All great outdoor adventures start with one step - and it always great to know what direction to take that first step in.  And if you're here, one of the first things you consider before you step out is what watch to strap on your wrist - and this is where our handy military-grade matte black PVD compass here comes in.
 
The compass here slides on your watch strap before you start your adventure, providing a rather useful and necessary tool for orienteering the journey.  Lightweight and compact, you might just forget it’s there - until you need it.
 
But don't take our word for it - this compass closely mirrors the design of the Waltham WW II and Vietnam-era military compasses USMIL service members - to include the secretive and highly classified Military Assistance Command, Vietnam - Studies and Observation Group (MACV-SOG) - were issued as part of their kit.  As documented in an article we wrote for Watches of Espionage (WoE), we tracked down and spoke with respected MACV-SOG operator, Michael “Magnet” O’Byrne about his MACV-SOG Seiko – and the strap compass he was issued along with it.
 
Upon arrival at the SOG’s Command and Control North (CCN) command in mid-1968 Viet Nam, O’Byrne was wearing a USMIL-issued watch.  Not just any watch, but a Seiko issued originally on a canvas (later replaced with a rubber) strap replete with matte Waltham Clock Company (W.C.C.) compass.  One of O’Byrne’s responsibilities during missions into Laos was to travel deep into the jungle – using his compass to aid in navigation – to surveil the Ho Chi Minh Viet Cong supply trail and place wiretaps along it to gather additional intelligence on enemy logistic movements and patterns of life.

O’Byrne told us he would wear his Seiko and W.C.C. compass, “on every trip across the fence because it gave off very little light, just enough to read the time and the compass still worked.”  In late 1969, on his last patrol leading RT Rhode Island, the compass would play an integral role (albeit in a less than traditional sense) during an operation that would earn him his third Purple Heart.
 
During a fire fight after an ambush, the W.C.C compass partially deflected North Vietnam grenade shrapnel from O’Byrne’s wrist, damaging the compass in the process and resulting in a dislocated shoulder, shrapnel embedded in a bicep, and a concussion.  He was left with a scar the size of a quarter on his wrist (still visible during our conversation).
 
As noted separately in WoE's"The Wrist Compass in SpecOps - A Brief History," the wrist watch compass is as timeless now as it was in the 1960s – “Underwater compasses had been used by divers for decades by that time but were cumbersome for clandestine maritime operators after leaving the water.  In the 1960s, numerous scuba diving brands including Aqualung, Dacor, and Scubapro produced simple oil-filled compasses designed to slide over a watch strap.  These diving-specific compasses famously appear in photographs alongside watches like the Rolex Submariner and the Doxa Sub 300/300T during the US Navy’s SEALAB experiments.”
 
“Far from the undersea world, the US Military’s answer was a straightforward wrist compass produced in many cases by Waltham and intended for use alongside a navigator’s issued A-11 or similar wristwatch.  Given the sizing norms of watches during the period when many tool watches measured 32 millimeters, the compass came equipped with 16mm canvas and later nylon straps.  Designed for use by downed pilots, these compasses, which were initially marked “Waltham” and later “W.C.C.” for Waltham Clock Company, would not see widespread use until the Vietnam War when SEALs brought them into action...”
 
“The SEALs were not alone in their adoption of the mil-spec Waltham. Army Special Forces operators assigned to MACV-SOG also selected the brass wrist compass for use alongside their issued Seiko watches.  When we interviewed [MACV-SOG operator] John Stryker Meyer, a legend in the SF community [about his Seiko MACV-SOG and its W.C.C. compass], he said that some of his fellow Recon Company soldiers added a W.C.C. compass to the strap, but he preferred the traditional compass around his neck."
 
"For special operations forces, the need for a more portable compass stemmed from the level of autonomy and individual responsibility entrusted to each operator.  These Waltham compasses, which are still relatively available through surplus or militaria channels, are becoming increasingly collectible due to their SpecOps associations.”
 
The best part?  This high-quality matte black PVD compass is less expensive than its vintage Waltham brethren - if you're lucky enough to track one down in good condition, that is.