What is the EmNav NAVIGATOR?

The EmNav NAVIGATOR is a 5.95-inch laser-engraved ABS circular instrument that combines a Bagnold sun compass, a C/D logarithmic slide rule, deliberate-offset math, a clinometer, and an Equation of Time / sun-declination plot. It is made by Emergency Navigation, a small shop in Southern California. It uses no batteries, no GNSS, and no magnetic needle.

Does the NAVIGATOR use a magnetic compass or GPS?

No. The NAVIGATOR has no magnetic needle and no GPS receiver. Direction comes from the sun (or a full moon treated as a night sun). Distance, pace, and time-speed math are analog on the C and D scales. A magnetic compass is a separate instrument and should be used away from steel if you feed it an azimuth.

Can a sun compass be jammed or spoofed like GPS?

A sun compass cannot be jammed or spoofed the way a GNSS receiver can. It can be blocked by overcast, canopy, or night, and it is only as good as the sun azimuth you give it. That is why the disk is a backup and a trainer, not a primary certified navaid.

How do you take latitude with the NAVIGATOR?

Latitude ≈ 90° − (sun altitude at local apparent noon ± the sun’s declination). Read altitude with the gnomon and plumb on the 0–90 scale; read declination from the plot under the inner disk. Northern-hemisphere example: altitude 45°, declination +10° → 90 − 55 = 35° N. Cross-check. The method is educational and can be wrong by a margin that matters.

What is a Bagnold sun compass on this disk?

Ralph Bagnold’s sun compass lets a vehicle or walker hold a true-sun course when steel ruins a magnetic needle. On the NAVIGATOR you set the sun’s true azimuth, align the gnomon shadow with the index, and read direction of travel from the D arrows. The Long Range Desert Group used the same geometry in the 1930s–40s.

What are the C and D scales for?

C and D are a circular logarithmic pair. Aligning a value on C with a value on D multiplies or divides; you track the decimal place separately. Typical field uses: pace count, time-distance-speed, map scale, and unit conversion. Example: 53 paces per 100 m; 75 paces reads about 141 m.

What is deliberate offset on the NAVIGATOR?

Deliberate offset is aiming a few degrees off a point target so that when you hit a linear catching feature you know which way to turn. The reverse of the disk gives offset, turn angle (not a clean 90°), and catch-up distance at 100 / 500 / 1000 m. LARS: left add, right subtract.

Who makes EmNav and where?

Emergency Navigation (EmNav) is a family shop in Southern California that laser-engraves analog land-navigation instruments in small batches. Tick positions are generated from the math, not traced from another maker’s rule. The live product is the NAVIGATOR; EVASION, NAUTICAL, and the BREES sextant are listed as coming soon.

Is the NAVIGATOR certified for marine, aviation, or search-and-rescue use?

No. EmNav instruments are analog aids for training, education, and emergency backup. They are not certified marine, aviation, survey, or SAR equipment and are not a substitute for a current almanac, a rated sextant, or a practiced navigator. See emergencynavigation.com/legal.

What size and material is the NAVIGATOR?

The base disk is 5.95 inches (151 mm) of high-contrast laser-engraved ABS. The inner disk is 4.5 inches (114 mm). Markings are engraved into the plastic, not a printed coating. Hardware is a center screw with washers, dual index arms, a gnomon hole, a plumb-bob hole, and a 45° hole. Avoid prolonged storage in extreme heat, particularly on a vehicle dashboard or inside a closed vehicle in direct sunlight.

How is this different from a lensatic compass?

A lensatic compass points magnetic north and is pulled by nearby steel. The NAVIGATOR does not point north by itself; it computes and it steers by the sun. Carry both. Use the needle away from vehicles; use the disk when the needle lies or the satellite is gone.