Coleman Lensatic

Heavy but well made. It is marked Japan on the back. I think it was a Coleman brand when I purchased it. The brass colored ones on the market were older ones. Stansport looks to do the same one now in what looks like a dark charcoal finish.

Mine is 50+ years old. It's brass colored but painted and it has a pot metal type case, likely zinc. The bubble has enlarged over time. I got it one of my last years in scouts. It's been on campouts and hikes. It wasn't needed but it's been on Eldora CO trails, Flagstaff AZ and in the Grand Canyon. Until I got my Silva and Stansport compasses it was my only one.

When in scouts I used it with maps to find our campsite. In more recent years I've used the other compasses and even the one on my iPhone. I doubt I'll ever discard this one. Had it in all my backpacks before I got my Silva. It's served me well.

Not sure about them being discontinued, have seen new Coleman and Stansport on the web that seem the same except with color and finish changes. Even though the lume is dimmer than when new, it still works quite a long time. That makes me wonder how the tritium used back then looks so good except the compass has always been left in packs and is somewhat protected from heat or UV.

The reason I reviewed this was I was involved in a purge of old cycling, hiking and outdoor gear. Old hydration bladders, two old coats, vtg rain shell, bad bite valves etc all hit the trash but I found where I'd stashed some old 35mm photo equipment, this compass, and two very old ACME and USN whistles.

BTW, if you search the web there is a pdf file by the Marine Corp that instructs how to use a lensatic compass.

Background

I'm old, have been in about 30 states. Hiked in a bunch. Have truly only needed my compass a few times.

The Coleman Lensatic is a Taiwanese-made, modified copy of a WWII U.S. army lensatic field compass. Other than marketing and name on the blister pack, Coleman seems to have little or nothing to do with actual manufacture.

Sometime during the 1960s, various Japanese and Taiwanese manufacturers substituted a liquid-filled capsule and a plastic or zinc outer case for the original brass construction, using plastic for the lensatic sight. Because of this, it is very inexpensive, and similar or identical models can be picked up today at Wal-mart or online for $4 or $5. Like other lensatic compasses, it uses a rotating compass dial, not a needle, and has no baseplate, which makes a protractor necessary for use with a map.

Believe it or not, the basic construction of this compass is good, and accuracy is excellent. With its liquid-filled construction it is quicker to settle than the modern-day issue U.S. army lensatic, and its compass dial is easier to read precisely since (on most examples) the superfluous 'mils' scale has been eliminated for larger to read 360-degree scale, nicely marked down to 1 degree increments (see if your Silva Ranger or Cammenga Army Lensatic will match that!).

The sole problem I have found in this compass results from the the elimination of the original friction spring (a small piece of bent copper or aluminum) that presses against the detents of the compass dial. This prevents the compass from being preset to a given bearing. With the addition of such a spring, I have been able to use this compass effectively in remote wilderness, and could obtain accurate bearings to 1 degree accuracy with the plastic lensatic sighting system. If the manufacturer would invest 5 cents in a friction spring, this compass would be competitive with many other compasses.