The Military Compass

[David Dunlop]

Lars posted some photos of a compass he owns recently on the ‘Binoculars’ thread. I thought in might be helpful to start one for the compass because of Lars commenting his compass needed refilling.

Lets start off with a word of caution. Not all compasses are ‘wet’, which is to say, filled with paraffin or kerosene to dampen the movement. Because of the inherent fire risk with such fluids, several models of compass were designed as ‘dry’, not needing a dampening fluid inside them. Might be worth getting a list of the available models to determine to what specifications they all were designed.

David

[Lars R.]

That is a great idea David.

I hope the list would grow over time. The question is, should it be restricted to Comonwealth, Allied or all Nations? A time period? including aviation and marine? This could become a very long list!

The main issue on refilling is the radioactive material. Thats why they now all stay away from it!

[Mike Cecil]

I've had a military prismatic compass since I was at university - it was my first (and best) field compass during my geology and geography degree courses. It has the correct '37 Patt compass pouch with the felt lining, and the issue lanyard, all added after I pensioned the compass off as being too valuable to chance losing it in the scrub.

Compass was made by E Esdaile & Sons in Adelaide, South Australia. E. Esdaile & Sons began manufacturing scientific and optometry equipment in 1891.

The compass pouch is by Zephyr Loom & Textile (ZL&T), so Canadian.

Mike

[Mike Kelly]

For Sale:

https://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/treg...ion/1279890177