Utility of Brunton pocket transits in the 21st Century?

Hi all,

Spent the weekend at the Assn. of Mo. Geologists' meeting in western Missouri-- a day and a glorious half day bouncing on a schoolbus out looking at oil and gas wells and pipeline farm and the Pennsylvanian strata. (Our trip leader had done large scale drill strat logs to provide the 'geology' since western Missouri has a dearth of 'real' outcrops. There is a layer called the Squirrel formation. Honest. )

Anyway, the AMG gives two student awards: one for undergrads, and one a 'best paper' award for graduate students at the Missouri Academy of Science. There have been a dearth of applicants for the undergraduate award. The undergrad award (O.R. Grawe Award) has always been a plaque, a certificate and a Brunton compass.

Whilst brainstorming how to get local undergrads inspired enough to apply for the Grawe Award, I came up with the suggestion to replace the Brunton with a GPS of equal value, rationalizing that there are many geological disciplines today which do not involve on-foot field mapping of units, however nearly everyone still needs to know where they are in the field.

I have no idea how often a 21st century geo actually uses a brunton vs a GPS. Any comments? (The grad award is a hammer award plus other goodies, so we don't want both to be hammer awards.)

My thought is that the Ipod generation would go for a GPS, but sort of think a Brunton was an 'old fogey' thing. (Now...don't go getting upset Bob Flory-- remember, I, too, am on the old fogey side of things and still greatly appreciate my Brunton, but I'm trying to think like a young twenty-something whose whole life has been one long blinky light show of batteries not included.)

Any comments?

.

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