Brunton Inc. is now Brunton International LLC after its recent acquisition in late 2021. They are a manufacturer of navigation tools located in Riverton, Wyoming. Brunton is internationally known for innovation and product quality in the categories of recreational compasses, navigational equipment, and geology and survey instruments. History David W. Brunton, a Canadian-born geologist and mining engineer, and William Ainsworth, a skilled watch repairman, founded Brunton in 1895. The firm is most famous for its earliest product, the Brunton Pocket Transit. Geologists, foresters, surveyors, and archaeologists use this handheld compass and clinometer. Often simply called a "Brunton", the Pocket Transit was first patented in 1894 by David Brunton, who commissioned William Ainsworth & Sons to manufacture his invention in Denver, Colorado. The company later incorporated as William Ainsworth Inc. and for many years produced the Pocket Transit along with surveying transits, theodolites, and other instruments. By 1965, William Ainsworth Inc. was owned by a series of corporate conglomerates, and product quality varied as the company changed hands repeatedly. In 1972, a group of businessmen from Riverton, Wyoming bought the company and formed Brunton, Inc. In Riverton, Brunton began producing a new series of recreational outdoor compasses, hunting knives, and binoculars in addition to the Brunton Pocket Transit. In 1996, the company was acquired by Silva of Sweden AB, the original Swedish-based manufacturer of the Silva brand compass. Initially, Brunton sold Silva of Sweden compasses and GPS devices imported from Sweden under the Elite Pro Elite, Nexus, and MNS labels (Johnson Outdoors retained the exclusive rights to the Silva ® brand name in North America). Brunton began sourcing some of its compass models from Asia. In 2006, the Silva Group was acquired by the Finnish Fiskars Corporation. Along with the rest of the Silva Group, Brunton became part of the Outdoor division of Fiskars. As of 2009, Brunton, Inc. employed about 40 people. In December 2009, Fiskars announced the sale of Brunton Inc. to Fenix Outdoor AB, a Swedish company. As a result of Fiskars divestment of Brunton Inc., Silva of Sweden AB ceased all exports of its Swedish-made compasses and GPS devices to North America, including the Nexus, Elite, and Pro Elite lines. In turn, Brunton ceased export of its model 8020, 8040, and 9020 compasses to Silva of Sweden AB. As of 2012, the company employed around 68 people at its Riverton, Wyoming manufacturing facility. Product range Magnetic compasses