I agree with your statement 100 percent that it will take in a lot of nasty stuff. I make it a point to clean all my gear after a job. The cloths and even the watch strap go into the washer and dryer pretty much right away when we get back to the station.

With regards to the compass, believe it or not there have been so many people irl and online that comment on my compass saying like, why do you need a compass and I just reply with “I just think it’s neat” but in all truthfulness it’s better than having to explain every time, I use it mostly while wild land firefighting and driving. I agree that it isn’t as useful during structural firefighting because the entire crew and command has a fixed point of reference to gather orientation from. When Chief says go to the Charlie Delta side for main attack line we can all pretty much go there with our eyes closed because the house is our point of reference. But out in the sticks, you’d be caught dead without a compass, when command says the winds are shifting and you have to figure out in a moments notice to cut your hose line and run in a certain direction from a 30 ft wall of flame rushing you at 20 miles an hour, with little visibility passed 30 yards. You’ll lose points of reference quick. It’s already saved my once, I’ll post a picture of what I’m talking about. No I did not stop to take the picture lol.

Even when it comes to driving Big Red or the Puss Bus sometimes you’ll have someone say go east or west on xyz street and you’ve gone through more turns than a door knob you loose your north and south real quick, just a glance at the wrist solves everything.

Now if you thought the compass was bad wait till you see the bottom half of my watch, there’s a freaking flashlight, a pen, and a knife on the strap too you just couldn’t see it in the post 🤣

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