compass question

hello,my compass is some 19/20 years old now,i use a silva sighting,seems to be working fine.just curious to know if i should purchase a new one,how often should a compass be renewed,is there a life span,julian

Hi Julian

Very interesting question! Sorry I can't answer it, but you can contact the Silva support team on:

info@silva.ltd.uk

James

i have just put a new compass on ebay still packaged as i got one buy one get one free, so have a look and if you like it ill give you a discount

why should you replace it? I am not aware of any sell by date on them
If it doesn't have a bubble in it... it will still point north
I am not aware of the number of degrees changing from 360

If you are comfortable with it keep using it

When I was a lad in South Africa, my dad gave me my 1st compass. It dated from just after WWII and was in perfect working order (nearly 40 years old when I got it!). I used that often for many years and it was as accurate as any other compass I've come across.
Of course, it was heavy enough to see me arrested for carrying a lethal weapon in this country but it worked!

Compasses can be funny little things, they can last you for many many years or suddenly a bubble appears in the middle of it and will then put the bearings off a little. One of my old sighting compasses for my fourteen years of letterboxing had to be x-filed into the dustbin after all these years due to the appearance of a bubble within the bezel, which in turn put the bearings off by nearly one degree, quite a lot when letterboxing.

Look after it and it will last you for many, many years to come, in 200 years time your great, great, great grand kids might even be able to sell it on the Antiques Roadshow, which I'm sure will still be going!

Dizzy