I ended up buying the Suunto M-3 Global Pro Compass. I couldn't let go of being able to navigate at night and when I was comparing compasses in REI I noticed the needle on the Suunto was smooth and steady, all the others including the Brunton TruArc 3 Compass were much more jittery. The phosphorescence does not last long though, I find it hard to read the bearings on the bezel by phosphorescence light alone. I have to turn on my headlamp often as it seems to fade quickly, enough so that I feel that this defeats the point of the phosphorescence. I did try reading a park map using red led and it was horrible, both reading the map & the compass itself.

I'd like to try out your approach to navigating. On most topics academia and books cover everything, which is really not necessary for common practical use, and who can remember it all anyways? Learn and absorb as you go I say.