I have a light kit around here somewhere. It was sold by GRO back in the day. It doesn’t hook into any boat 12 v system it’s a self contained LED for a 70 P compass . It’s still in its package , I’ve never installed it, Instead Ive always used my headlamp. I also have a compass made by silva that came with it’s own light {red} but it fits in a mount that is screwed to the deck and not in the recess
That must be the 70UNE you have. I take you felt that the GRO light wasn’t worth installing? A headlamp works fine too, unless it doesn’t work at all. Ideally there would be a light on the compass you could turn on with the paddle for us paddlers, and have the headlamp for backup.
If you come across that GRO someday, post a pic of it. I’m curious what they look like. It probably wouldnt be hard to jury rig something with the wide variety of led’s on the market today.
@roym said:
I have a light kit around here somewhere. It was sold by GRO back in the day. It doesn’t hook into any boat 12 v system it’s a self contained LED for a 70 P compass . It’s still in its package , I’ve never installed it, Instead Ive always used my headlamp. I also have a compass made by silva that came with it’s own light {red} but it fits in a mount that is screwed to the deck and not in the recess
I had the GRO light in my hands a couple of weeks ago…not sure where it is right now. I put it someplace safe 
if I find it in the near future , I’ll post it. I have several spare compasses. I have to go out to the shed , where I store them,to see what numbers are on the lighted one.
I got caught in fog one night while four miles out in Lake Superior. I hadn’t planned a night paddle, but did have a headlight with me. I used the light so I could see the compass. The problem was, I was totally blinded by the light shining into the fog. Total white out. I could have paddled into a buoy or anything else. Ended up just turning on the light for a quick look at the compass, then dousing it.
The point of the story is relying on a headlight to see the compass isn’t the best idea. Back home, I followed instructions similar to what Johnnysmoke posted. The resulting compass is illuminated with a red glow. It works very nicely and won’t produce night blindness like you will have if you use a headlamp. It’s not built in, so not what the OP is looking for, but I can read that compass at night, and that can be a life saver.
~~Chip
I think the red headlamp is better than white for night, but I’m not sure it would be any better in fog. You’d probably have a total red out.
I like that little led in the clip though. I wonder if that would work if mounted in front of a recessed deck mount compass. It might be possible to rig it so you can turn it off and on with a paddle somehow
I have done my share of night paddling, and I think that headlamps for night paddling can really spoil the fun and destroy your night vision.
While I don’t have an illuminated compass, it is on my wish list because I would have to turn on my head lamp less often if I had one.
@Allan Olesen said:
I have done my share of night paddling, and I think that headlamps for night paddling can really spoil the fun and destroy your night vision.While I don’t have an illuminated compass, it is on my wish list because I would have to turn on my head lamp less often if I had one.
That’s why I’d prefer the compass to be lit and not use a headlamp. The theory behind using red light is that it doesn’t affect your night vision, but I’ve been doing some reasearch on that and it doesn’t seem to be a unversally accepted theory. It may be one of those things everyone needs to test for themselves. But yah, compass light is preferable.
Do y’all find that red light works better for YOU?
I have spent at lot of time in the woods after dark. Red doesn’t leave me without night vision when I turn it off and walk in the dark. If in the fog night vision isn’t of much use anyway. Though I haven’t paddled at night in the fog. Yes a lit compass would be nice. My GPS works well at night, and with a compass as back up, and the requirement for a light at night when I wear a waterproof headlamp that only gets used when needed I feel comfortable. One should also make sure that there isn’t any interference with the compass from any metal gear under or on the deck.
The commercially illuminated compasses that I have owned were very hard to read at night. The Silva 70UNE is pretty good, but still hard for my eyes to read.
Using an eGear light, such as shown by Leon Somme in the video, looks like a good idea for a compatible surface mount compass. Thanks for posting that! I have a love/hate relationship with eGear lights and they have failed me often, but are lightweight and convenient.
For long Watertribe events, that often require paddling through the night, I usually just rely on my headlight to read my compass. Not all headlights are created equal! I have gotten good service from Zebra lights. They have a “moonlight mode” of less than one lumen that work well for reading a compass at night (or for getting out of your tent to pee at 3AM) without blinding yourself or losing your night vision. Battery life in “moonlight mode” is days to months.
Usually for racing I will also have a GPS following a precise route, and include my Magnetic bearing, showing in the display to allow both the GPS and the compass to complement each other. If the compass is easily visible I prefer to look at the compass and transfer my bearing to a cloud/star/etc in the sky, and repeat often on a “fresh” target.
Greg
Thanks for posting that, Roym.Now that I’ve seen it I no longer want one! 
That button-battery powered light or something similar looks like the way to go. Now that I think of it, I have a detachable red led bicycle taillight that might work, and can be turned on and off by pressing it. Pressing would work better than turning for a light that’s out of hand reach. Not sure how waterproof it is though.
There is no on/ off switch for the GRO light. just a battery to plug in or unplug.
@roym said:
There is no on/ off switch for the GRO light. just a battery to plug in or unplug.
Another reason to keep it in the shed. 
Just about any little electric gizmo you buy will fail after a few saltwater excursions. So buy accordingly. If you don’t want to buy high end waterproof, buy many cheaper models. If you buy expensive it too will eventually get condensate inside and fail. (buy, use, replace , repeat) I think there is a country song about that.
Fortunately I dont salt my water. 
@qajaqman said:
Fortunately I dont salt my water.
Naw, salting the roads is bad enough…….
Replace the battery on a warm humid day then get that cold "sweet " lake water on it and you have condensation water inside the case. That causes rust/oxidation on contacts.
This is what I’m testing, because its what I have
Pretty cheap, and works underwater for 2 hours under kitchen conditions. The top pops off and the circuit board comes out so when I come home I can remove the cover along with my hatch covers and it should dry right out. Take the twisty legs off and it will mount nicely with velcro, and a little tape or flex paint will make it direct light only at the compass. The only problem I see is that it will need to be mounted on something to elevate it a little bit, or I wont be able to whack it with my paddle to turn it on. And I don’t know if it will block the compass view. As as, its flush with the front edge of my front hatch, so I cant push the button. But I could also make a little “button-pusher” with a bungee that slips on the end of a paddle.
Now, I only need a compass to test my invention
since gps came available, I’ve used them for navigation pretty much exclusively (though always with compass packed away - accessible).
Before gps, when navigating at night (often), I used a little handheld - tritium compass - close enough to read (under bungy).
To each their own I guess. I never bring gps when I paddle or hike (takes the fun out of it for me), and wouldnt want to rely on handhed compass if I have to concentrate on keeping upright. Certainy good to have one for backup though.