The limited description of this compass did not do it justice. The main body of the compass is surrounded by a tough grey plastic that comprises the cover and the sighting reflector. I say reflector as this is really a reflecting tape and not a mirror of either plastic or glass. The tape used however is of fairly high quality and gives a very clear and flat reflection with no distortion. If the tape ever becomes damaged from use it shouldn't be too difficult to replace. My guess is that was why they chose this method, not to mention the obvious cost savings in production. The entire unit and cover seat firmly in a dense black rubber base. The base cushions the compass appropriately during hard use and has a location for the included lanyard. The compass comes with a full instruction booklet, but since that is difficult to bring along a miniature version of the booklet and other handy guide cards are seated under the compass for emergency use. The dial is quick and extremely accurate. The dial also appears to be fluid filled and my guess is it would be filled with mineral oil like high grade automotive gauges. This would be to minimize shock to the dial when dropped.