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 this handy wristwatch 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).
 
But the best part of the wrist strap compass here?  It's far less expensive than its vintage Waltham brethren - if you're lucky enough to track one down in good condition, that is.