I need a good compass

**Auban** · 03-31-2015, 03:27 PM

Originally Posted by MrFixIt

I've never been lost.
There have been times that my location didn't jive with the map coordinates, but I wasn't lost...

lol, that reminds me of a time when i was trying to find a point that was buried deep in an insanely huge draw... i beat around in the darned thing for a few hours(vegetation was THICK!) and FINALLY came out the other side... so i decided to look for a known point and go back in. then i looked down and saw a canteen.

i thought to myself, huh, someone lost their canteen. i imagined seeing the poor guy get picked up at the end of the course, and the cadre calling him out "candidate! where is your canteen?"
i thought, well it sucks to be him.

then i saw that it was MY roster number...

**finallyME** · 03-31-2015, 05:03 PM

Originally Posted by Auban

I do land nav almost entirely through terrain association nowadays. I just want the compass to point north while I am bouncing around, and show me north while I am moving in the dark. The lensatic compasses work pretty well for that. It comes down to how I conduct land nav... I'm usually moving while looking at my compass, so a bubble gets pretty annoying.

So, my preferences are a bit skewed.

FinallyMe, there is a method to getting an azimuth with the lensatic compass, without a protractor. and it bypasses th need to convert grid to magnetic.

I would say 99% of my land nav is terrain association, especially here in the Rockies where that is really easy. And, 99% of the time I don't even need a compass to point north, terrain association does that for me. For most people, a button compass is just fine, and a lensatic is too much. But, the original poster of this thread said he wanted to step up his compass game. Why pay $50-60 on a good lensatic when you can pay the same amount for a base plate that does more? I regularly teach land nav to 12-13 year old boys, even adults. I generally bring out the old military lensatic, and a bunch of baseplates. They almost always understand the baseplate, but almost always have trouble with the lensatic. I know a lot of prior military like the lensatic because that is all they know. If it ain't broke ...... If you are going to get a lensatic, get a Comenga. Brunton and Silva make a horrible one.

**Lamewolf** · 03-31-2015, 05:31 PM

Originally Posted by Enigma

Yeah, lets all start doing everything arse about, as if it's some 'cool' way to practise survival skills.

use a watch as a compass, and a compass as a watch.

Like useing a knife as axe, and an axe as a knife.

whatever!

My watch has a compass built in !

**Auban** · 03-31-2015, 07:28 PM

Originally Posted by finallyME

I know a lot of prior military like the lensatic because that is all they know. If it ain't broke ...... If you are going to get a lensatic, get a Comenga. Brunton and Silva make a horrible one.

i would say i fall into that category. though, its not that its all i have ever known... its just that i have used it SO MUCH, and for some reason, the ruggedness of it appeals to me. i have never had one fail, and i have put them through some serious abuse. if i were just hiking, one of those lightweight base board style compasses, or even a button compass, would probably serve me better than the lensatic. they are much lighter and would do pretty much anything i needed them to do.

but i KNOW i can rely on a Cammenga M-1950. its not the most accurate thing on the planet, but holy crap is it hard to kill it.

**Rick** · 03-31-2015, 08:29 PM

Where most of us trek having an accurate compass isn't really necessary. Always fun to keep navigation skills up to par but when you're within a mile or two of a road it's of little use. The sun serves just as well. You guys in the swamp probably don't use a compass that much because of all the water. Just my guess. Obviously, a lot of places do require one but most of us don't.

**Enigma** · 03-31-2015, 10:05 PM

I agree, it depends where you are and what you are doing. Situational awareness is a form of navigation also, useing 'handrails' such as roads, rivers or ridges saves using a compass. Trouble is, when visual aids are gone, as in heavy snow, mist, thick bush, flat desert that looks the same, you REALLY do need to use a compass if you're off track. We made a video of trying to find a downed aircraft once, and the first 6 or 7 km's cool, we used a firetrail, but then we had to go offtrack, through some thick high country, and get a correct ridge line to within 50-80 metres, about another 9km's away.

part 1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NyqSjuAmYX8

**hunter63** · 03-31-2015, 11:18 PM

Even airplanes use "FTR" ......follow the road.....

**ottawafm** · 04-04-2015, 05:53 PM

This is what I like using. I picked it up at a flea market.
ImageUploadedByTapatalk1428184461.947614.jpg

**Wise Old Owl** · 04-04-2015, 08:27 PM

Well get what you can afford - without a good map its useless even on water. Lets boil this down

How are you going to use it?
What type of outdoor activity are you most interested in?

What a good compass has that you might want.

I only buy dampened Liquid filled (kerosene) compasses. (they don't freeze)

I look for light plastic template with a magnify glass - On a hot day they can start a fire with tinder.

I look for a fine number of degrees - a distant object has to be spot on.

quality phosphor to glow at night - priceless.

I am not into the military ones I have tried them they are great - not for me.

Maps to supplement are waterproof and and topo when walking in

just short of all this get a mapping GPS and lots of batteries.

**Enigma** · 04-07-2015, 08:37 AM

Originally Posted by ottawafm

This is what I like using. I picked it up at a flea market.
ImageUploadedByTapatalk1428184461.947614.jpg

Take a bearing through that, at a distant object. Write it down, then take an ACCURATE bearing with a Silva 4/54. I think you might be surprised how inaccurate sighting compasses really are. We had students on the weekend just gone, state they were up to 8 degrees out.
Just saying. :-)

**hunter63** · 04-07-2015, 11:14 AM

Originally Posted by ottawafm

This is what I like using. I picked it up at a flea market.
ImageUploadedByTapatalk1428184461.947614.jpg

Have a couple as well......don't like the pouch hanging on the out side....catches on everything moving thru the brush.
That's why they have a lanyard on them....LOL

Keep on inside a the jacket or vest.
They work well enough for round direction.

**planet** · 04-08-2015, 03:03 PM

thanks your link rick, has been bookmark

**finallyME** · 04-09-2015, 05:41 PM

Originally Posted by hunter63

That's why they have a lanyard on them....LOL
.

In the military, the lanyard is called a "dummy cord". Let's just say that I am really glad it is there, and that I was smart enough to wrap it around my belt.

**stargoat** · 05-29-2015, 03:47 PM

Originally Posted by Enigma

I 'got it', hence my answer.

Do you think my rifle stock would make a good cricket bat?

Now why would anyone want to hit a cricket with a bat?

**hunter63** · 05-29-2015, 04:28 PM

Originally Posted by stargoat

Now why would anyone want to hit a cricket with a bat?

Long story,...... had to have been there....

Hunter63 saying Hey and Welcome.

There is an Intro section at:
http://www.wilderness-survival.net/f...-Introductions