Canadian Army Compass (Suunto)

[gorf]

Does anyone know where I can purchase one of these, with the tritium illumination. I have searched everywhere on the net, only to find SIMILAR compasses. On suunto's website they have almost the same ones, but are in degrees, not mils and also don't have tritium.
I'm at the piont of almost ordering a US tritium compass but I want to make sure whether or not the Canadian ones are available. Also is there a better alternative to the US compass, assuming I can't find the Canadian one? 

                                                                              Thanks,
     
                                                                                      Geoff

 

[aesop081]

Avoid tritium.  The PPCLI kit shop has a good compass in mils that you can order on-line.

 

[gorf]

The one on PPCLI is also tritium.

Does anyone know if the US compass will do the same things as the Canadian one will. I want one to practice with at home.

Also in a few weeks I will be doing my Navigation Ex. in Meaford, any hints, tips or tricks at all?



                    Thanks,

                        Geoff   

 

[Scoobie Newbie]

The new Suunto's have a new illumination paint on them.  You could always ask someone in QM stores where they buy them.

 

[aesop081]

The one on PPCLI is also tritium.

Does anyone know if the US compass will do the same things as the Canadian one will. I want one to practice with at home.

Also in a few weeks I will be doing my Navigation Ex. in Meaford, any hints, tips or tricks at all?



                     Thanks,

                        Geoff      

I'm holdintg the Brunton compass i bought online from the PPCLI kit shop in 2001 and it is not tritium. Wanna come and check ?

 

[gorf]

I'm holdintg the Brunton compass i bought online from the PPCLI kit shop in 2001 and it is not tritium. Wanna come and check ?

I'm not saying your lying.....I looked on the PPCLI website and they had two compasses that I saw. One was a wrist compass and the other one was a Nexus compass. Here's your proof.

http://kitshop.ppcli.com/product_info.php?cPath=26&products_id=237&osCsid=275397b798a445525de2940b10196ce8

The standard issue for the Canadian infantry soldier; a Silva Ranger with a new name.
Ideal for land navigation, using the 6400 mils system [sorry, not available in degrees], features tritium illuminated compass needle, sighting notch, mirror, and declination adjustment screw, tool and lanyard.

 

[Kat Stevens]

Also in a few weeks I will be doing my Navigation Ex. in Meaford, any hints, tips or tricks at all?



                    Thanks,

                        Geoff   

Your compass is always right, you are usually wrong

Kat

 

[kyleg]

Also in a few weeks I will be doing my Navigation Ex. in Meaford, any hints, tips or tricks at all?

Aim slightly left or right of your target. That way, since you usually end up a little off anyways, you'll KNOW that you're a little left/right of your target. This works best when your target is on a street, cause that way once you hit the street you can just follow that a little ways. Not the most tactical, but you'll always get to where you need to be.

Cheers,
Pinky

 

[Thompson_JM]

The new Suunto's have a new illumination paint on them.   You could always ask someone in QM stores where they buy them.

It could be that our QM is storing them wrong but we found on our last Nav Ex (thursday) that the paint is useless.. the only way to make it illumate was to shine white light on it. more specifically the white light of my streamlight Strion for about 10-20 seconds.... removing any tactical ability on a night nav, as well as impairing ones night vision....

though like i said, it could be that the QM might have stored them improperly or the people who drew them from stores didnt do something they should have.. I honestly dont know..

I do know that after using the the new ones, i miss the tritium... 

 

[48Highlander]

It could be that our QM is storing them wrong but we found on our last Nav Ex (thursday) that the paint is useless.. the only way to make it illumate was to shine white light on it. more specifically the white light of my streamlight Strion for about 10-20 seconds.... removing any tactical ability on a night nav, as well as impairing ones night vision....

though like i said, it could be that the QM might have stored them improperly or the people who drew them from stores didnt do something they should have.. I honestly dont know..

I do know that after using the the new ones, i miss the tritium...  

You're suposed to charge 'em up. Befoe you leave for your patrol, take the compass and lean a flaslight over the dial, then leave it in your hooch for 10 minutes or so.  The effect probably won't last more than 4-5 hours, but it's better than nothing.  I definitely still prefer our old radioactive compasses though.

 

[gorf]

The new compasses must only be issued in some places because I'm still using trituim......or so they tell me.

 

[aesop081]

The new compasses must only be issued in some places because I'm still using trituim......or so they tell me.

There's someone not doing their job where you are then as ALL tritium compasses were to be removed from the system.  Can't remember exactly what year that was ( 20o2 ?).  Whe had a rather big incident in gagetown where an old tritium compass was turned in with a batch of new ones and the base RADSO had a gigantic hissy fit.  Someone had lost their brand new compass on cours and decided to turn in one of the old tritium ones thinking no one would notice.......

 

[Thompson_JM]

You're suposed to charge 'em up. Befoe you leave for your patrol, take the compass and lean a flaslight over the dial, then leave it in your hooch for 10 minutes or so.   The effect probably won't last more than 4-5 hours, but it's better than nothing.   I definitely still prefer our old radioactive compasses though.

