Which compass is better? USGI Lensatic vs The Baseplate

With the lensatic, would the $40 cheaper phosphorus be better for the long term?? No worries about tritium decay?? I see both on Amazon.

I bought a AOFAR compass model # AF-4580. I have no idea how to use it. It has a solid metal body and a magnified lens built just below the top of the compass surface that you have to look into to be able to read the outer numbers on the dial. It also has a level bubble so you can determine if a surface is level or not when using a tripod with it. The one I have is similar to your military version, but the AF-4580 seems fancier but just as durable as the military one you have. I would love for you to do a detailed video on how to use the AOFAR model AF-4580. This I assume is a type of lensatic compass.

Get both and have a partner well trained with both as well.

Cammenga tritium as main and a baseplate as backup (Suunto MC-9 Global)

Y knot beauxth.

What a beautiful tree!

i think the C, H3 that I got is a fake. doesn't float like the old ones i remember and also i can't lower the viewer to see the numbers without the needle disk flipping out and changing. also, it takes sooo long for the need to not roll left and right... if ya bump it trying to read it, it's like one of those new washers with auto lock on the spin. same case and everything but the face and the operation of it just sucks. what year was yours made? also, love the channel. just never needed to speak up. been watching for years! keep it up.

Both. If possible both.

Baseplate for map work, lensatic for all else…

I have found a base plate to be more useful. Lensmatic was what I grew up with but the base plate style seems easier to work with a map. Using it with a trekking pole gives me a steady base and I haven’t found loss of accuracy compared to the Lens.

Keep both! One is none 2 is one!

Great video! Kinda wish you would have talked a little more about the specific features of both, like determining azimuth for a specific object you're looking at and such

Does the tritium still light up after 22 years?

Had a cheap baseplate once and the dial was transparent as well. Can you imagine reading the dial in low light with the forest floor shining trough? I go for ruggedness and readability in low light without using a flashlight. No baseplates for me

And with a liquid filled compass during the winter it will freeze where linstatic compass made by Camanga will not freeze

A bubble in any compass makes me think it's 'leaky.

Can someone please answer the below questions?
- When conducting land navigation in open country, is the lensatic a better option? as you can take a bearing to another point far away for better accuracy.

Care now the floating Lensatic can be knocked off its float, especially if your walking with it open

Depends on the particular design. A baseplate could do everything that an lensmatic can except fold into a compact closed case. A typical lensmatic can't do everything that a baseplate can. A big part of the difference come from the basic materials used, one being transparent and the other opaque. . If a $75 baseplate compass were compared to a $75 lensmatic compass, there would be a clear winner.

Damn. That was great information. Thanks.
I’d like a compass for aligning an equatorial mount during the day. It must lie flat on a platform and true north vs magnetic north is important. But the difference between the two depends on latitude, longitude and elevation, so it varies from place to place. I don’t see how the flat compass can show you true north without that info.
Basically I’m still confused as to what to get.
Paul

Daniel Boone said he never was lost, but
he was a might confused for 12 or 13
days! ( ; )

Thanks.
Never in military, base plate has
Always worked for me, going back
to 1970.

I still use the compass I got in the army 25 years ago. It's a baseplate compass with a mirror.

Used a Lensatic when in the army, nowt wrong with it. But I've been using my same Silva Expedition 4 regularly for FIFTY years -still no bubble; don't bother taking into account grid magnetic angle in the UK because the declination is minimal (<2 deg) but could do so by manual correction if I had a critical triangulation. I'd be pleased to any kind of compass as long as I trained up in its use. Navigational training is more important than the type of quality compass. Just don't be tempted to use cheap ones or rely on the compass on your cell phone!

If navigating with map and compass via a grid system (MGRS or UTM), I don't really give a crap about true north (TM angle). I use grid north (GM angle) to magnetic north for figuring my declination. I cut my teeth with a Cammenga, but I usually run a mirrored baseplate these days....just much more versatile....but I still love the Cammenga...lol

In the 80, and 90's ( armoured recce)I used the 16dcl Silva. I used and still use now

Why not both.

