What Sextant would you recommend.

NealB said:
Jim,

I've got Zeiss yacht sextant sitting around. I bought it years ago when I did my YM Ocean Theory. Don't use it now.

I'd be very happy to lend it to you for a while.

Neal
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Thats a very kind offer Neal, but they are a bit delicate, and I would never forgive myself if something untoward happened.

Funny that, don't mind borrowing boats, but sextants seems somehow more fraught. Hmm.

If you think of selling though....
 
"A chap should refrain from handling another chap's sextant. By all means handle another chap's gun, if so encouraged.... another chap's dogs, should it seem appropriate... and another chap's gel, if so invited.... But a good chap should never, ever, handle another chap's sextant
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;)
 
Quote from Oldbilbo....."A chap should refrain from handling another chap's sextant. By all means handle another chap's gun, if so encouraged.... another chap's dogs, should it seem appropriate... and another chap's gel, if so invited.... But a good chap should never, ever, handle another chap's sextant".

That may have made sense in a different era, but to me, now, it sounds like a load of blocks!!

I'd be very happy to lend it to Fullcircle. It's only a mechanical device.
 
Gentlemen, the power of the Forum persists, despite attempts to derail its generosity.

I am now the lessee of 'a chap's sextant', sine die for an annual pourboire.
The T&Cs are not onerous.:)

It never ceases to amaze me, and I remain amazed by what can be done here.

Thanks to NealB and everyone for their super advice.
 
No reason at all not to buy the cheapest available as long as you do a bit of homework to enble you to ascertain it's errors and be sure you can adjust for them.
Determining sextant errors is pretty straightforward.

There is no application a recreational yachtsman night need that isn't in a $50 Davis but is in a $500 Frieberger or a $1500 Zeiss bar some optical refinements at the limits of low-light.
Except perhaps vanity - or the admitted pleasure of using a piece of exquisite precision engineering vs a piece of incredibly accurate somp'n else that just ain't so classy. Oooh! Big deal!
Both will deliver you to an oceanic landfall just as accurately - well, maybe within half a mile of intrinsic error - but what kind of oceanic error is that if you just want not to miss Bermuda?
Arguably, if real sextant (astro) precision is required; far, far more important is your chronometer(s) ie three of them ...or else a cheap short wave reciever and a $5 Russian stopwatch for the global time signal....

Remember, Confuscius he say; Man with one clock always know time.
Man with two clocks never certain.

So yes, buy the Davis. And after a bit of practice challenge anyone with a Zeiss to prove they can use it more accurately than you.
 
Unless you buy second hand, Davies sextants are no longer very cheap. A two second google shows they retail at over $250 without being on sale. They are very useful but have limitations.

They are light to carry if you are off to join a yacht somewhere else. They are obviously unaffected by a drop or two of water. With attention to errors, generally accurate enough. But optics are poor for star sights.

But you will, without doubt, get better results with a heavier metal sextant with glass, not plastic optics.

I have a Davies and a metal Celestaire and have proven that many times. But whatever you use, practice, practice, practice!
 
I was taught that an old one penny should cover your sight on the chart being used. Ocean Nav is such that a few miles one way or another doesn't make a great deal of difference. Taking the sight [ and averaging the 5 close sights/times] and then the actual working out is the skill to hone, not the accuracy, when learning. Plastic is good enough.
 
When a good sailing friend of mine died his widow gave me their Davis Mk15 sextant which both had used passing their Yachtmaster exams and had used it on ocean crossings. I have tried it and it seems to me to be better and stronger that the Ebbco one I have. I think it would be a "best buy" for a beginner.
 
Beneteau381 said:
Is this why years old threads are being replied to? Is it a function of the new forum?
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Or fate? First mate wants to buy me a "Good" sextant. I have the same Davis I had when I commented on this thread 8 years ago and it's great (see old comment) but maybe I could do with a second, "better" one. I was researching astra (IIIB/III pro) vs tamaya vs freiberger vs cassens & plath when this thread miraculously revived.

What would those that know recommend? Is a bronze arc (tamaya, astra III pro) worth the extra? Is solid brass a good thing or too heavy? Are any of the optics on these reputedly better or worse and how would I determine what is "reputation" vs making a noticeable difference? Sadly for a purchase of this magnitude I don't really see a way of trying-in-anger before I buy. I suspect that if it existed to give me a best buy guide, "What Sextant" magazine would be a minority publication.
 
sarabande said:
No, it's a function of people who have nothing better to do than thread drift historical threads.
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GHA said:
Why did you reply to an ancient thread? :unsure:
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I am thinking of buying a cheap sextant to play with, this thread was there, started to read it and saw the last post was 2012! I have been puzzled by the recent rash of resurrected threads without any rhyme or reason for them to be so and realised that for some reason these old posts are unilaterally surfacing. ie no one doing a search for info and answering old posts to elicit fresh info. So something is causing them to surface. I asked a reasonable question I thought?
 
laika said:
Or fate? First mate wants to buy me a "Good" sextant. I have the same Davis I had when I commented on this thread 8 years ago and it's great (see old comment) but maybe I could do with a second, "better" one. I was researching astra (IIIB/III pro) vs tamaya vs freiberger vs cassens & plath when this thread miraculously revived.

What would those that know recommend? Is a bronze arc (tamaya, astra III pro) worth the extra? Is solid brass a good thing or too heavy? Are any of the optics on these reputedly better or worse and how would I determine what is "reputation" vs making a noticeable difference? Sadly for a purchase of this magnitude I don't really see a way of trying-in-anger before I buy. I suspect that if it existed to give me a best buy guide, "What Sextant" magazine would be a minority publication.
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The local s/h shop is selling “vintage, brass, sextants” for £30 ish, horrible toy like far east miniature copies of fsmous ones!
 
laika said:
What would those that know recommend?
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I have one of these:-

CP Sailing Full-Sight Sextant

It is a delight to use. I also have a Davis Mk15 which I use when teaching the RYA Ocean Shorebased course. While it’s true that the Davis is perfectly adequate for taking sun sights during an ocean passage, a quality one is much more. This one has full mirror with high quality telescope, aluminium frame with microscope adjustment. It also has illumination of the microscope for ease of reading by the elderly during the twilight observation period ?
 
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