Hey ho it's time for me to buy a new compass as I think I might start a bit of hillwalking again this year. USed to loads (well, more moors-walking) years ago in the Scouts, had a Silva Type 4 which eventually died (most of the damping fluid disappeared! Did it diffuse, or evaporate, or both? Have binned it anyway, it had a good innings).
Looked at a few threads where the very good point is raised that the Type 4 is somewhat oversized for any realistic requirements.
Suunto M3 seems to be recommended but now I see there's a Suunto M3 Global "with a needle that can be used anywhere in the world". Being naive in such matters, I don't understand this, could someone enlighten me? i.e. if one day I decided to go trekking in Namibia, would a non-global compass be no use?
Also curious to know whether the "curvimeter" on the Suunto A40 is more than just a gimmick for the lazy route-planner?
One here:
http://www.needlesports.com/cgi-bin/sh000003.pl?REFPAGE=http%3a%2f%2fwww%2e...
So basically I am after general recommendations for a reasonably priced practical compass for general walking, and what this "global" issue is.
Cheers
K