Like i said, we did end up charging them with our flashlight... but even a 7500 candlepower light illuminateing the bugge for abd 30-45 seconds, would only give us about 5 maybe 10 minutes of usefull "glowing" illumination.  thankfully it was just a training night and we were only there to refresh our nav skills... kinda..

had it been tactical we would have had a little more difficulty getting the darned things to work.

 

[qjdb]

A handy little trick for charging up the glow-in-the-dark material, that doesn't create such a large light signature, is to keep the compass lid closed, hold the flashlight to the bottom, turn it on, and shine it through the base.  This way, it reflects off the mirror and gets all parts of the glow-in-the-dark stuff evenly, you don't have parts that are not illuminated, etc.

Plus, if you cup it in your hands, you will release very little 'light pollution'

Cheers

Quentin

 

[chrisf]

There's someone not doing their job where you are then as ALL tritium compasses were to be removed from the system.   Can't remember exactly what year that was ( 20o2 ?).   Whe had a rather big incident in gagetown where an old tritium compass was turned in with a batch of new ones and the base RADSO had a gigantic hissy fit.   Someone had lost their brand new compass on cours and decided to turn in one of the old tritium ones thinking no one would notice.......

I've never used anything *but* the suntoo (SP?) tritium compasses... in various places... *since after* 2002...

While yes, it does emit alpah particles, is the *amount* of tritium in the compasses, or in the optical sights, anything to *actually* beconcerned about? Or should I be more afraid of radon gas in my basement?

 

[TCBF]

"While yes, it does emit alpah particles, is the *amount* of tritium in the compasses, or in the optical sights, anything to *actually* beconcerned about? Or should I be more afraid of radon gas in my basement?"

- What the heck are you doing using a compass in your basement?  Are the washer and dryer that far apart?  You Siggies crack me up...

;D

Tom

 

[Goober]

There's someone not doing their job where you are then as ALL tritium compasses were to be removed from the system.   Can't remember exactly what year that was ( 20o2 ?).   Whe had a rather big incident in gagetown where an old tritium compass was turned in with a batch of new ones and the base RADSO had a gigantic hissy fit.   Someone had lost their brand new compass on cours and decided to turn in one of the old tritium ones thinking no one would notice.......

Then why are all the compasses issued to SQ students at Gagetown tritium compasses?

 

[Grunt]

I recommend a Silva Ranger with mils.

 

[Thompson_JM]

A handy little trick for charging up the glow-in-the-dark material, that doesn't create such a large light signature, is to keep the compass lid closed, hold the flashlight to the bottom, turn it on, and shine it through the base.   This way, it reflects off the mirror and gets all parts of the glow-in-the-dark stuff evenly, you don't have parts that are not illuminated, etc.

Plus, if you cup it in your hands, you will release very little 'light pollution'

Cheers

Quentin

I was doing that.... regardless of the trick, a 7500 candlepower flashlight is gonna be bright no matter what you try...  ;D
keep in mind that the flashlight I was using to charge it up is roughly on par with the police issue stingers.
the Mag Light that my Sec comander was using wasnt having a very good effect on the compass so we went to something stronger.

anyways, regardless, i still miss the tritium......

 

[Fusaki]

I bought my Suunto compass at a place called "Travel Europe" in downtown toronto. The store is right across the street from the Mountain Equipment Co-Op (on King St, I believe). That said, I wouldn't know the first thing about radioactive stuff.

Also in a few weeks I will be doing my Navigation Ex. in Meaford, any hints, tips or tricks at all?

Sometimes people write the bearings and distances to their next waypoints on their compass mirror. Some guys agree with this practice and some don't. If you do, the best way to remove permanant marker on your mirror is to tap cigarette ash on it and rub it around, then rinse it off. This also works on laminated maps. Training doesn't stop when it rains, so don't be afraid to use permanent marker.

As for the actual NAV itself, get used to reading landmarks. If you can look at your map and see that from point A to point B you'll cross a road at 150m and pass some ruins (that are all over the place in Meaford) on your right hand side at 300m you'll build confidance in yourself and in your map and compass. If you can cut up a 400m leg into 2 or 3 150m "mini-legs" you're golden. Just be aware the blacktracks and forests are not often the best landmarks. Even if your map is only a few years old, the training area is always changing.

Also, if your instructor will let you, you can "handrail" roads and other landmarks. Lets say you look at your map and notice a crossroads 100m from your end point. Shoot a bearing to the road and follow alongside it untill you reach that crossroads, then shoot a bearing for that last 100m off into the bush. It may not be the most direct route, but its probably the easiest. Why work hard when you can work smart?

The hardest part of Land Nav is making the 2D-bird's-eye-view map in your hands into a 3D-man's-eye-view mental image. Look at the contours and say "that hill is about twice as high as that hill and these three hills are these ones I see to my front". Try and get a feel for what your line of sight should be from the map, then compare it to what you actually see around you. Try to concentrate less on your bearing and more on how your map compares to the actual ground.

Hope this helps.