Lensatic compasses?

[philaw]

I've got a lensatic sighting compass that I bought when I was learning to sail, and now I want to use it for land navigation.

Could I get by with that and simple things like a ruler and protractor? Is it a good choice?

Some help in stubbornly resisting the urge to buy more kit would be very welcome. The array of compasses is simply bewildering, and it's not clear to me which features are optional, and which you will eventually need. There's a lot of scope to keep buying them and go through the baseplate and towards the mirrored sighting compases and spend a fortune in the process.

Cheers,

Phil

 

[g4ghb]

for taking bearings a prismatic sighting compas can't be beat! - if it's the marine type i'm thinking of you have a great bit of kit and use it!!!!

however taking the bearing to the map is niegh on impossible but getting a cheap silva type baseplete is the way forward i reccon

as great as a sighting compass is - with good technique a std silva compas is fine for land navigation

 

[malcolmc]

I’ve always used a Second World War marching compass (ex service) with mirrored sighting and needle lock together with a romer specific to the map I’m using at the time. The needle lock makes transferring bearings to a map dead easy. I know a lot of people are comfortable with baseplate models but in the cold and rain I’d probably use the wrong scale, not to mention I am expert at breaking anything plastic when I’m walking!

One option you have is to try your existing compass with a romer in an area you are familiar with and see how you get on.

Good luck.

 

[philaw]

Thanks for the replies, fellas.

The one I have lacks any kind of baseplate or needle lock, and it's a little tricky to take a sighting, but it's fluid damped and very smooth. I don't know the brand, but it's made in Japan, so ought be reasonable quality-wise. There's always better kit to be had, but I prefer to make do sometimes because it winds me up how kit always finds a way to take over.

My heros are people like the old american lady that did the pacific trail a couple of times in the US, using a shower curtain as a tarp, and called all the people on the trail with fancy kit "sissies", and the Russian guy that sailed a little boat around the world with nothing more elaborate than coke bottles full of tap water.

 

[johnboy]

Hi,

Follow this link below

http://www.cammenga.com/uploaded_images/1147706028-TonyWilks_CAMMENGA_LENSATIC_UK.pdf


it gives a good how to guide for using the US GI issue Lensatic compass ( non liquid filled) with UK maps.

So should be useful to you.

Cheers

john