what compass do you recommend that can tell me precisely/accurately magnetic north? I read that the quality of compasses went dramatically down since 2010... are out there quality accurate ones that will stay accurate a life time or at least a few decades?

For someone who has been extensively trained on the proper use of a USGI Lensatic, calculating magnetic declination with every bearing and willing to carry a clinometer and protractor with them, then I might agree with you. However, for the person who has not, then their actual "survival" might hinge on having a base plate with a mirrored lid for more accurate sighting(and signaling for help), adjustable declination so they can get to where they are aiming on the map, etc etc. Personally, you have the right idea, by owning both and being trained, but too many people buy something like a Cammenga for the cool factor and "trusted by military", so hopefully they never get in trouble and don't really need it to stay alive.

@@greenman5255 hi, what compass do you recommend that can tell me precisely/accurately the direction of magnetic north? I read that the quality of compasses went dramatically down since 2010... are out there any quality accurate ones that will stay accurate for a life time or at least a few decades?

I found out about the store after I purchased a grid tool from Amazon. But I still need to get the 🧭 from your store. Seems like your price on the map tools are much better than others. Thanks!

I bet you all have some interesting stories!

Hi, I just want a compass, preferably liquid free, that can show accurately the direction of magnetic north WORLDWIDE, that lasts preferably a lifetime. Does such a compass exist? Thank you

@@incorectulpolitic Most suunto compasses are global but not liquid free.

@@TwoPlusTwoEqualsFive32 I read a lot of reviews that they develop bubbles after days, weeks, months, or even come with a bubble... this is why I am asking around for a quality compass...

@@incorectulpolitic if a compass is pointing to Magnetic North it's pointing to the magnetic poll, all compasses should do this right out of the box.

It isn’t wrong! Lol

Woah... thats deep man

I have a feeling he may have also said "I think I have been here before?"

@DesertRat45 dead reckoning requires a compass, maybe you mean another technique?

As I was sitting on my motorcycle looking at a map, a car stopped & asked if I was lost. I replied "Sure am, but if I wasn't lost I wouldn't be having any fun!"

Appreciate that Martin!

Wow - I appreciate that! I think that would be awesome if they did too. I need to contact them again on some stuff, will see if I get any feedback or not.

I do what I can Ed! Hope all is well with ya!

@@STOKERMATIC Doing well here, my friend. Stay safe and keep on trekking.

@@Ed-hz2um if that was the north end of a magnet it would repel magnetic north… lollll

@@Ed-hz2um "The north pole of a magnet is the pole that - as long as the magnet can spin freely - points towards the north"

I love it too!

Hi, I just want a compass, preferably liquid free, that can show accurately the direction of magnetic north WORLDWIDE, that lasts preferably a lifetime. Does such a compass exist? Thank you

I appreciate that! And, hey, it's pretty tough! LOL

Right on! It's a great instrument to have! I wish Cammenga's baseplate compass had more standard baseplate features.

Thanks Marty! Which one do you prefer?

What an awesome and amazing story! Truly incredible. Thank you for sharing!

Sounds like the British made Francis Barker MK111 see a nice restoration here jpmoeller.com/2017/07/22/francis-barker-mkiii-prismatic-compass/ you may wish to tell your son to be careful as they are quite radioactive due to the old radium paints used for night illumination. They still make them and are still used by the British today - I have one they are called Francis Barker MK73 now - pretty much the same except they use safer tritium for the illumination. Probably the best handheld compass available anywhere.

You got this!

Glad you enjoyed it friend - best to you in the infantry!

Right on James!

That's perfectly true. I used to use it for the same reason as a boy digging ginseng. But, if you use it with a map, it's very easy to make a mistake over several miles if you don't adjust for declination properly. In your case a short distance isn't an issue.

Right on!

Right on amigo!

Totally agree - I love being able to adjust for my declination 1 time. Now...if I could only get a compass manufacturer to hear me on something, I could design the perfect compass, lol

Great thoughts on both types my man. And thank you very much for your kind words!

👊

Indeed Tom! Great music by the way!!

That’s a great function of it!

