Compass
 

I am looking at compasses for personal carry and while on drill.

Right now I like the Silva 360 lensatic.

Any opinions about this or others will be apprectiated. Please be specific about the compass you use and or would recommend.

This compass will be used for military land nav. I carry a small Silva 1-2-3 for basic orientation.

If it doesn't have tritium, it will become a real pain during night land nav.

Silva Ranger.

And you can use it while shaving.

TR

Agree.

Still have mine....

TS

Is one model Ranger preferred over the other?

http://www.silvacompass.com/products.html

Thankyou very much for the replies-

Bought mine in '88...and it (the same one) is still my preferred :lifter

As far as which one...there only used to be one :eek:

Eagle

Theres three now: Ranger Ultra 530, Ranger 515 CL and 515 CLQ-

Thanks

I went and had a look see.

The only difference I see between the 530 and the 515CLQ is the 530 has a "split sighting mirror, 1/20-inch and millimeter rules for mapping and silicone feet for map gripping"

I'd like to see the "split sighting mirror" on the 530.

The 515CLQ or the 530 will do just fine.

TS

Takes a hard man to shave on the move.

Yeah, but you know always where you are going. :D

Didn't want to say that you could use it to shave with, but the big mirror sure is handy.

TR

I was a little more minimalistic in my compass use. I just learned that way, and I preferred keeping my hands empty, so that I could hold a walking stick, or my weapon.

I used a Tekna wrist compass, and later, one made by some other company that I cannot remember now. That is all that I used. I had a military-issue compass on my web gear, and sometimes I hung it around my neck, and stuffed the compass into a chest pocket....or tied it off on my belt, and stuffed the compass into a chest pocket....but I got to a point where I pretty much used just the wrist compass, and my map.

My feeling is, only someone who wants to suffer the most twisted fate that Murphy can devise goes to the woods with just one compass. Always have a backup. Always.

Needless to say, this way of working with a compass means that you are terrain associating, not merely walking distance and pace count.

I guess that one reason why I preferred working this way is because it helped free me from focusing on the compass. It helped me learn to keep my head up, which is always a good thing in the woods, and it helped me really LOOK at the terrain, and really see it.

With time, I learned to move with just the map in my hand, (in a plastic bag and tied down to my body, of course), folded to just the "lane" that I was working in, with left and right boundaries and a limit of advance. After I got practiced, developed a feel for the terrain, and felt synchronized and confident in my map recon, I put the map away entirely, and just remembered my general direction of travel, and the terrain features that I would be using to remain oriented.

As I hit significant points, or took a water break, I would break the map out and confirm location, recon my route ahead, and then put it away again.

Over time, it got to a point where I was able to walk through the woods for extended distances only occasionally consulting my wrist compass.

Troy Trek really, really refined my skills. I loved that freakin' event. It was one of the coolest things that I ever did in the military.

I wish that I could go back and run it again.

:)

Damn, I have been away a long time. When I got out, I took my issue compass with me and used it until it was stolen somewhere in the 70's. I checked the website and read your posts, those are fantastic. Catch up time, aaaaagain.

I agree wholeheartedly, Magician. I really enjoyed Trek (we did it at Ft. A.P. Hill), but not only for the navigation; I liked spending several days alone relying solely on my own abilities to get around in the woods. Well, except for that one 14km leg on Day 1.

I really liked being solo, too, brother.

I covered some serious distance....but I ate some great chow, built some awesome fires out in the middle of nowhere, slept my ass off, and really....just enjoyed the wilderness. It was delightful being solo out there.

I could have killed myself and completed the course a lot faster....but what would have been fun about that? I will not say that I took my time...but I did not murder myself, and when I finished the course, I was in good shape. I could have sustained that pace of cross-country movement for many, many more days.

My classmates....they ALL humped like their hair was on fire. And they were all limping around Mackall afterwards, in real bad shape, all beat up, feet banged up, smoked.

I learned something from that. I was mission-capable. They were not.

Hmmm.

But there was just something....about busting brush by moonlight through the thick shit....and walking right up on a point in the middle of the night. After getting my next point....pulling off a couple of clicks along my line of march into low ground, and taking it easy.

It remains one of the high points of my military life.

What a privilege to go and do that course.

:)

Silva Ranger: Can't go wrong with it. Mirror can be used for emergency signal mirror or shaving.

The issue compass is good to have as well! I still have mine. :munchin

OK, where does one purchase the Ranger Ultra 530. Tried the website, got the run-around.

My son is headin ta the 'Stan inacuppola months, want him to have the best.

Thanx.

Toby