Discover How to Tell How Accurate Your Compass is

Is there a way to determine if your compass is pointing directly at the Magnetic Northern Pole? In this video, we'll look at an easy way for you to discover if your baseplate or lensatic compass has been cheating on you with another north!
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[@STOKERMATIC]

Team, a few notes: As an instructor, I’ve had over 1,500 Cammenga compasses in my hands over the years and only a VERY SMALL percentage has been off. Second - ensure if you are testing against a known good - and until you have a post established, I recommend testing more than one time. Have fun with it! Lastly, DO NOT check in an area that may be causing magnetic interference! STAY STOKED!

[@DangerousDaveyBoy]

I just bought a Cammenga 3H. I didn’t even know how to read a compass correctly yesterday..... now I’m watching all of your videos and others to get educated. And now compasses are far more useful than just pointing “north”. What an amazing tool.

[@STOKERMATIC]

Right on!!

[@mickd6942]

Not only was my compass cheating on me with another North it was having a threesom with South as well , great video very useful

[@STOKERMATIC]

🤣😂🤣

[@magi1969]

Umm, why is he assuming that the phone compass is an accurate reference? It's also not quite clear to me how a compass needle would have any significant deviation, if calibrated for magnetic declination. It can be demagnetized, but then it just would get slow or stop completely, not point off, except because of friction.

[@STOKERMATIC]

Marko, I’m. It sure why compasses get deviation. But as an instructor I’ve probably seen 1500 cammenga compasses. Of those only a very few had any deviation.

[@BushcraftEurope]

Exactly, this lad has no idea what he is talking about

[@ottomechanic1370]

Great video! Learned never take your equipment for granted. Test, take care of your gear your life may depend on it. Thank you.

[@STOKERMATIC]

Right on brother! 🥃 👊

[@vieuxacadian9455]

Thanks ! We Vets know that Our old GI adage of two is one and one is none always applies . carry 2 as Murphy is always around !

[@BarneyFife1776]

The only reason this video doesn’t have more views is because most people don’t know what the hell a compass is, but I for one am grateful for all this information

[@0utrider43A]

The GI lensatic compass has to stay within 3 degrees plus or minus. Any more and the compass is unserviceable. The best way to check for accuracy is to use a M2 to setup a known azimuth to test. I wear wire frame eyeglasses so that will effect accuracy

[@brien0008]

There it is! I have been waiting for this video for a while now! Great info, I knew there had to be a way to do this but didn't realize it would be this easy. Good stuff

[@STOKERMATIC]

🥃 🪓 👊

[@TheDenisedrake]

The first part was HILARIOUS!!! Okay, I know this would not be accurate, but have you tried to train yourself to sense basic compass headings? I've heard that our brains can recognize cardinal directions. Seems like a good skill just in case you don't have a compass.

[@STOKERMATIC]

It may be the end of the week before I can get to the post office. I think you can maintain your situational awareness and extremely in tune with your surrounds to the point where it may seem like you have an internal compass. But I don’t know if you could close your eyes get spun around and just point. Would be a cool super power if you could though!

[@joefennell7535]

Always a great one. I’ll check mine today. Thanks Top.

[@STOKERMATIC]

Right on Joe - shared some notes in pinned response after you did but BLUF - have fun, be smart, and trust your gut!

[@JeffMeadowsOutdoors]

I had to replace the screws in my new Cammenga because they were affecting the dial as the N got close to them. I guess you never know unless you test it.

[@STOKERMATIC]

Interesting! Good to be aware of - Thanks for sharing that!

[@magicman2324]

I was wondering, if you use your compass without a map for hunting just to get back to your vehicle, does it matter if it is off a little?

[@STOKERMATIC]

Being off a little won’t hurt much at all - depending on what your looking for, and what the environment is like. Doing a simple out and back while hunting, I wouldn’t foresee any issues - just make sure your preset it!

[@CraigDavies.]

What's giong on at 4.46 to 5.43 ? The base plate compass is way off. And the green one looks off compared to the line.