I'd recommend a Suunto MC-2 mirrored baseplate compass then. It allows for shooting accurate azimuths and having the baseplate scales. I'd still recommend getting some of the small "pocket slot" protractors that fit in your field pocket notebook....just make sure to have the ones that match your preferred map scale.

@@toddgibson9861, that's what I got. It's great.

Glad you’ve enjoyed them! I do have a couple vids on packs up - survival kit, tools and gear review playlist. I’m sure I’ll do more!

No worries Dave! Thanks for sharing that!

That stoked me up!

After 10 years most H3 is gone. Just like my father's radium compass is completely burned out (but the radium is still there).

If your in the military, I hope you DO have to use a map. Master your analog methods

@@STOKERMATIC actually bro... I got the backplate because I AM gonna learn maps... With your help. I'm not military, the military unit is a military issue compass... I don't wanna use a protractor.🤣 But I see you keep a straight path with a military compass, so now I can do it too! This map learning will be fun. And... The TruArk 10 don't need a protractor. (I hope) Thanks my brother

Thanks!

🇺🇸

@@STOKERMATIC buddy gave gave me a surplus'd one, cleaned the lens, and am rocking with it , your video definitely is helpful

Awesome!

Awesome story! Thanks for sharing!!

🍺🇺🇸

Man, that’s such a great contribution to the conversation! I hope lots of people read it. A really good acronym in waVes as well! Stoked to hear from you and hope to continue the journey. Stoker

@@STOKERMATIC Thanks. I came up with WAvES because I think of electro-magnetic waves. And West Add & East Subtract , seemed a natural fit to the way I think. And I just found it a bit easier to remember than [ LARS, Left Add Right Subtract. Left being West and Right being East.] because I could fit WAvES in the phrase of the map and compass waving to and back to each other. To help remember the correct adjustment going from map to compass or compass to map, dependent on local magnetic declination east or west. However, one only needs to account for magnetic declination when using a compass & map together. If walking about without a map and only keeping track of how far you walked and the direction walked, it doesn't matter. I would add that my favorite base plate compass is the Silva 55-6400/360. An easy to use prismatic sighting compass with a prism inside the compass housing, 0.5˚ accuracy, with a handy base plate length of ~ 5 inches (126mm). Close the to length of the sides a protractor. I read somewhere NATO troops use the mills version. But they have become difficult to find at a reasonable price. I might add two handy thumb rules I try to keep in mind: A] 5km = ~ 3 miles (3.11 miles) Kind of handy to know if you use 5 bead pace counter. And know your pace count for 1 km & for 1 mile or 1/10th of those distances. I am comfortable converting between metric and imperial on paper, but I still think in imperial distances when walking about. Hey, I spent six years in the Navy, not the Army or Marines. B] An azimuth error of 1˚ = ~100 ft error off course at 1 mile. [ actually the error is about 92 feet, but "1˚/100 ft/ 1 mile" I find is easier to remember] People can calculate that for themselves to understand the thumb rule B , by one of at least two methods: 1] Tan = opposite/ adjacent (t=o/a, o = distance off course , a = 1 mile = 5280 ft. ) Rearranging the formula - > tan(1˚) * 5280 ft = 0.017455 * 5280 = 92.16 ft. 2] Think of a circle with radius of 1 mile (5280 ft) . The circumference, C = 2 * r * pi = 10560 ft * pi = 33,175.22 ft. And C/360˚ = 92.15 ft/ 1˚. Thus the thumb rule can be used to make a quick estimate that if you're off course by say 5˚ (due to sum of sighting errors + difficulty accurately walking the azimuth) at 1 mile you will miss the target by about 500 ft. ~ 167 yards, 1.67 football fields. That, I think, illustrates a few things: a compass with ~ 2.5˚ accuracy is ok, but sight as accurately as possible, walk to your destination as accurately as possible, use check points and handrails, as much as possible, keep check point distances short. However, if you are walking about in an area near the agonic line (where magnetic declination = 0) ignoring accounting for magnetic declination isn't a big deal if magnetic declination is less than about 4˚ east or west. The agonic line runs basically from north Michigan to western tip of Florida in contention USA. You will be a little off target, but not to far. Unless you really need extreme accuracy. [ of course if you think in metric, instead of miles and feet, the formulas 1 & 2 can be done with Km or meters. But the 1˚ / 100ft / 1 mile no longer works. But 1˚ error at 1 km works out to 1˚ / 1.75m / 1 km. A 5km walk with 5˚ error = ~ 44meters. Pretty close. < half the length of a football field. Keep doing the fun uploads.

