In our view the best all round compass on the market that you will need for navigating in the UK- Woodland Ways Quailty Assured Approved.

On our navigation courses it quickly becomes apparent for everyone why the Silva 4 is THE compass to have. Firstly it is in degrees, the standard and most commonly used system for taking bearings (the military use mills and some outdoor shops will try and sell you something that looks like this but in mills not degrees, it will be half the price... beware!).

Now look at how long the base plate is, this makes taking a map bearing so much easier than with a short plate, as with completing re-sections. The roamer scales make pinpointing your location by six figure grid references a brease, it is easy to use with gloves on (possibly this is the time when you really need that compass, when it is cold, wet and your wearing gloves!). The orienteering arrows within the compass housing are highly visible (with glowing dots for night time navigation), it has a non intrusive magnifying glass, and rubberised feet to avoid it slipping on the map... should we continue... Lets let Jason, our WGL qualified intructor take over...

"Buy it, just buy it..."

Advantages: Without wanting to repeat ourselves but this compass is crammed with so many features it is like it could find its own way back if you left it on the hill.

("for legal reasons I suppose we should point out that obviously it cannot do this!"- Jason)

Disadvantages: OK it is a little more costly than some other compasses (and a lot less than others!). But it is well worth paying the price, as we say always... buy good kit and buy it once... don't go cheap and then have to replace it when you realise it is no good.