise, I find with this set up its nice and nothing really suffers. You can keep the compass on the lanyard around your neck or girth hitched to a pack strap/belt and tucked into a pocket and do quick checks on bearings and slope angle in as little time as it takes to unzip your shell. Also, being able to keep it on the lanyard means that you aren't taking up pocket space with different tools for the job in each pocket with the potential to lose one of them.

I haven't tried the Ortovox but am curious to see how they work. Anyone have infield reviews? With anything electronic though, batteries can fail if you're unprepaird. In an absolute worst case scenerio where you're forced to bivy in a storm and end up with dead batteries - just trying to get home over newly loaded terrain, I'll take simplicity over technology most times. Plus it's much quicker to take out a compass/inclineometer over unbucking the transciever, taking it out of the shoulder strap etc...

The fact that you are considering your options and looking to make smarter terrain choices by incorporating an inclineometer into your gear list is the best part of this thread. Good advice from the other posters too.

I was checking out the compass today, and noticed that they offer 5 free Topo map downloads through national geographic. I may buy one this weekend. Seems like a good compass/inclinometer.

I have one of those too. I like the light weight and low cost, but it doesn't have adjustable declination. I put a notch in mine to mark the local declination to grid north (to avoid having to do the math in my head and inevitably making mistakes). But that trick doesn't work when traveling, and the declination slowly changes over time. I think it's worth spending a little bit more for one with an inclinometer and adjustable declination. You will probably have it for a long time.

Any compass needs a mirror, clinometer, and adjustable declination.

I used a simple Suunto for basic geology field measurements for years (finally sprung for a Brunton pocket transit this year, $300 ). For getting around in the bush / measuring slope, a basic Brunton / Suunto / Silva is all you need.