Best compass is the one you can shave with. The baseplate with ZE MIRROR!

All of my charts have a declination diagram at the bottom left corner. I simply line up the left edge of my lensatic with the magnetic north line, and then rotate the map and compass together until the compass is indicating north. Then the map is oriented, and you've accounted for declination. Also, an azimuth and bearing aren't the same thing. An azimuth is your direction of travel relative to North, while a bearing is the angle between your location and a point (or between two points). You could be walking an azimuth of 30 degrees, but your bearing to your destination might be 310 degrees. The difference between your bearing and azimuth would be 80 degrees (and you'd be nearly a mile off course, haha).

Great video! For the record there is a difference between azimuth and bearing. An azimuth is always measured in a clockwise direction from north from 0-360 degrees. A bearing can be measured from north or south and is only measured from 0-90 degrees. I think it is technically a surveying term?

Bravo........how many compasses........three.......for safety.........if they point in different direction ......u have a safety check with back up....cheers

Iphone app.

I've always preferred the mirrored base plate compasses.

Good video. With modern Topo maps I’ve seen they have an enlarged declination scale at the bottom. You can lay the Lensatic along the declination angle and orient the map by turning the map and the compass until North is lined up on the compass. Then you can just take your bearing as you’ve adjusted for declination.

Great video. I'm only familiar with the common military lensatic compass. The other one merits a look. Thank you.

Base plate for map work.Geo for line of sight. Mud puppy for Skagit SAR.

😅 serious question to many of you here: if you had maps, did you ever feel you were lost without your compass? I seriously rarely have needed it except in dense jungle type forest without visible references but there I needed to count steps to know when I might hit the trail I wanted to find. Most other times with multiple references available such as forests, field shapes or churches on the horizon etc I don’t feel like I really ha eto whip it out?

Silva lensatic compass is very good. A lensatic makes it easier to get bearings with by aligning with topographical features. 😊

Great video. Thanks for sharing. GBU

Lensatic is an "engineers compass". Good for mapping operations as well as military and artillery woork. Base plate compass is designed for use with topo maps, including the scale and see through base. I don't like GPS or electronics, and I have been comfortable using a map and compass for 60 years. If you can't stay found with a topo map and compass you should stay at home. As a Eagle Scout and scoutmaster I like to challenge the GPS scouts in geocache and way finding, pointing out how it all came from the map and compass originally. The only thing I might want in addition to map and compass is an altimeter. Not an electric one. The last word on this..... " well, I was never lost, just a might confused once" Kit Carson

What about a Suunto base plate compass?

a dampened quality compass wins hands down

Just a small point on terminology. The north on a map is grid north ie north along the vertical grid lines. Therefore when switching between compass and map you are applying a grid north variation - not a true north variation

Beatiful jacket, share information please

I specifically have a Cammenga compass in my kit/belt. Also a Silva baseplate fluid filled type of compass in my pack. So, in essence I have both.

My military training has been with the Cammenga and it is held near and dear. I find it ironic that in my profile picture, you will find that same Cammenga compass somewhere on my LBE.

Airborne!

I very much prefer the good old USGI lensatic compass.

On a cross country Bicycle ride in 2004, weight was a paramount issue. I knew I would need a compass for confirming highway choices and the peace-of-mind the right direction gives. I included my grandfather's WWII Lensatic and ended up using it three times over the 2462 miles trip. I am not a purest on many things, but despite the fact that it has sentimental value, I choose the trusty Military Lensatic every time.

I tend to go military as well, there a reason they have been used for years, also have the sunto mc2 also but pretty mych use the cammenga 3h thank for video

Where can I get a protractor? Preferably under 3" that can pack into a small pouch on my chest with the compass?