Suunto bearing compasses are designed to combine extreme accuracy with ease and speed of operation. Their flat, compact housings have no protruding or adjustable parts and are designed to stand up to heavy-duty wear. The cards of these compasses are immersed in a special dampening fluid that ensures smooth movement. They are pivoted on sapphire tips. For use in twilight or even total darkness, the compasses can be supplied with a built in, maintenance free light source for at least 15 years. (Tritium)

Since 1967, Suunto has offered its KB line of high-quality hand-bearing surveying compasses and inclinometers that are accurate to fractions of a degree. These compasses are popular among cave explorers, foresters, geologists, archaeologists, land surveyors, and mariners. Traditionally made of a solid block of machined aluminum (some newer versions are in high-impact plastic housings), each KB compass contains a magnetized dial with calibration markings printed along its outer edge A magnifying lens (KB-14) or prismatic sight (KB-77) is mounted at one end of the instrument with a crosshair providing a view of the disc, containing both forward and reciprocal bearings.In operation, the user divides his or her field of vision with the instrument, using the device's lens or prism to precisely measure the bearing of the object in view.