Slide 1

PARTS OF A LENSATIC COMPASS
Movable brass ring (bezel ring)

Front sight

Rear sight;
eyepiece lens

Cover

Dial with scale
Holding ring

Luminous line with
reading lens


Slide 2

USE OF A LENSATIC COMPASS TO DETERMINE BEARING ON A MAP
STEP 1: Open out the compass and lay it on a flat table with the map (in this case a
diagrammatic map is provided; note that the North is indicated by a small bar while the
desired bearing is indicated by a line)
North indicator
Desired
bearing


Slide 3

USE OF A LENSATIC COMPASS TO DETERMINE BEARING ON A MAP
STEP 2: Place the compass on the map such that the desired bearing is running through its
middle. Rotate the map while holding the compass in place such that the North indicator
and the compass North is aligned. In the example below, the map was rotated
counterclockwise.
North indicator o f the map
aligned with compass North

Desired bearing
running through
middle of the
compass


Slide 4

USE OF A LENSATIC COMPASS TO DETERMINE BEARING ON A MAP
STEP 3: Rotate the bezel ring unti the luminous line is aligned with the desired bearing.

Bezel ring rotated clockwise

Luminous line
aligned to desired
reading


Slide 5

USE OF A LENSATIC COMPASS TO DETERMINE BEARING ON A MAP
STEP 4: Read compass bearing through reading lens. In this example, it is 234o. The concept of
minutes and seconds is beyond our scope.
Use reading lens to get
compass reading