Cammenga US GI Lensatic Compass

[Mothman]

Just acquired one of these from a US surplus store and thought I would give it a try and retire my old prismatic M73

The induction damping is just as good as the oil damped British version but has the advantage of being able to operate in more extreme conditions and can cope with wider declination angles, so can be used worldwide.

Compared to a Silva, a Recta, a Suunto and a Chinese Brunton copy it is spot on.

Can any US servicemen can confirm date of manufacture for me? It has 13 07 03 stamped inside the lid. Does this mean made 2013? The tritium is still pretty bright.

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[twothreeuptwothreedown]

That'll be handy to get you to Tesco's & back!

 

[Incubus_Imperator]

What the fcuk is that piece of tat?

Plastimo, for those who know how to navigate.

 

[Mothman]

What the fcuk is that piece of tat?

Plastimo, for those who know how to navigate.

Overpriced gay butt plug.

What version do you have. MILS, Tritium and vibrator? I cant be arsed to convert MIL/degs for civvies/cadets If they did a MILS+Deg card tritium version I'd have one.

But they don't.

That'll be handy to get you to Tesco's & back!

Aldi & Lidl Please. Tesco is for losers and sells nothing but crap these days. I even buy petrol from Asda

 

[Bravo_Bravo]

Oddly enough 4 RIFLES MFCs have no problems using it.

 

[Mothman]

Oddly enough 4 RIFLES MFCs have no problems using it.

Using what?

 

[twothreeuptwothreedown]

Overpriced gay butt plug.

What version do you have. MILS, Tritium and vibrator? I cant be arsed to convert MIL/degs for civvies/cadets If they did a MILS+Deg card tritium version I'd have one.

But they don't.

Aldi & Lidl Please. Tesco is for losers and sells nothing but crap these days. I even buy petrol from Asda

Aldi & Lidl's are ok, but they haven't got any sauerkraut in at the moment. Love the stuff.

 

[Incubus_Imperator]

What version do you have. MILS, Tritium and vibrator? I cant be arsed to convert MIL/degs for civvies/cadets If they did a MILS+Deg card tritium version I'd have one.

But they don't.

You've clearly done your research.

But you haven't.

Mils/deg version available. Tritium versions are merely standard compasses with the glow in the dark bit removed and a new bit put in. Piece of p1ss to sort.

Cadets are civvies, so you should be able to get by with degree only compass.

And why the fcuk would Cadets need to be using a prismatic? All the Gear and No Idea?

 

[FrankIG]

@23Up .................Simple answer ..... make your own .. I do! (Sauerkraut that is, not compasses)

 

[oldsoak]

You've clearly done your research.

But you haven't.

Mils/deg version available. Tritium versions are merely standard compasses with the glow in the dark bit removed and a new bit put in. Piece of p1ss to sort.

Cadets are civvies, so you should be able to get by with degree only compass.

And why the fcuk would Cadets need to be using a prismatic? All the Gear and No Idea?

Eh? I've seen Plastimo's calibrated mils/mils or degrees/degrees but not both. You'd end up with 4 scales to read instead of two for actual and reciprocal bearings, surely ? At 0300 in soaking wet zombie mode, that's going to be fun.
The Cammenga isn't a bad bit of kit ( cheap copies are cheap tat ). Unless you require real precision as in making sure something nasty happens to a distant foe, its more than adequate to get you from A to B given a decent map. TBH, I still prefer working from a map using the old school Silva - easy to comprehend even for me.

 

[Incubus_Imperator]

Silva for me, for most things.

LFTT and some nav skills plastimo.

Phone the LandNav school at RSMS. They have a mils/degree plastimo. Fact.

I have a degrees to mils card.

 

[Ruckerwocman]

To the OP: Your stamping of 13 07 03 probably means it was made on 13 July 2003. Mine is stamped 11 85 and I know that one was made in 1985. (At least the cover was.) Nice bit of kit that. I've had mine since Hector was a pup.

 

[Goldbricker]

Just acquired one of these from a US surplus store and thought I would give it a try and retire my old prismatic M73

The induction damping is just as good as the oil damped British version but has the advantage of being able to operate in more extreme conditions and can cope with wider declination angles, so can be used worldwide.

Compared to a Silva, a Recta, a Suunto and a Chinese Brunton copy it is spot on.

Can any US servicemen can confirm date of manufacture for me? It has 13 07 03 stamped inside the lid. Does this mean made 2013? The tritium is still pretty bright.

Posted from the ARRSE Mobile app (iOS or Android)

July 13th, 2003

 

[Mothman]

July 13th, 2003

Tritium still very bright. Perhaps the GTLS vials have been replaced.

 

[Mothman]

To the OP: Your stamping of 13 07 03 probably means it was made on 13 July 2003. Mine is stamped 11 85 and I know that one was made in 1985. (At least the cover was.) Nice bit of kit that. I've had mine since Hector was a pup.
View attachment 174213 View attachment 174214 View attachment 174215 View attachment 174216

Was Stocker & Yale acquired by Cammenga? Or is it good ole DofD pork barrelling, dishing out seperate contracts across the US for the same things?

 

[Ruckerwocman]

I do not know. It wouldn't be the first time though that DoD has let out contracts to multiple firms to build the same item. For example, in WW II contracts were given to Ford, Willys, and American Bantam to build what became known as the Jeep. It was an American Bantam design that won the competition for the Quarter-ton scout car, but DoD gave contracts to Ford and Wiilys too to build the same car because they realized American Bantam would not be able to build the number of cars the services needed by themselves.

There might be a little bit of "jobs for the boys" in it too. As long as the item works as intended I have no problem with that.