Navigation Tools
With our upcoming Land Navigation Series - Two-Day Workshop, I thought it was important to put this information out to the Lodestone Community. This article is going to talk primarily about compasses and hopefully clear up some of the confusion that you may have when purchasing your tools.
The three most common types of compasses are Lensatic, Base, and Button. The Lensatic compass is your standard military compass, the one that I’ve spent many years depending on. The Base compass is your more traditional “Boy Scout” style compass. Your Button compass is just that, a button that gives you a general direction. There is a hybrid between the Lensatic and Base compass. I know that there are many more types of compasses, however we are going to stick to these three most commonly used types.
The Lensatic compass, in my opinion, is the standard. It is built for battle, it’s solid metal, and made for all weather conditions. You must be careful when purchasing a lensatic compass. There are a lot of knock-off and imitation compasses out there. Some things that you need to look at are first, does the compass contain tritium? It may be indicated by a 3H, that is the chemical sign for tritium. Second, it should have seven tritium microlights. Third, it should say shock and weather resistant. Fourth, it should have a rotating bezel. Another item to look for is the National Stock Number or NSN. The NSN should be 6605-01-196-6971. This is how the military or other government agencies order their compasses. I don’t like to say a specific company, however I have purchased from Cammenga, and they are made in the US. You can find their compasses on Amazon, Bass Pro, Cabela’s, etc. Again, remember to get tritium or 3H, not phosphorescent.
Some information about tritium. Tritium is a radioactive isotope of hydrogen. The nucleus of tritium contains one proton and two neutrons. What that means is this is an unstable hydrogen atom which makes it radioactive and glow in the dark. (I am not a chemist, but I think that’s how it works.) Tritium (3H) has a half-life of 12.32 years. What that means to us is that our night sights, compasses, and anything else that we rely on that contains tritium has a shelf life. About every twelve years we need to replace it. It still will glow, but not as brightly. Just FYI.
The Base or Boy Scout compass. This is totally usable for Land Nav. It’s just not as good as the Lensatic. It falls into the good category of good, better, and best. Things to look for— ensure that is has a rotating bezel and some sort of illuminating feature. Most likely it’ll be phosphorescent. You can spend anywhere from $10 - $60 on a base compass. The more expensive ones are not necessarily better. If I was going to spend $60 on an expensive base compass, I feel that it’s worth it to spend the extra $20 - $30 to purchase the Lensatic.
The Button or watchband compass. This is just a simple direction indicator. It’s like that little ball compass that we used to have stuck on the dash when we were kids. Yes, it’s going to give us a direction, but it is definitely a backup to a backup.
When it comes to finding our grid, there are many different tools out there. It is a product of how I was raised to say that the only one to use is the Military-style square protractor. It just works. If I can teach an indigenous soldier in the Third World how to use it, you know it’s easy. There are some great products out there that are created by backpackers and hiking enthusiasts, but they’re only made for a specific map scale or an overly complicated system. So, stick with the Military-style square protractor.
Other things that you’re going to want to have are pace count beads, a good mechanical pencil, a write-in-the-rain notebook, and a positive attitude. When it comes to purchasing your equipment, I know there is a lot of inadequate equipment out there and it can be hard to find the right stuff. You can read reviews and one person will say best thing ever, next person will say it’s complete garbage. So, I hope this article is helpful. I recently had to start buying my own equipment for land navigation and know the difficulties of finding quality products. I look forward to seeing you in the woods!
Chris