Old FBandS 1932 marked compass

[Grizzly Adams]

Are these devices dangerous?
The radium inside these devices is a naturally occurring radioactive nuclear substance that can be hazardous in certain circumstances. For instance, a potential danger exists from internal exposure to the radium luminous paint. As long as the device is not disassembled or tampered with, the risk of contamination is minimal. Potential hazards can also be caused by large collections of radium luminous devices; high levels of radiation can be found when many of these devices are grouped together.

 

[Grizzly Adams]

Why wasn't much 75 years ago and it degrades over the years.

Half life of radium is 1600 years, wouldn't have degraded much.

 

[XRCD011]

The numbers in white are the Nato Stock Number (NSN) with 21 denoting it as Canadian.

 

[Claven2]

It’s also not made in 1932. It’s post war. The 1932 is part of the manufacturer’s name.

Wartime mkIII compasses did not have lid guard bars, and were not NSN marked.

They still make these, by the way. The modern version is in mils and called the G150 compass. They are also now painted green.

 

[XRCD011]

So why is it sporting a NSN ?

 

[Claven2]

So why is it sporting a NSN ?

The NSN system was created in 1949/1950. It’s likely the op’s compass is Korean War era. That’s around when the glass guards became common on these compasses, NSNs were in use, and radium was not yet replaced with tritium until the 1960’s.