Navigation: Compass Round Up. Francis Barker, Cammenga, K&R, Silva, Marbles.
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 30 พ.ค. 2021
- In order to navigate competently you need to start with a good compass. In this video, I go over a few types of compass and different manufacturers and then make my recommendations.
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It's interesting after a life time of using a baseplate compass around the world on various fun trips in the big mountains I recently bought myself a new Francis Barker M73 as a present to myself. I always wanted one ever since I was a kid in the 70s - it's just a lovely piece of kit and a real pleasure to use - of course it's totally unnecessary and more of a faff with the needed protractor but still a lovely experience to use it - small pleasures as you get older .. :)
Totally agree, pretty much the same reason why I got one. Also, one of the few times when the product is as good as you hope it will be. Thanks for the comment!
@@bundufundi is the Francis Barker M73 liquid free?
from where did u get genuine Francis Barker M73 ?
@@incorectulpolitic No it is liquid filled, which is generally better for accuracy.
@@incorectulpolitic I got mine from a company called Silvermans in the UK: www.silvermans.co.uk/collections/camping-survival/products/prismatic-compass-m-73
But you might also be able to get them direct from Francis Barker. Failing that the Stanley military marching compasses do come up on eBay quite a bit and are pretty much the same thing but you need to check the condition closely.
I have used the normal range of baseplate compass's by Silva, Suunto, Recta ect plus the Barker while in the military. It doesn't matter which you use, they are all liquid filled and it's lottery when a bubble will develop. The Cammenga is a dry compass, so you will never get that issue. Cammenga also do a baseplate compass with the same dry capsule as they use on the military issue lensatic compass shown here..that is possibly the ideal compass for general outdoor use in civvie street...
I'm from Brazil. The most useful for my needs is a wrist version of Cammenga. Most of my hikes are around the Paranapiacaba village (a railway village built by British in 19th century), where the fog is constant and does not allow to see your own feet in certain moments. Even in the urban area of this village (surrounded by forest) you can be disoriented under heavy fog.
I also have some vintage military compasses like Bézard and Wittnauer. They are very rugged and accurate (80-90 years old and still working!).
Sounds like a fantastic place to explore! Thanks for sharing.
Great review of the various compasses, thank you. For hunting in the northern woods where weather changes rapidly, my primary compass is the baseplate compasses from Silva or Suunto m3 global and my backup Cammenga 3h tritium as the goto. The Cammenga has no fluid dampening that can develop a bubble in cold temperatures and is fabulous for getting out of the woods after dark from miles back with it's tritium components. The Cammenga is bulletproof and works at all temperatures.
Thanks for the comment! Exactly my thoughts, Silva /Suunto for everyday use and Cammenga for a more rugged option. I do love the feel of the Francis Barker though, such good quality but quite heavy.
Great subject Trev and an impressive collection you've got there. I haven't used a prismatic compass since leaving the forces along time ago now. Nowadays I always carry a Silva ranger whenever I'm heading for the National parks. A fantastic and very affordable piece of kit. Great watch mate. Atb, J 👍.
Thanks Jason, I agree, you can't go wrong with a Silva. As much as I love the FB I wouldn't take it on long hikes!
Great vid mate. 100% agree with your thoughts on the Silva. I've had the model with the mag glass, the Ranger 3, for about 8 years now. It was bought to replace a lost lensatic, and I haven't looked back. Durable, lightweight, accurate enough, simple to use. The mag glass is fun for my scout kids for firestarting and even can be used to take some interesting photos. Good job!
Thanks Kurt! They are great value for money and seem pretty bombproof, Iv'e had mine for a long time now and they are still going strong.
We use mils in the military for calling in artillery. But mostly use degrees for navigation.
I vouch for Silva. Always used them. Good for map work.
Very nice collection I had one of those marbles compasses pinned on the inside of the fly on my pants when I would jump from planes in the fire service I got the idea from my grandfather who jumped on d day in ww2 it’s not precise like you stated but in a pinch it gave me general direction and I would memorize back stops on my map so if all was lost I would at least have that to find my objective or at least my other other team members never had to test it out in a real situation since I never lost my camminga 3h compass but it was a little comfort knowing it would work after several test in training situations
My grandfather was also in the RAF in WW2 and was issued a small button compass and cloth map for escape and evasion purposes. He actually used it after their bomber crashed in Egypt.
@@bundufundi that was a nasty war I didn’t go into the airborne myself with the military I went into the standard infantry but I had several uncles and cousins that did I didn’t start jumping till after I got out of the marines and went into the fire service but I’ve always had an admiration of land navigation I have several compasses myself but my sunnto mc-2 and my issued 3h are by far my favorite for serious use I would really like to acquire a Francis barker but I haven’t had the extra money for one yet I really love the older turn of the century solid brass compasses
@@MBwelding I agree, the old brass military compasses are very nice. I did a year of National Service in an infantry battalion too. Good days for sure.
Just pick one... for light or heavy duty... i.e. and always compass.. pick it, get very familiar with it, and use it. And thus I'd pick a heavy duty one. I have both Baker and Cammenga... either one would go the distance and being so rugged you would not worry about it at all!
