Even as a boy, I have always enjoyed map reading. WHen the army showed me a topo map, I was in heaven.

[Snattlerake]

When I was commissioned into the army, I really enjoyed orienteering. Yeah, I have heard it all, "The most dangerous thing in the army is a 2nd Lieutenant with a map and compass". Since I have been out, I have been looking for a military lensatic compass like the one I used. When I find them they are $75 and up but are still usually Chinese knockoffs. The absolute only feature the US-made lensatic compass had that no other compass has was when the compass was open in the sighting an azimuth position using the flip-up sight in the rear aligned to the skinny wire verticle in the front, you could close the flip-up rear sight carefully and it would capture the compass at the azimuth you were taking at the time.

This feature enabled me not to have to strain my eyeball downward trying to find the azimuth. I could look at it at my leisure, then plot it on my map. I always fed in a fudge factor when I was orienteering of a few degrees depending upon terrain, either right or left of the direction I wanted to go so if perchance I missed the station, I knew it would be to my right or left depending upon my fudge factor. I usually used the magnetic vs true north as the fudge factor unless the terrain was against me.

Has anyone used a topo map in the manner instructed by this video?



To me, this stuff is fun.

 

[BearSitsInTheWoods]

I’ve got a weird thing for maps myself.

 

[Poke78]

Like Snattlerake, I was a 2LT with a map & compass and was absolutely determined not to lend any support to that old saying. Being in the Field Artillery, competency at map skills was key to safety to ensure you knew where you were so the fire support lands on the target, not your position. Orienteering was a training tool I used with my forward observers.

 

[2busy]

I've got one of these. Not wanting to sell

 

[golddigger14s]

Army compasses are GARBAGE. Get one like this.

https://silva-usa.com/collections/compasses-og/products/copy-of-ranger-2-0-compass-black

 

[Steelers Fan]

Here is a compass my dad had that I found in a drawer after he passed. Swiss made Meridian model MG-3002 Survey/Artillery Compass. The Meridian company operated from 1937 to 1956. The only instructions I initially found for it were printed in French or German. I looked up info on it years ago and this one in this condition was valued at $600-$800. It's not a liquid filled/dampened compass but it has a bubble level on the lower right corner that is. There is a pendulum pointer on swing arm for fast incline/decline calculations. There are 2 side windows (prismatic clinometer) for more accurate calculations that displays meters and yards. It is very difficult to take a pic thru the prismatic lenses (last pic) but the micro fine detail is stellar. It has six columns of numbers with varying graduations. I can't get them all in view and in focus. My dad was a radio/radar operator 1943-1945 on amphibious PBM Mariner sea planes in WWII. He lied about his age when enlisting (only 16, his 2 older brothers were in the fight and he was not to be left behind) and after several enlisting attempts he was successful. We never knew any of this till he passed away and his oldest brother informed us of his actions. This was also confirmed by military records and his family headstone and military markers show differing birth dates. I don't know if the compass was issued, captured or acquired but it's cool.

 

[Okie4570]

When I was in 5th or 6th grade one of my class mates brought a grandpa or great grandpa who knew how to use a sextant and we drove out where we had a clear view of the horizon, etc. Pretty interesting then even though I didn't know what all was going on. Wish he would have come back when I was a few years older and understood it better lol.

 

[WoodsCraft]

I have several GI lensatic compasses , and find them often times at flea markets for fairly inexpensive prices . The Cammenga compasses are the most common but I have a Stocker and Yale along with a couple of other makes as well . My most recent purchased as a Korean War era compass made by Superior Magneto at the Tulsa Flea Market . You can buy GI compasses for less than $50 if you're not impatient unless you go to a surplus store then you will pay the full tarrif.

 

[crrcboatz]

Got got with maps as an FO in Vietnam 2/2 Mech. Think I could still shoot in defcons if I needed to

 

[HillsideDesolate]

Army compasses are GARBAGE. Get one like this.

https://silva-usa.com/collections/compasses-og/products/copy-of-ranger-2-0-compass-black

THIS

Silva, Suuntu and Brunton all make good stuff at a fraction of the weight of a military lensatic. Plus they usually have a slope feature that is really helpful in avalanche terrain, not that this is an issue in OK.