I also teach a pretty extensive land nav course, and I have to agree with Dannyboy.
Baseplate (or thumb compass if you are going to adventure race) is really the way to go.
Most people that navigate with the Cammenga (or lensatic compass) are doing gross navigation. If you try to perform the same detailed navigation with a lensatic that you do with a baseplate, you are going to seriously complicate your life.
Let me give you an example:
You know where you are at on the map. You see a lake you want to go to. With a baseplate compass you do the following:
- Line the edge of your compass up with where you are at, and where you want to go.
- Spin the capsule until the meridian lines match the north/south lines on your map.
- Done!
Things to take note of this method:
- Orientation of the map is not important.
- Location of magnetic need is not important (you can do this on a metal table or dancing in a circle).
- You are simply using the protractor part of your compass. The magnetic needle only comes in to play when you shoot the bearing to walk it.
Why this is hard with a lensatic:
- Line up the compass edge to your route of travel, and the lensatic wants to give you a number. What does that number mean?
Option A) If you map is oriented north, then your reading is the one you need to travel. However, orienting a map in the field, then trying to spin and move your compass along your line of travel can be difficult. It usually goes like this: Orient map. Go to move compass
..shit! Did the map move? I am not sure, so I better re-orient. Okay, map is good again. Try to move compass along like of travel and spin. Shit
.did the map move! Repeat : ) Add on top of that rain, bugs, fatigue, and you get what I mean about this making your life complicated! Also to note that this method relies on the magnetic needle in the compass to give you the number. Which means that route planning can be difficult. Set your compass on the table some time and move it around. The needle will go all over the place. It is very HARD to find a table with no metal in it. If you decide to use a small clip board to make orienting the map easier, they have metal clips to beware of. With a baseplate, you are simply using the protractor (not the needle) and do not have this issue.
Option B) Have your number be relative to another number. Dont orient the map, but find out the reading for the north/south lines on the map. Use math (which I am not a fan of in the field) between that number and your number to determine what bearing you should shoot to get there. Sound complicated? I think so.
Another way around this with the lensatic is to actually carry one of the square map protractors. It will allow you to work more like my description with the baseplate. But, the way I figure is the lensatic is already bigger and heavier than a very nice sighting baseplate, why would I want to bring along another piece of gear to worry about and forget.
Keep in mind, that this was meant to be a simple example, and it is only one. Trust me, the baseplate compass will make your life much easier.
Nothing against the Cammenga. I have one, and they are very nice and rugged as hell. But, it seems that most people that use them are doing gross navigation. Such as I headed in Northwest, and I need to return Southeast." Most are not doing more detailed bearing taking or anything else to realize that it is more complicated than it needs to be.
Also, not to take away from the compass, there is a reason the military uses them. Besides the durability, they can be extremely accurate. They also have a scale on them in mils, which helps in accuracy, but also does make the math easier. Still, I prefer to use no math myself. Just letting you know how they use it there.
A couple other downsides (in my opinion) about the Cammenga are:
- Non declination adjustable. The better baseplates are declination adjustable and can make life so easy!
- Dial is only in 5 degree increments : ( Why have such an accurate sighting compass, and then have guess that much at your bearing? Most baseplate compasses are 2 degree increments, which very accurately lets you split that for 1 degree of accuracy, and without much trouble is very easy to determine bearings to 1/2 of a degree. Much better system IMO.
- Magnfiying glass will not start a fire. It is too weak. I realize that this is not the intention of the glass, but why not have everything multi-purpose.
With all that said....I strongly recommend a baseplate. You have a good one there, so no worries.
One other thing to note, I love the global needles on the Suunto's. Not because I travel the world frequently, but because the separated needle/magnet design is very forgiving for hold angle and also causes the need to dampen super smooth and super fast.
I don't know if I covered stuff as clear as I think I did. So, if you have any questions.....shoot away.
B