Great overview comment!! Yet another way to remember declination and make the map speak compass language is "WEST" is best and "EAST" is least. So "WEST" declination on the Topo you would ADD degrees to the "TRUE" north to navigate in the field.

In the UK military to account for magnetic deviation we used "Mag to Grid = get rid" and "Grid to Mag = Add". The western part of the UK currently has (practically) zero deviation, so it's simple! At least for a year or two (until it moves East). We were always taught using Silva baseplate compasses.

Does this make sense? I heard something similar. Not sure who. Westerly declination: Grid to Mag (GI to Major) add Mag to Grid (Major to GI) subtract Easterly declination: Grid to Mag (General to Major) subtract Mag to Grid (Major to General) add

You got this! Glad the content resonates with ya!

Awesome, thank you! Appreciate it brother!

@@STOKERMATIC Definitely gonna buy the USGI Lensatic.

So true!

I have a decent baseplate - but I LOVE my lensatic!

Right on!!

Good stuff Brian! I wouldn’t mind checking out a Suunto like that. Actually, I’d LOVE to be able to design my own - it would be the bomb shizzle! I’d make a hybrid as well, but would use the face and arrow from a Cammenga and put it in a baseplate. They make a “baseplate” compass, but you can’t see through it. So it kind of defeats the purpose.

My favorite is the Suunto M3 Global System. Accurate in both the Northern and Southern hemisphere.

@@George-vf7ss which is the M3? I have the MC-2 global.

Well I have both. And I think the suunto is much better for map work put it on the map in the direction you want to travel then line up the meridian lines on the map with the lines on the compass dial. Read bearing. Done. But for out in the field the cammenga shines for reading and shooting an azimuth. Point compass read bearing. done. On the suunto you have to put red in the shed while maintaining your sighing. I love them both. And they compliment each other wonderfully.

@@ronvonbargen8411 I totally agree. I was just goofing yesterday as a matter of fact and came up with a bearing discrepancy of 4 degrees on the Suunto. Carry both, great idea!

Glad you found me Jim!! And couldn’t agree more about how to do real math!

Yes! Carry something. And I agree, in some circles, hikers count ounces even worse than a nutty nutritionist counts calories

My favourite and most useful to me is a Cammenga wrist model. Normally I use a compass when travelling by unpaved roads in locations without GPS signal. All that I need is know what direction to take in these precary roads. I have some more sophisticated compasses, like Brunton Eclipse Pro and a military Bézard from 1930's. I'm not a surveyor nor an Artillery officer, so I don't use all functions. Not even the most expensive and sophisticated is the best for your needs.

Much gooder than the Taiwanese one!

Check out my landnav playlist

Ah! Thanks! Had fun with this vid. Jacket is a Kuhl - can’t remember which one. It’s waxed so it’s nice up here in wet weather.

I dig it Darlene! Sounds like a good idea to do a comparison!

The war model had many more references, you were only eight clicks away from any position , where by now it's sixty

Awesome!

You should send it into cammenga they'll re put the tritium on it

Semper Paratus !

Two is 1! And no need to break the bank if you don't have to!

Much appreciated!

Thank you! I appreciate it. Jacket is a Kuhl.

Right on!

I dig em but they aren’t very useful for land nav in the move, IMO.

Hard to argue with that!

Appreciate you adding in to the conversation! I think when I use the words, I may say something like “check your bearing” or “check your azimuth” in which case they may be interchangeable. Like many similar words they also have differences as noted.

@@STOKERMATIC Word. Thanks for doing the videos. They're very helpful!

