My wife just got me one of those 8099's for Christmas. I really like it so far, but have only been practicing/playing with it indoors. No realworld outdoor experience yet. I expect that to all be positive once I get out and try it out while hiking. If you happen to have a "Sportsman's Warehouse" in your area, my wife found the 8099 for $56 there. That's a really good price for this compass. It blows away online prices that I found (which are typically around $75). It comes with a lanyard attached to the compass, that threads through a stack of informational cards, that then threads through a rubber boot that protects the bottom. I found I like it better if I unthread that lanyard from all the paraphenalia (sp?) and just put the cards in the boot and attach the boot to the compass (with the lanyard still attached to the compass). It's not like that boot is going to slip off or the cards are going to fall out- it stretches into place very snugly.

Another one I researched that really intrigued me was the "Brunton Nexus 54LU Combi". Finding one locally (Denver area) to handle in person was impossible though. It's intriguing because it's a baseplate compass - good for map work - and also a direct sighting compass - good for getting bearings. Here's a webpage that gives you an idea of how it operates:

http://www.silva.se/outdoor/products/prof_com54.htm

Note that this compass is actually made by Silva over in Europe. Much different than Silva in the USA. Brunton markets it under their Nexus line of compasses. Someday I would like to see one of these compasses in person to judge if it's as nice in-hand as it appears on paper. The best online price I found for this model ($60) is about halfway down the following webpage:

http://kooters.com/reccomp.html

Kooter's also carries the 8099 (for $75) and the 15tdcl (for $41). S&H is included in that price.