[@05generic]

I have heard and read that Earth's magnetic poles are moving about more than they used to. If that's all true and accurate then we should check declination every time when it's critical. Thanks for the phone tip.

[@STOKERMATIC]

It is moving at an accelerated pace towards Russia. Check NOAAs site for up to date declination for your area.

[@tracyrreed]

It is moving more than it has in the past hundred years but there have been times in earth's history when it has moved faster. Even with current rate of movement I don't think you need to calibrate your compass any more than once a year based on the change in declination. To find the magnetic declination in your particular area you can always look it up on a current aviation VFR sectional chart online. Where I am here in San Diego it's 11 degrees 30 minutes east declination. When I started flying here 20 years ago I think it was more like 14 degrees. So it has moved about 3 degrees in 20 years. In fact, when doing dead reckoning (pretty rare these days but not unheard of and is still an essential skill to be trained on) pilots take into account not only magnetic declination but also the compass error. There is a compass error correction card mounted beside every magnetic compass in an airplane. Most larger airports have a compass rose painted onto the airport which is calibrated to magnetic north. We physically put the airplane on that compass rose and point it exactly north and note the difference on the card. Then do the same for the other 3 cardinal directions and make those also. It can be off by a few degrees in each direction. The electronics and metals in the aircraft create magnetic fields which affect the accuracy of the compass and this is how we correct for that. So when flying a compass heading while dead reckoning you calculate the wind correction angle (crosswind) and add that in, then add in your magnetic declination, then add in your compass error correction in order to get the actual final heading you will be holding on the compass for the appropriate amount of time for your groundspeed.

[@STOKERMATIC]

Appreciate you sharing that!

[@paganphil100]

You should calibrate your phone's compass first.....if you don't it can be way off.

[@sandsock]

instead of the phone app. i took a usgs map, with a straight line of sight on my road. found my house, then took a bearing, down the side of the road, to the stop sign. that is just over 3/4s of a mile. then used my protractor to my map and figured out if the bearings were true, to the usgs map. my camenga and suunto , were within a degree. here is the kicker. i rotate my body just over 90 degrees left , to take a bearing at a distant tree. i was trying to find the approx distance by 11 rule. [ithink that is what it is called] / well this bearing shot underneath some really close 750k [big] electric lines, [maybe 100 yards away] the magnetic field from those electric lines were pushing teh compasses, different degrees off, from the same point by the road berm. because the bearing was perpendicular to the lines and i was standing so close to them.

[@STOKERMATIC]

Great tip!

[@Patriot-American]

Nothing worse than a cheating compass... You got to know when to cut bait 😄 Top, I didn't know you had it in you for such a Emmy moment! Great content and great knowledge for the kit... 👍

[@STOKERMATIC]

👊

[@moorejl57]

Did you get a new compass? I thought your Cammenga had a cracked dial cover.

[@STOKERMATIC]

Jamie, I have a few Cammengas!

[@moorejl57]

@@STOKERMATIC haha, they are so expensive that didn't even occur to me. I bought the 27 model since I don't mind charging it with a flashlight should I have to navigate in the dark on a hiking trail. If I ever do get hit with sniper fire, then I will be wishing I got the tritium model. I have not personally served in the military, but I respect and admire the people and the skills being taught.

[@stu281]

It’s true Navigation is a craft of errors. Stocker and Yale

[@STOKERMATIC]

I wouldn't mind getting my hands on one of their watches

[@ericdee6802]

Now that I have a thick black Sharpie mark down the middle of my Wife's new dinner table, My Camenga 3H rings true..lol Is there a way to find out how accurate a phone (electronic) compass is?, I do know that Aircraft compasses require calibration per the FAA , don't know if I would trust a device (phone) compass, what's your take on that?.

[@moorejl57]

If I remember correctly, the Cammenga is spec'd to be accurate to 2 degrees. The main source of error outside of magnetic interference is friction between the post and the floating dial, which can a problem if the post gets bent from dropping the compass while unlocked.The phone measures the magnetic field using a chip, so if they agree with each other, the chances are good they are both correct since they have different failure modes.

