Polaris Baseplate Compass

I purchased this particular compass because it was recommended by feng shui practitioners for orienting a house according to their rules. I am a beginner at this orienteering. It is fun to use the Silva Polaris for the directions of my garden as well.. The compass came with a nice little user's manual, easy to slip into my pocket as I walk around. I had no trouble learning to use the compass for purposes of feng shui.Oh, about the lanyard. Don't need to buy one. The object of the lanyard around the neck is to read the numbers while holding the compass flat at a distance appropriate for your vision. For the ladies, a piece of narrow satin ribbon however long you like will work. Same for the gents, but try some twisted waxed twine. I had a big spool of it in my garden supplies, so cut it off, burned the ends, and threaded a loop through the eye of the compass, put it around my neck, and it laid nice an flat just above my waist. I hang it on a hook until ready to use, and avoid pocketing it for fear of damaging its calibration.I consider it a real tool for gardeners as well as for homeowners interested in feng shui. The printing is easy to read, and the thickness of the plastic gives substance to it. It is definitely a magnetic compass, not reading the degrees "true" .....which is why it is so useful for feng shui. Objects in our homes exert a magnetic pull on compass readings, exactly as feng shui practitioners require.Since we are remodeling our home now, I bought this out of curiosity, I thought I'd see how happy we might be based on where I put new features in our home. Well, "Que sera, sera." If a house isn't perfectly oriented for your personal objectives, feng shui serves to correct it.

I just received this compass a couple days ago; purchased from Beach Cities Scuba Center. The item pictured is the one I received, it was in "bulk packaging" (I guess it was, it was just like what you would see in a store); however, when I sat down to read the instructions, the first item (field bearing) said "hold the compass level and point the Direction of Travel Arrow at the landmark." Being an experienced compass reader, I thought, "hmmm, what's the direction of travel arrow?" That's when I went to the labels picture to learn compass terminology. No. 2 Luminous Points and No. 7 Index Line were missing on my compass. Long story short, the instructions for my compass are for the Silva Explorer 203 model. I received the compass pictured, but the instructions for my compass are missing. Now I am thinking, do I want a 203 to match the instructions? Or can I just ignore the parts that apply to the 203? I have not used it yet but it has a lifetime warranty so it must be good, no? Or does the warranty apply to the 203? No, I read the warranty and it applies to Silva Compasses.Update: in taking pictures, I note that the instructions are for "Most Compasses" so I guess that explains it. I wanted a really good compass; should I upgrade to another one?

This compass is lightweight and well constructed. It is perfect for orienteering. If you haven't tried orienteering, you really should. I was introduced to orienteering at a state park in Florida where the ranger gave us compasses and we had to write down a code found at every marker as we made our way through the park. It was great fun and would be wonderful for kids to do. I saw this compass on Amazon and bought it right away. The price was right and I was eager to engage in orienteering in South Louisiana, where I had recently moved. I guess I put the cart before the horse because I found Louisiana's only orienteering club was in North Louisiana, not the South. Bummer. Now I guess I'll have to start a club down here! If you want a good compass and you want to use it for the sport of orienteering, this is the one you want. This durable compass is perfect for other things too, like Scouting, hunting, camping, backpacking, etc.

I wasn't looking for the ultimate survival compass when I bought this. Just something that reliably shows me north. This does that. I've tested it in a few locations where I knew which way north was. it's accurate, at least accurate enough for me. Not sure if I could get to the magnetic north pole, but I'm not planning to do that anyway. If you just want to know where north is then this is great. If you have greater needs then you might want a fancier model with a mirror and what not. I don't know much about compasses or map reading. Maybe this would suffice, maybe not. Sorry, this is not shaping up to be a helpful review, but at least you know it reliably points north.

Within a month, enough fluid had leaked from the compass that it is now impossible to get a bearing. I assume the fluid leaked, although no signs of fluid were found outside the compass. A huge bubble developed inside the compass over a couple weeks. This bubble is preventing needle from coming anything close to an accurate alignment.The compass was stored inside my home and not subjected to any environment that would cause this.I had a Silva similar to this one that lasted years and stayed true. Finally lost it and wanted to replace it with same quality and accuracy.I contacted Silva directly for the lifetime warranty. The customer service rep told me to forward a copy of my amazon receipt and she would send me a prepaid envelope to return the compass. I forwarded the receipt countless times, only to keep getting the response that she had not received it. Forwarded the receipt to my other personal email as well as the customer rep, I got a copy of it without a problem, she still insists she did not receive it.I've now spent so much time fighting trying to get a good ten dollar compass that if I would have spent the same time at work, I could have bought ten more of these junk things.