Brunton
Authorized Dealer • Riverton, Wyoming • Made in the USA Since 1894
Brunton is the Riverton, Wyoming manufacturer of precision navigation and field instruments — founded in 1894 by mining engineer David W. Brunton, builder of the iconic Pocket Transit surveying compass that anchored the company for over a century, and now operating as a woman-owned, geologist-led family business after the 2021 acquisition by the inventors of the Axis Transit. Tagline: “The gold standard in compasses and transits, made in the USA.” Keep Shooting stocks four Brunton products covering the navigation and cold-weather field-gear catalog: the TruArc 3 Global Compass (entry-level baseplate compass), the TruArc 15 Compass (premium navigator-grade), the HeatSync Vital 2.0 Vest (USB-powered carbon-fiber heated vest), and the Lightwave Camp Rocker Lantern for camp and field use.
Brunton at Keep Shooting
Brunton is the Riverton, Wyoming manufacturer of precision navigation and field instruments — a company with 131 years of continuous operation behind it and 50 years of production in the same Wyoming town. The Pocket Transit, invented in 1894 by mining engineer David W. Brunton, is the anchor product that built the company — a geologist’s surveying compass that combined an azimuth ring, level vials, inclinometer, and sighting arm into a single pocket-sized brass instrument, and became the standard tool of field geology for the better part of the twentieth century. After the 2021 acquisition by the inventors of the Axis Transit, Brunton operates today as a woman-owned, geologist-led family business under the tagline “The gold standard in compasses and transits, made in the USA.” The current manufacturer catalog spans Standard Transits, the Axis Transit line, the TruArc baseplate compass family, the Recycled Scout ECOmpass, Military Lensatic Compasses built for combat use, sighting instruments, and monoculars. Keep Shooting stocks four Brunton products covering the navigation and cold-weather field-gear slice: the TruArc 3 Global Compass, the TruArc 15 Compass, the HeatSync Vital 2.0 Vest, and the Lightwave Camp Rocker Lantern.
The TruArc Compass Line — Entry-Level to Navigator-Grade
The TruArc family is Brunton’s modern baseplate compass line — the transparent-baseplate, rotating-bezel format that became the standard for orienteering, hiking, hunting, and land navigation in the second half of the twentieth century. Keep Shooting stocks two points in the line:
The TruArc 3 Global Compass is the entry into the line — a baseplate compass with a global needle, meaning the needle works in both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres without recalibration. Most cheap baseplate compasses are zone-locked: a compass tuned for the Northern Hemisphere’s magnetic dip angle will not point accurately in Australia or southern South America, where the magnetic field tilts the needle the opposite direction. The global-needle design uses a precisely balanced needle and capsule geometry that compensates for the dip in any zone — meaning the same compass works for a hunter in Wyoming and a traveler in Patagonia. At $29.95 the TruArc 3 is the entry-level precision compass in the Brunton line.
The TruArc 15 Compass is the navigator-grade variant — same global needle, but adds a mirrored sighting lid with a notch sight and centerline, allowing the user to take precise bearings on distant landmarks by aligning the target through the notch while simultaneously reading the compass face in the mirror. The mirror also doubles as a signaling device in survival situations. The TruArc 15 adds clinometer scales for measuring slope angle (useful for avalanche assessment, slope analysis, and field geology), a magnifying lens for map reading, and a luminous needle for low-light navigation. At $84.95 the TruArc 15 is the premium navigator-grade option in the line — the compass a serious backcountry user, search-and-rescue operator, or land surveyor would carry.
The Pocket Transit — 130 Years of Field Geology
The Pocket Transit is the product that built Brunton and remains the company’s defining engineering achievement. Invented in 1894 by mining engineer David W. Brunton in Aspen, Colorado (then later relocated to Wyoming for production), the Pocket Transit consolidated what had been four separate surveying instruments into a single pocket-sized brass device:
- A magnetic compass with a graduated azimuth ring for taking bearings;
- A clinometer for measuring slope angle and the dip of rock strata;
- Level vials for establishing horizontal and vertical reference;
- A folding sighting arm with a peep sight and front-sight lid for taking precise bearings on distant landmarks.
For field geologists, mining engineers, and land surveyors working before the GPS era, the Pocket Transit was the single instrument that replaced an entire surveying kit. Every geology student in the United States learned to read strike-and-dip notation on a Brunton. The modern descendants — the Standard Transit (offered in Gold and Paleo Purple finishes today) and the new Axis Transit — are the same fundamental instrument refined over 130 years of continuous production. The Axis Transit added improvements that earned the invention award and ultimately led to the Axis-Transit-inventor team acquiring Brunton itself in 2021.
HeatSync Vital 2.0 — USB-Powered Carbon-Fiber Heating
The HeatSync Vital 2.0 Vest is Brunton’s entry into the battery-powered heated apparel category, and the technology is worth a quick explanation. Traditional cold-weather insulation (down, synthetic fill, wool) works by trapping air against the body and slowing the rate of heat loss — passive insulation that depends entirely on the wearer’s own metabolic heat production. In sustained cold, in low-activity scenarios (hunting from a treestand, ice fishing, sitting in a deer blind, surveying in winter), the body’s own heat production drops and passive insulation alone struggles to keep core temperature in the comfort zone.
The HeatSync uses carbon-fiber heating elements embedded in the vest, powered by any USB 2.1A power source (a standard USB power bank, which the user supplies). Carbon fiber generates resistive heat efficiently per unit of current draw, runs cooler than nichrome wire (eliminating hot spots), and is flexible enough to follow body contours without cracking under repeated flex cycles. The element placement targets the core warming zones (chest, upper back, lower back) where heat input has the largest impact on overall body temperature regulation. Adjustable heat levels let the user dial the output to ambient conditions. Sizing accommodates 33.5–44.5 inch chest measurements. Real-world user reports show 6+ hours of run time on the lowest setting from a 24,000 mAh power bank — meaning a half-day hunt or full ice-fishing session is within range of a single large bank.
Lightwave Camp Rocker Lantern
The Lightwave Camp Rocker Lantern is the camp-light SKU in our Brunton tag — a compact LED lantern in the camping-and-emergency lighting category that complements the precision-navigation core of the Brunton lineup. For the broader camp-lantern selection covering hanging, tabletop, and emergency-grade options, see the lanterns sub-category.
Pairing & Cross-References
Because the core Brunton lineup is built around precision navigation and field instruments, the natural pairings are the compass and outdoor-gear sub-buckets that hold the same use-case context. For the complete baseplate, sighting, and military-lensatic compass selection (Brunton plus the rest of the field), see the compasses sub-category. For the lantern slot the Lightwave Camp Rocker sits in, see the lanterns sub-category. For camping cookware, shelter, and field-stove gear the HeatSync pairs with on a treestand or ice-fishing day, see the camping sub-category. For the broader outdoor gear catalog covering rain gear, paracord, shovels, insect repellent, and flags, see the parent category.
Frequently Asked Questions — Brunton
Yes, we maintain inventory of the most popular Brunton products. Each product listing shows real-time stock status. If an item is temporarily out of stock, you can sign up for back-in-stock notifications on the product page.
Yes! All orders over $49.95 qualify for free shipping, including Brunton products. Orders typically ship within 1–2 business days.
Keep Shooting offers hassle-free returns on Brunton products. If you're not completely satisfied, contact our customer service team for a return authorization. All products must be in original, unused condition.
Yes, Keep Shooting is an authorized Brunton dealer. All products are sourced directly and include full manufacturer warranty coverage.