The Sunnto KB series compasses never get included in these reviews. They should be. In the seventies and eighties I used them extensively for layout for seismic exploration work. For me they are hands down a better compass than any military style sighting compass. There is a short learning curve, because there is no "sight" but once that's been mastered, they are handy to use and almost indestructible compared to the plastic models shown here with a lot of fragile moving parts.
Got a cheap side lens compass (a peeking lens in the side of the box), poor housing but good cell with 1° precision reading; low hysteresis and probably out performing those weird lensatic compasses.
In practice most base plate compasses will do.
The mirror is a great aid to sighting. You can check that the dog's still in the house while sighting ahead. That super expensive compass doesn't look easy to align to a map with no straight edges.
The Francis Barker is more geared toward military use and is used with a separate mapping protractor. The lightweight baseplate style compass is definitely easier to use and lighter to carry.
Hey Trev, what is the leather pouch you have there?
Hi, it's the pouch that was supplied with the Francis Barker compass.
On the francis barker, what is that notch on the finger loop for ?
The notch in the thumb ring is to enable you to get a straight line when aligning your compass with the lines on the map.
Where did you get the K&R compass? I am looking for one for my collection. Thanks for any information.
Hello, I bought mine from a company called Manufactum, link below: www.manufactum.co.uk/amplitude-compass-meridian-pro-a20245/. Not sure where you are based but they shipped from Germany to UK. Hope that helps. Thanks for watching!
@@bundufundi Hello I am from the United States. I tried to get information directly from K&R but the page wouldn't load properly on my phone. You have a nice collection. I have similar stuff but not anything like the K&R although there's a ton of imitations on Amazon and I have so far avoided the temptation to buy one and hope to keep it that way.
Francis barker makes a beautiful compass. They truly are heirloom quality.
Thanks for the information and have a great day.
@@michaelburke5750 Thank you! Definitely try to get the real thing, cheap compasses are always a let down. I recently added a Brunton transit to my collection which I got on a sale, that’s a fantastic US made compass.
@@bundufundi just looked at the page and they say:
"We regret to inform you that, due to Brexit, we are unable to accept orders from our UK customers."
I don't understand. I know as an American we have to be careful not to pay EU VAT.
@@stevek8829 That is quite frustrating, particularly as they have a.co.uk web page! You might have more luck going straight to the K&R website?
A cheap compass may not be great. But it will tell you the correct direction. A cheap compass is better than no compass.
Wrong the little compass are useful. I spent 21 years in the Army. I have used many different compasses. I still have my Lensatic Compass I used during Desert Storm to navigate with. I was issued a wrist compass. It was okay, but I prefer my U.S. Army Stocker & Yale military Lensatic Compass. I also had another wrist compass with cardinal directions. I navigated fin across the desert with that one alone. I have had tiny compasses that attach to my watch band, they keep me on track and are a backup in case the other better compass is lost or damaged. Most of the time it’s used to orient the map. Or give me a direction to follow. With a Lensatic Compass I can do a resection to find my position on a 1:50,000 scale map to an 8 digit grid coordinate. Around ten meters. Even with a compass that gives me cardinal directions. I can still get that level of accuracy by orient the map and measure sight using just the map and a straight edge. Aircraft are marine compasses are Marke at 5 degree increments. Hardly very accurate compared to a compass marked in mils or on degree increments. But I both sail and fly and use dead reckoning for both and have never gotten lost in the air sea or land. And doing navigation in a plane or boat is done over several hundred miles, not 5 to 20 miles or kilometers through the woods. I had a Silva compass that I used in the Army during field training exercise. One with a mirror. It didn’t hold up. It started leaking. A bubble formed and it became useless. I have also used a cheap compass that didn’t fail me. If you’re stuck out in the wilderness and all you have is that tiny brass compass. If you can’t find your way out using it then you shouldn’t be making videos about navigation.
despite how accurate it is, without a straight line to orient a map its oohh aahhhh shiny very shiny, and thats about it. the cammenga has the better outer design and temp rating but its a failure. the small dial with how the large the markings are leaves huge unacceptable gaps for estimation, seriously each mark is 5 degrees or 40mils..... thats horrible. even the magnifying glass is too small despite the holder having more than enough room for a larger one. the cammega really needs the dial and prismatic window of the francis barker.
Which compass would you recommend for somebody who just wants to find the precise/exact direction of the magnetic north?
@@incorectulpolitic if your looking for a good accurate compass you cant go wrong with the suunto mc-2. unfortunately they are quite a bit more expensive now. as long as your phone has a good to excellent gps signal then there are several compass apps that will work. my iphone 12 came standard with one and it seems just as accurate as my cammenga and suunto.
That's why there is a notch in the thumb ring to enable you to get a straight line to orient your map with your oohh aahhh shiny prismatic compass.
Would be nice if we could hear a single word he says…,
Also remember there are world compasses. Because most are only good in one hemisphere. A world compass is good anywhere on Earth. The military Lensatic Compass isn’t a world compass.