03-21-2005, 16:53
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#1
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Guerrilla
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Event Horizon...
Posts: 381
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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.
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ccrn is offline
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03-21-2005, 17:36
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#2
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Quiet Professional
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Colorado Springs
Posts: 4,511
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If it doesn't have tritium, it will become a real pain during night land nav.
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Razor is offline
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03-21-2005, 18:07
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#3
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Quiet Professional
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Free Pineland
Posts: 24,781
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Silva Ranger.
And you can use it while shaving.
TR
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"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat." - President Theodore Roosevelt, 1910
De Oppresso Liber 01/20/2025
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The Reaper is offline
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03-21-2005, 18:42
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#4
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Quiet Professional
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Posts: 20,929
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by The Reaper
Silva Ranger.
And you can use it while shaving.
TR
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Agree.
Still have mine....
TS
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Team Sergeant is offline
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03-21-2005, 20:23
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#5
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Guerrilla
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Event Horizon...
Posts: 381
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Is one model Ranger preferred over the other?
http://www.silvacompass.com/products.html
Thankyou very much for the replies-
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ccrn is offline
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03-21-2005, 21:38
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#6
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Quiet Professional
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Tampa
Posts: 2,496
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by The Reaper
Silva Ranger.
And you can use it while shaving.
TR
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Bought mine in '88...and it (the same one) is still my preferred 
As far as which one...there only used to be one 
Eagle
__________________
Primum non Nocere
"I have hung out in dangerous places a lot over the years, from combat zones to biker bars, and it is the weak, the unaware, or those looking for it, that usually find trouble.
Ain't no one getting out of this world alive. All you can do is try to have some choice in the way you go. Prepare yourself (and your affairs), and when your number is up, die on your feet fighting rather than on your knees. And make the SOBs pay dearly."
The Reaper-3 Sep 04
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Eagle5US is offline
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03-21-2005, 22:21
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#7
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Guerrilla
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Event Horizon...
Posts: 381
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Theres three now: Ranger Ultra 530, Ranger 515 CL and 515 CLQ-
Thanks
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ccrn is offline
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03-21-2005, 22:36
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#8
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Quiet Professional
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Posts: 20,929
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by ccrn
Theres three now: Ranger Ultra 530, Ranger 515 CL and 515 CLQ-
Thanks
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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
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Team Sergeant is offline
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03-21-2005, 22:37
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#9
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Quiet Professional
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: LA
Posts: 1,653
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by The Reaper
Silva Ranger.
And you can use it while shaving.
TR
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Takes a hard man to shave on the move.
Yeah, but you know always where you are going. 
Didn't want to say that you could use it to shave with, but the big mirror sure is handy.
TR
__________________
Somewhere a True Believer is training to kill you. He is training with minimal food or water, in austere conditions, training day and night. The only thing clean on him is his weapon and he made his web gear. He doesn't worry about what workout to do - his ruck weighs what it weighs, his runs end when the enemy stops chasing him. This True Believer is not concerned about 'how hard it is;' he knows either he wins or dies. He doesn't go home at 17:00, he is home.
He knows only The Cause.
Still want to quit?
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NousDefionsDoc is offline
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03-22-2005, 00:11
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#10
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Quiet Professional
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Bangkok
Posts: 856
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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.
__________________
1st Platoon "Bad 'Muthers," Company A, 2d Ranger Battalion, 1980-1984;
ODA 151, Company B, 2d Battalion, 1SFGA, 1984-1986.
SFQC 04-84; Ranger class 14-81.
Last edited by magician; 03-22-2005 at 00:14.
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magician is offline
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03-22-2005, 00:21
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#11
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Quiet Professional
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Colorado
Posts: 754
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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.
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12B4S is offline
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03-22-2005, 10:58
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#12
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Quiet Professional
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Colorado Springs
Posts: 4,511
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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.
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Razor is offline
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12-31-2014, 10:16
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#13
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Quiet Professional
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Location, Location
Posts: 4,001
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Received an PM Qustion and thought I would share with everyone my FOG perspective. I'd be interested in other opinions especially on some of the new stuff that is now available.
Quote:
I have a question on tritium in a compass or a watch for that matter.
Seems to me to be a bit on the bright side to me, but by the same token I've seen some of the other (radium or whatever) not charge.
Would you have a tritium watch or compass? Why or why not? Educate me please.
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Well I'm no expert on Trit or Rad. I do remember being on point during a patrol aggressing against ROK marines. They had the new Tritium front sight posts on their M16A1s. Saw a dozen glowing green dots all in a line as they laid in their ambush position. Doom on them! This was using unaided eye night vision and not the PVS3 stuff they had then, let alone today!
Another example was using an illuminated lensatic compass on a cord and whirling it over your head to silently signal your location during night ops. Today they would use a chemlight I guess, but you see what I mean.
Point is, in a tactical situation, you must factor in everything into your light/noise discipline. Illuminated equipment is great, but you must keep it covered when not in use and defiantly don't be waving it around at night. Don't forget glare during day ops.
As a civilian today I love luminescence for night work.
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It's Never Crowded Along the Extra Mile - Wayne Dyer
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MR2 is offline
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12-31-2014, 17:02
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#14
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Area Commander
Join Date: Nov 2005
Posts: 1,403
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Bought a Silva Ranger for my nephew's son for Christmas. It had a leak in the housing that caused a bubble big enough to cause problems. I returned it and the replacement had the same problem out of the box at room temp.
They've also taken the magnifier off the baseplate. Silva has a problem. Thankfully, Amazon makes refunds a piece of cake.
PS: ultimately gave him a Suunto A-10, which is probably a better first compass anyway.
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mugwump
“Klaatu barada nikto”
Last edited by mugwump; 12-31-2014 at 17:10.
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mugwump is offline
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12-31-2014, 17:15
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#15
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Area Commander
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Cochise Co., AZ
Posts: 6,177
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mugwump
Bought a Silva Ranger for my nephew's son for Christmas. It had a leak in the housing that caused a bubble big enough to cause problems. I returned it and the replacement had the same problem out of the box at room temp.
They've also taken the magnifier off the baseplate. Silva has a problem. Thankfully, Amazon makes refunds a piece of cake.
PS: ultimately gave him a Suunto A-10, which is probably a better first compass anyway.
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Mug, check out post #50 above. 
Pat
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