BMI is not bull. It's simply a number that indicates how heavy a person is relative to their height. In the US, the vast majority of folks with high BMI are that way due to excess fat. However, heavily muscled people can have high BMI too, even though they have low body fat. Most of the better web sites that calculate BMI mention this fact. That's also why it's good idea to have a body fat analysis (especially if your BMI is > 25).

As for the Navy body fat estimate vs. "pinch" - which "pinch test" are you referring to?

There are quite a few different ways to estimate body fat percentage. The "gold standard" is the water dunk test (aka, hydrostatic weighing), but this is inconvenient and somewhat expensive. Some other methods include X-rays, bio-electric impedance (most body fat scales use this method), and skinfold calipers. The US Dept. of Defense looked at all of these methods and developed their formulas to approximate the best of them using circumference measurements.

I've studied the research behind the development of the US Dept. of Defense formula, and according to their research their formulas should do a pretty good job of estimating body fat. In fact, their formulas are good enough that they use them as part of their personnel physical fitness evaluations, as a way of determining whether specific individuals are overweight due to muscles or fat.

If your "pinch test" body fat percentage was significantly different than the "Navy" body fat estimate, I recommend getting a second opinion from another source, because the Navy body fat estimate is probably within 3-4% of actual (unless you have a very oddly proportioned body).