Experience with Cammenga military compass?

dialton

dialton

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I would really like to only buy one compass. This is not like "the perfect knife never ending search" that I am constantly on. I want a sturdy, long lasting quality tool that I don't have to worry about. Put it in the pack, don't worry about it and know that any time you pull it out to use, its good to go. It doesn't have to inexpensive, have all the unnecessary bells and whistles. or be pretty. The military chooses them so my question is: Are they a last a lifetime, should never fail, solid choice tool? Is the tritium worth the extra money over the phosphorous paint model? Your personal experiences please.

Edit: I have looked thru the compass threads and realize that Silva and Brunton are the picks for a lot of people. This is more specifically about the durability, longevity, and likelihood of failure, IE no bubbles, breakage etc: on the Cammenga's brand. If you would choose another type or brand, why is more important to me than which brand or model.
Thanks guys
 
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I have a few of the Cammenga compasses...tritium versions. Well worth the money. I've used them off and on for the past several years and many times for land navigation courses and specific field exercises. I've seen some really beat up Cammenga's and they keep ticking. Honestly, I have a nice Silva for backpacking, but my Bug Out Bag, Deployment Bag and IOTV all have the Cammenga compasses in them. They're big, bulky and heavy, but functional, durable and dependable.

I would recommend the tritium, but that's only because I've done night courses and in "tactical" environments. If you don't foresee doing a lot of traveling in low light or expect to be in situations where light-discipline is necessary, the non-tritium version is a good value and just as functional.

ROCK6
 
Thanks for the feedback guys. I know there is no "one fits em all" in most anything but I figured a few of you would have owned and used them and have some insight.
I currently have no plans to do any night traveling but unexpected things do happen.
 
Get the cammenga tritium compass. I have one and it is my pride and joy. It is my favorite compass. The others hardly ever get used anymore. I have a silva type 20 that I have had longer and is semi retired because of the cammenga is just so much better. Metal vs plastic. In the end they both point north.:)
 
The tritium is a total waste, unless you're doing night-time land nav.
Matter of fact, paying extra for an expensive lensatic compass like the Cammenga is a total waste unless you're navigating cross-country without benefit of a trail, shooting and following an azimuth. For use with a trail map, you might as well have a baseplate compass that costs and weighs much less, and is more compact.

I'm not picky about the particular model, because most of my compass use is straightforward and simple. I got a Silva Polaris ~25 years ago as a Boy Scout, used the Cammenga or equivalent in the Army, went back to the Silva as a civilian until I lost it somehow, and replaced it last fall with a Suunto M3-D.
 
I like the Suunto KB-14/360. It is very compact, very precise, very fast to deploy, and bulletproof. The Tritium in mine only lasted 10 years. A small flashlight solves this problem.
 
I thought compasses were as dead as dial phones...

Compass story:

Way back when I was in the army, '64-'67, I was in the Third Infantry Division as a medic. The infantry lads had to participate in the Expert Infantry Badge testing, which involved doing all those infantry-things in front of judges. If you got a good enough score, you'd get the little blue badge..
We thought that was great fun, watching the guys struggle with the required PT test and all.
Then, the Division Surgeon decided that us medics needed their own badge... The Expert Field Medical Badge. Jeez....
So, we all had to pre-qualify with a written test and a PT test and all that nonsense.
Then they shipped us all off to some ungodly training area to take the actual test where we had to deal with simulated wounds and proper treatment and triage and carrying 200-pound GIs on stretchers and all that.
The final "event" was the night compass course. We had all received basic compass-and-map training, and we had to follow a course at night.
At the end of each "leg" were three numbered poles. If you did it right, you ended up at the right pole and dutifully wrote the number down.
Nobody passed. Well, almost nobody. There were a few who got their medals. You had to get a passing score on all the segments to win the medal.
We talked to some of the guys who passed the compass course, and they all admitted they had just guessed as to the right poles. They had arrived in the general vicinity and that was it.
Later, we found that the compass course could not be passed if you did it right. They had laid the course out with the aid of an artillery plotting device. This does not take magnetic variation into account.....
We all protested, but the division would hear none of it. "Take the test again next year". Well, I was out by then, and never got my little blue medal with the medic symbol.
Haunts me to this day.....(well, not much...)
 
