Like most experienced soldiers who served in an elite Airborne, Ranger or Special Forces unit. I, too, have spent my share of time in the boonies and know the difference between good & bad equipment. And if there's one piece of US military equipment that has always worked well for me and that was my trusty good ol'US military issued lensatic compass. And no matter where I was deployed in the world, the jungle, desert, forest or in some ass deep snow, I knew I could always count on my US military lensatic compass to guide me and my soldiers to wherever we needed to go. It’s a great compass, very accurate, durable and easy-to-use with just a little bit of practice. In fact, I am still using today the same military lensatic compass that was issued to me back in 1981 when I was a Platoon Sergeant in "C" Co. - 3rd Plt - 1st Battalion 509th Airborne Battalion Combat Team. But please don’t tell Uncle Sam or the Army I still have it because I lied and told my supply sergeant I lost it when I really didn't. Yea, it may be a little bit beat up, but only because I've dropped it a few hundred times or more on the ground, but it still works great today. And nope, no way would I ever think of selling or trading it in for another one, no way!

But it’s not the only compass I have, I own dozen or so other types of compasses laying around the house somewhere. Some are commercial, some are military and some are military "styles" and “replicas."No, I didn’t buy’em to use out in the field, I bought'em to figure out which ones are good, which ones are poor and which ones are bad and nothing but junk. Take a look at these compasses below and try to figure out which ones are the good military lensatic compasses and which ones are bad replicas.

"A" is a Tritium, one of the first lensatic compasses to be issued to our troops in the 60's and can still be found in use in the military.
"B" is a Cammenga, a commercial made lensatic compass that meets DoD standards and is accepted for use by the US military.
"C" is a Stocker & Yale, another commercial made lensatic compass that meets DoD standards and is used today by the US military.
"D" is one of few commercial manufactured military lensatic "style" compasses that works fairly well but I wouldn't bet my life on it.
"E" is one of many poorly made commercial manufactured military lensatic "replicas" that are only good for determining the four basic cardinal directions of North, East, South and West and nothing more. These are the same type you'll find selling on eBay or at some flea market for a few bucks.

For a compass to meet Department of Defense (DoD) standards.. so it can be purchased and used by the US military and assigned a national stock number (NSN 6605-01-196-6971) so it can be ordered through the US military supply channels. It must: (a) be in a metal hinged aluminum case, (b) have an induction dampen needle that stops moving in 6 seconds or less, (c) contain no liquids, (d) has a thumb loop for stability, (e) a magnifying lens & sighting bracket for reading the dial in both degrees & mils, (f) and either phosphorescent painted markings requiring external light source or self-luminous markings requiring no external light source.

WARNING - BUYERS BEWARE! Don’t be mislead by sellers trying to convince you their military “replica” or “style” compasses are just as good or better than a DOD approved military lensatic compass. They’re full of shit! They might look pretty and seem reasonably priced, but if they’re made in China, Russia or some other third world country and or they don't have the name of a reliable manufacturer stamped on it.... they are nothing but cheapass worthless imitations. I have purchased no less than a half dozen of these military lensatic replicas/styles on eBay and they all have one thing in common. The compass dials are off between 7 - 14 degrees or more. This may not sound like a lot, but if you plan to use one of these cheapass compasses with a topographic map, the further away you have to travel to get from Point "A" to "B" the further away you’ll be off to the LEFT or RIGHT of your final destination.

In the military almost every experienced SFer, Ranger, and Infantry leader knows that it’s almost impossible to stay precisely on an assigned "dead reckoning" compass heading/azmith. Therefore we have in the military what is called a 3 degree margin of error. Which means while using a compass you will most likely and unintentionally deviate 1 - 2 degrees off to the left or right of your compass azimute setting but you should still be able to arrive right on or close to your final destination. But when a compass [dial] is off by more than 3 degrees like most of these cheapass eBay military lensatic replicas/styles are... that’s totally UNACCEPTABLE.

How can you determine if these compasses are way off or defected? The only way you can tell is by acquring a DOD approved military lensatic compass and then pick out a distant target like a tree and see what the azimute is in degrees from where you are standing to that tree. And then take the other compass and do the same thing, and if it's off by more than 3 degrees...then it's a defected compass and you should send it back to the seller and demand your money back.

And out of all the compasses manufactured throughout in the world, there is no doubt in my mind the standard issued US military lensatic compass is by far the most reliable and durable compass you can buy and own. Bar none! So if you’re looking for a good compass that will get you to where you need to go and back home. You can’t beat a good ol' DOD approved US military lensatic compasses with "NSN 6605-01-196-6971" and or “Do Not Open - Controlled Disposal Required” stamped on it to prove it's the real McCoy and NOT some fake, replica or style.

Now a long time ago, back in 1996-97 when I was training the Bosnian Muslim Army, I had some problems training them in how to effectively use a US military lensatic compass. Why? Well because most of them have never used a compass in their lives, not even during the Bosnian war.

Well after hours and hours of training they finally caught on how to use a compass and pretty good too. Except during the hours of darkness, at night. If they couldn't see something at a distance to sight their compasses on they just couldn't follow their compasses in a straight line. And the two "glow dots" that come with all military compasses just wasn't enough to help them navigate at night.   So what I did was take some cut up strips of glow tape and I glude them to the left and right side of the "sighting wire." And guess what? Yep, this little trick of mine seem to help them navigate better at night. What a difference a few thin pieces of glow tape can make, huh?

And because we didn't have enough US military lensatic compasses to go around for everyone, I purchased a bunch of non-military compasses. But they didn't come with any illumination markings and therefore they were considered worthless for night training. Or so my fellow MPRI co-workers thought...  And so yep, again what I did was grab me some more glow tape, cut out the pattern and size that I needed and then attached them to the bottom of these "see-thru" compasses. And yep, you guessed it, worked out great. Hooah!

NOTE: Regardless of the type of compass you own, as long as the top and bottom of the compass is clear plastic or glass and you can see right through it. All you gotta do is attach a piece of glow tape underneath it so you can see the magnetic needle and you can then use it at night. Good idea? You betcha! 

Now just to give you a "fast crash course" on how to use a compass.. (a) Place the compass in the palm of your hand (b) hold it level with the ground so the magnetic needle can move freely, (c) rotate the compass until the magnetic North seeking needle is directly in line with the letter "N" for north, (d) choose the direction you wish to travel in, (e) pick out a distinctive feature in that direction such as a tree, boulder, hill, etc, (f) look down at your compass to determine the azimuth (1-360 degrees) to that distinctive fearture and (g) start walking towards it. When you have arrived at that spot repeat these same steps over and over and over again until you arrive at your final destination. And there you go, that's how you use a compass.

Here are some of the compasses that come with my SOS Survival Kits that you can modify and improve on.

If you don't like the shape of my orange compasses, just cut'em down to the shape you want them and then use some sand paper to round off & smooth the edges. And if you don't want to wear my black compass attached to your survival necklace or keychain by a snap-on swivel, there's a plastic belt loop on the backside so you can attach it to your wrist watch instead. Is this cool or what?