Hand Bearing Compass

I was in a marine store today and picked up a used hand bearing compass.* It looked so neat with its wooden dovetailed box and obvious high quality construction*sitting there with*the new compasses.* The tag on it invited offers.* A deal was struck and I am now the proud owner of a Saura HB-65G II Hand Bearing Compass.* The quailty of the unit appears very high.

Does anybody know anything about these?
Does anybody use a handbearing compass?* If so, for what?

Budds Outlet wrote:

*Does anybody use a handbearing compass?* If so, for what?

Click to expand...

We use a hand bearing compass when we race our sailboat.* We use it to mark*our*bearing to the next mark or our*layline.*** KJ*


-- Edited by KJ on Sunday 27th of February 2011 12:00:49 AM

KJ wrote:

*
Budds Outlet wrote:

Does anybody use a handbearing compass?* If so, for what?

Click to expand...

We use a hand bearing compass when we race our sailboat.* We use it to mark*our*bearing to the next mark or our*layline.*** KJ


-- Edited by KJ on Sunday 27th of February 2011 12:00:49 AM
*

We keep one on board (30 years old, and resembles a hockey puck) more as backup than anything else, since we tend to use the plotter (& paper charts) *for routine navigation.*

*

I have a Coleman battery powered hand bearing compass that I keep in my getaway bag.
As with all the gear in it , checked on a regular basis.
Used to have an old magnetic one stored at the stearing station for sighting landmarks etc but with the Steiners and built in compass
no longer required on voyage.

Benn

-- Edited by Tidahapah on Sunday 27th of February 2011 04:41:25 AM

I keep paper charts with position fixes on offshore passages as a backup for the electronics. I use the hand bearing compass for position (reverse bearing triangulation) and speed (doubling the angle on the bow), and compare this to plotted electronic fixes. On the run from Astoria to Tattoosh, we're always against the Japanese current, and usuallly against the wind and waveset so it can be a long slog; keeping a paper chart helps me keep my mind sharp (and active) and also helps give me a sense of wind and current set, not to mention an electronics backup. I'm a belt and suspenders guy on offshore passages.

Quite useful near shore , even better are the versions with a ferrite coil so RDF bearings can be had.

After an EMP pulse , GPS may be down for a decade , so an alternate means of obtaining a LOP is good!