The one you know how to use and the one you have is better than none...

@@davidlee9299 Agree

Thanks Bill!

Me too!

Thanks for your kind words! At the end, both point north, so I’m not sure ones better, but what are we used to using - I’m a lensatic guy too, though I love some of the features of a baseplate. I too carry both!

@@STOKERMATICI have watched your videos about land nav, as well as the grid cordenances video. I think that you should do a video on topography maps reading and plotting. Since terrain / mission can dictate that a person may not continue in a straight line. I saw a hikes gone wrong were a guy and I assume (b/c it was not stated) his gf. They lack anything close to situational awareness and end up in a group of trees all of which had at or above shoulder lvl scratches. I mean deep scratches. Every tree for 40 ft in east west trail they took ( guessing to ford easier but they did not exactly explain why.) My only idea is they did not know how to find a BETTER place to cross at from not reading the contures or the obvious signs even I could see on my smartphone screen. So it came as no surprise at all when they meet a 5 ft tall black bear. If they had read the map topo correctly the first time then they would have known that the ground went up on 3 sides and the only quick exit (well quicker) following the steam down and guess where Mr bear came from? So a long Story shortened. I believe a lot of ppl would benefit from a 2 part video on how to read the topo and plan accodingly. Combined with a reading your A.O. /O.E. for general situational awareness. Those would be awesome vids. Btw really liked the home made fire starters how to vid. Keep the great vids stocked brother. Have a good rest of your day.

Wow! Thanks for such a great contribution to the conversation! If you check out my playlists, you I’ll find some I did in 2019 - I do plan on some more this year as well because I agree that that if we know our area, and know how to read a map it can save a ton of time - energy, and increase security.

@@STOKERMATIC Thank you for the reply. I did just find your reading topo maps video. I guess I should have looked through the playlists more thoroughly prior to recommending you make a video. Sorry about that, I do think you could Do land nav vid for new butter bars, because land nav does not mean call the platoon Sergeant when the Lt gets lost. 😎

Hey, no worries! I actually want to continue to refine some of the ones I’ve already done and expand in some new areas. I’ve been toying with developing a LandNav Master Class - a series of 10-15 vids, include map, protractor, compass and pace beads... Still in development mode, but I think it may have a market.

Very interesting! Lost of compasses out there. I’ll pick up a cheapo one to do a review because I agree - most are garbage. Appreciate your generous words too brother! Been a while since I’ve been in Italy. 🍷

@@STOKERMATIC I hope one day I ll have the opportunity to come and visit the US' beauties!!! Thank you for your kind reply, have a nice day! R

I just bought this compass from Decathalon. I am abroad and look forward to using it. I wanted a bigger bezel for winter use and larger numbers.

@@stevemulholland1532 I agree with your statement, even if I have never had' particolar problems during on-field use. Moreover, I would say I quite reconfirm what already said: it's cheap and slow, but reliable. In these months I've stressed the compass in every condition (hot/cold, rainy/sunny, day or night etc.) and altitude (Sea level up to 2500m) and I've always reached safely my destination. You can trust your new compass, you'll have fun with it. R Ps: Double check is Always recommended: magnetic anomalies or reading errors are not immediatly recognizable due to the needle moving smooth and slow.

I have busted a Cammenga - but for the most part they are king in the field!

@@STOKERMATIC Well, still have to keep in mind, it is a precision instrument and should be treated as such within reason.👍

@@ericdee6802 what compass do you recommend that can tell me precisely/accurately magnetic north? I read that the quality of compasses went dramatically down since 2010... are out there quality accurate ones that will stay accurate a life time or at least a few decades?

@@incorectulpolitic I'd stick with the Camenga. finding the "Utmost" accurate you probably couldn't carry it, that would be a Maritime compass, which will run $THOUSANDS.... As for durability and price, if its tough enough to guide our troops to safety in battle, Camenga is the one.

@@ericdee6802 isn't tritium in the Cammenga radioactive? Are you not concerned?

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Don’t know if it can refurbished. But Cammenga may. Appreciate your service!!

Obviously!

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