I have some more questions on the Cammenga military compass (I'm trying to decide between this lensatic and the Brunton 54LU as a request for a Christmas gift). Don't know if anyone can answer it though (Leigh you did a review on the Cammenga, and others here say they have (had) this lensatic, so maybe ...)

My eyes aren't the best in the world. Pretty nearsighted. Five or six diopters or so. And I have progressive bifocals on top of that.

I have no idea if anyone is in my same "blindness" situation (?!), but how easy is it to focus the rear sight on the Cammenga so you can read the bearing when sighting? I've read that you need to adjust focus on that rear sight by tilting it to more or less of an angle. It this tilting quick and easy, or difficult and tedious?

There's a pretty nice article on how to use the Cammenga and the Brunton on this webpage: http://www.kifaru.net/plot_blust.htm Scroll to the very bottom of the page to see the instructions on sighting bearings. There is a companion webpage that talks about the three compasses that this person recommends: http://www.kifaru.net/compass1.htm (One of these three compasses is way out of my budget however!)

I would love to check out these two compasses side by side to compare them, but I can't find a local dealer that has even one of them - much less BOTH for an actual comparison. They will have to be mail order purchases.

Here are my thoughts these two compasses, and the model I *think* would be the "winner":

Durability (winner: Cammenga, probably by a great amount)
Price (Cammenga - for the non-tritium model)
Dampening, liquid vs. induction (Cammenga, 54LU liquid might leak or bubble)
Sighting graduations (54LU: Brunton 1 degree, vs. Cammenga 5 degree)
Weight, size, "klunkyness" factor (54LU)
Protractor capabilities (54LU)
Declination adjustment (neither, I don't need this personally)
Compatibility with nearsightedness and bifocals for sighting bearings (???? - this it the biggie question for me.)

The Cammenga is focusable (at least in theory). The Brunton is not. The Brunton may be just fine for my eyes, or totally unuseable. I sure wish I could find these two compasses locally for a test! Any experiences or opinions from others would be most helpful.

I'm not sure which Brunton compass you're referring to, but the Brunton Eclipse compasses (8097, 8096, 8099, 8099 PRO) all have a magnified bearing read out area, which is really nice for those of us with aging eyes.

Ken K.

It's this one:

http://www.brunton.com/product.php?id=101

The unique thing about it is the sighting system, much like a lensatic. The webpage below has a graphic at the bottom that gives an idea of how it works:

http://www.maptools.com/products/54LUCompass.html

Since you are using a GPS, upgrade to a baseplate compass with UTM scale for plotting UTM coords on a map. The GPS I use for hiking is a non-mapping Garmin Geko set up in UTM which I can plot directly on a chart. Then I turn off the GPS and navigate with chart and compass.

Some folks navigate with GPS as primary. I prefer to navigate with GPS as back-up; it saves on battery life and keeps compass/map skills from atrophy.

I currently use the following for reading (and transferring) GPS coordinates to a map:

http://www.maptools.com/products/UTMGrids.html

A compass with this built in would be a bonus.

That MapTools website ( http://www.maptools.com ) is pretty nice. They have a good basic tutorial on UTM. They also sell some nice tools like the grid overlay above. Many of these tools are downloadable as PDF's if you want to print your own (on transparency film). The ones they sell are much heavier duty than ones you could make yourself printing the PDF's.

should try the very accurate British Army compass.