[@STOKERMATIC]

I think Jamie hit it on the head!

[@Patriot-American]

Cammega 3H: Accuracy +/- 40 mils => 2.25 degree's

[@ericdee6802]

@@moorejl57 I'd say that's pretty darn accurate.🇺🇸✌️

[@moorejl57]

@@ericdee6802 I did some more googling and it turns out that many phone compasses are pretty far off. So if the two don't agree, I put my money on the Cammenga being correct lol. Maybe just use a good baseplate compass as a reference.

[@incorectulpolitic]

I need to know if my compass is pointing accurately toward the magnetic north and south or not, how do I check that? What if I dont have a phone as a reference or what if the phone app is wrong?

[@STOKERMATIC]

Check out this video - I check compass error using a map and road - towards the middle ish of the vid kzbin.info/www/bejne/qZSkd4Waj5Wafqs

[@charliekrummreich3809]

I have a humvee lensatic compass I bought a while back for maybe $20.00. what can you tell me about this brand? How trustworthy is it? Should I start looking into getting a cammenga compass?

[@STOKERMATIC]

Never heard of that brand TBH. I can’t recommend Cammenga enough.

[@firearmsolutions46]

Have a question,I have been told not to get two compasses next together or store them together as it will affect their accuracy True or False

[@STOKERMATIC]

I’ve had compasses stored next to each other for years. If it’s had any effect, it hasn’t been noticeable.

[@firearmsolutions46]

@@STOKERMATIC thanks for the answer ,I value your input

[@AlienVisitation]

So your phone is showing magnetic north, right?

[@STOKERMATIC]

you can set it to show either true or magnetic

[@gunstarsightingsolutions1051]

iPhone compass is not consistent even after doing a figure 8 calibration.

[@rosarubea99]

You're using your phone as a reference. How do you know your phone is accurate?

[@STOKERMATIC]

Well- I’m using GPS as a means.

[@vm2463]

I don't get it, how you can trust your "iphone" more than military compass?

[@STOKERMATIC]

The idea is GPS using at least 4 satellites to determine location to within 1 meter. But I feel ya.

[@vm2463]

@@STOKERMATIC you see, the problem with GPS is that this system is both civilian and military. What this means, is that this system transmits the signal in a way, that when American cruise missile read the signal it it as accurate as it gets, but the system designed in a way that enemy can't put iphone in their cruise missile and guide it back to American base. You may have noticed it, when you're in downtown, or on interstate where it has layers of highway overpasses one on top of another on top of another, sometimes navigator gets confused and will show your location inaccurately. To compensate for this inaccuracy of GPS iphone is also uses triangulation by reading signals from cellphone towers, but that is not always accurate as in example above. However, there is a better way to test the compass. For example, one can purchase strong neodymium magnet, and make a "compass" themselves. The ideas behind is that the stronger the magnet the better it positions itself toward the magnetic north. For example, this neodymium magnet, can be placed in styrofoam and then placed in a plastic pot filled with water. In this case, improvised compass will show the magnetic north with great accuracy.

[@DangerousDaveyBoy]

Pick a point where you are then mark where you end up, and that’s literally better than GPS. lol. Skills.... they’re so cool.

[@BigMacOrange]

How do you know if the app is accurate?

[@STOKERMATIC]

It uses your GPS location. Under ideal conditions- that’s pretty accurate

[@SailingSarah]

No! Not the phone!

[@mihailvormittag3901]

👍

[@liberty2four2]

Can we trust these 'compass-apps' ? how do we know if these apps are accurate?

[@KiltPatrick]

I can guarantee they aren't as accurate as a dedicated gps unit.

[@STOKERMATIC]

Good question! I’ll have to do a show down on them all! The app I used uses GPS to determine direction, and I trust this particular one pretty well!

[@STOKERMATIC]

As accurate? Yes. As feature rich? No.

[@mikkio5371]

👍👍👍

[@STOKERMATIC]

🥃