Cammenga CGJ582T-BRK Tritium Wrist Compass - Multi-Colour, N/A

This review covers the tritium lit wrist compass model J582T manufactured by Cammenga in America - the current title of this listing saying "Cammengacammenga" is an error.This particular compass is official issue to the US military. That doesn't necessarily make it perfect in every way, as I shall explain in a moment, but it does indicate a reasonable level of robustness and utility. The base and body of the compass is made from machined aluminium and the lens is plastic. It comes supplied with an 18mm wide black NATO style nylon strap that's 240mm long excluding the metal buckle. The compass housing is 30mm in diameter and 12mm high. The rose is marked N,S, E & W and has phosphorescent graduation points at every 10 degrees. The north cardinal has a tritium batten and the fixed lens has two tritium battens in the same axis as the strap, one top, one bottom.The good points about this compass are the quality of construction and the tritium markings. Finding ones way in low light or even total darkness is easy because the tritium markings constantly emit a green glow, and their service life is last at least 10 years. Ten degree graduation is perfectly fine for general navigation unless you're involved in detailed long range navigation, accurate triangulation or sighting. And if you are you'd be carrying an additional larger and more accurate prime compass anyway. Remember that military personnel have navigated across whole continents using way more basic button compasses when they've needed to. Five degree accuracy is perfectly possible with the Cammenga.What I dislike like about this compass is the rattle! I really wish it was oil filled to both damp the movement and prevent the constant rattling noise. This isn't a compass to be carrying in covert situations where any slight noise can give you away. For that I'd recommend the slightly smaller Silva 40NL which I also own. It's completely silent and a wonderful piece of equipment, but very sadly out of production at present. Hopefully Silva will bring it back.Unless you've used one, you possibly don't fully appreciate how useful a wrist compass is. It enables me to orientate myself and navigate around unfamiliar terrain. Such a tool is a major advantage when exploring new towns and cities too, because I always know I'm walking in the right direction. Trudging south in pouring rain to a tube station in London, only to discover you've just walked a mile north in error, and now have a wet two mile walk in the opposite direction, is both incredibly annoying and time wasting. It once happened to me, which is why I bought a wrist compass in the first place. It also assists me with navigation when driving without a Satnav.Overall this is a good compass and one worth owning. It's extremely useful in everyday life and could very well save your life in an emergency or survival situation. It would have been so much better though if Cammenga had oil filled it, but that omission, and the resultant constant rattle lose it one star. I'm not the only user to express this opinion, so I hope Cammenga take notice and upgrade their product. If they do so it would rate as a superb 5 star purchase, but at present it does not.