Buy the Cammenga tritium. Many folks think they will never need the night nav feature, but I have used it a bunch backpacking. Lightens the compass dial up when under thick canopy as well.

You will never get bubbles in a Cammenga, since there is no fluid. Being magneticaly dampened it stops rotating far faster. And when closed the dial is lifted up from the bearing and locked in place preventing damage from movement, jarring etc.

I back mine up with a small compass from trunord.com. again no liquid but it is not magneticaly dampened so it takes a while to calm down.

My compass as my knife is always on me. Not in my pack. Same with my other survival essentials.
 
Keep in mind that tritium vials are not forever; they have a rather limited, maybe 10 years, useful life. I do not see any comment about this on their website. Can the tritium lights be replaced? What is the cost of that?
 
The half-life of tritium is about 12 years. The human eye responds logarithmically so you can't tell the difference until something has dimmed to half its former brightness. So the tritium will not have dimmed noticeably until you've had it 12 years. It will take considerably longer before it becomes unusable.
 
I'm not a fan of the USGI compass unless I need very precise azimuths (call for fire anybody?). For a navigation compass, I would much rather carry a baseplate compass and be done with it.
 
For most of us a Baseplate compass with adjustable Declination and flip up mirror/sight is best for just compass nav only and awesome with a map since you can use it as a Protractor.

I have the Cammenga Tritium compass and say with confidence it is a great tool. But not as easy for the novice or the person who "uses one once-in-a-while". Some people get confused when under stress with the MIL and Degrees and it isn't as easy to use as a Protractor for the novice. Also the scale is set for the Military and not current Civilian Topos. Besides their expensive (but worth it) and heavy. Did I mention their heavy? And a bit bulky.

For novices who are semi serious and want a good piece of kit I recommend the Suunto MC-2 (yes it is global but the awesome self leveling and damping needle is worth it for those who just don't do a lot of compass land nav.) The MC-2 isn't as finicky with people holding it perfectly level. It is very forgiving in that deptartment.
 
I've had my issue compass with Tritium for 20 years. I pulled it out in a dark room for the first time in at least 5 years after reading this thread. The Tritium still glows but I couldn't even make out the E or W much less read the degrees. This is a bomb-proof compass that will get you exactly where you need go (provided proficiency) but is heavier and a bit of overkill for what I need now. I'm following trails and trying to find things like a mountain or river rather that going through the bush at night trying to find a supply drop.
 
It's a great piece of equipment. My Stocker and Yale, non-trit, (same compass, different mfg) is dated 1984. I've had it since at least 86. It has lived in a bag in my vehicle or my pocket since then. I just went and checked it, and looking closely at it, the degrees decal on the card is starting to peel a bit. (edit: After looking at it in daylight this morning, it appears that what I thought was a decal peeling looks to be a coupla small spots of some clear glue (for balance?). Nothing wrong with it after living in the truck for 25 summers and winters. Being a dry compass it has no bubbles. It still charges up good with a flashlight. A trit version will probably still glow a bit after 27 years, but you can't 'pump' it up with a flashlight.

Still, I may treat myself to a new trit Camminga. If a new one will go 27 years, I'll be 90 and probably won't be doing much 'night recon' in the nursing home. :D

I dislike liquid filled compasses. I've never had one that didn't develop a leak.
 
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night bushwacking with a compass and topo map is a blast.

the Cammenga trit model is on my to buy gear list soon.
 
Contrary to a few comments above the Cammenga's are easier to use than the baseplate models, as well as more accurate.

Cammenga has a review/comparison on their site where a bushwhacker in the UK compared the major baseplate models side by side with the Cammenga and the Cammenga came out waaay ahead.

landnav.org has a slew of free info on land navigation using the Cammenga.
 
I bought one a year or two ago. I discovered my old eyes are not good enough to make out those tiny numbers when trying to make a sighting. Fortunately I did not spring for the tritium version as it now just sits in my drawer. Hmm maybe it should go on the exchange.
 
It takes my glasses and the little magnifying glass in the compass for me to read the numbers. Dang! If you'd sprung for the trit one I would have bought it off you!
 
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