Hi everyone,

What are your experiences with these two compasses? I’m currently in the process of choosing a high quality backup compass, and have narrowed it down to two models. I am more inclined to shell out for the Francis Barker NATO Survival Compass, but would like to know if anyone can tell me how the Silva Sere / Silva Sere 40 would compare. My feeling is that the Francis Barker is in a league of its own, and actually the only button size compass that I could actually trust to be robust, reliable and reasonably accurate. Agree? Differ? Let me know! Also, would you say that the fact that the Francis Barker has no fluid dampening is an issue?

Also I would like to get some reliable information on their dimensions. About equal amounts of web pages claim that the Silva Sere or Silva Sere 40 compass has either 8 mm or 14 / 15 / 16 mm diameter, depending on who you ask. From the photos they all look similar, but it’s still not clear to me if there actually are two different diameters out there, or if half of the shops offering them can’t use a ruler.

If you have either the Silva Sere / Silva Sere 40 or the Francis Barker NATO Survival Compass, and if you feel particularly generous with your time, you would do me an enormous favour if you grab a good ruler or ideally calipers and measure diameter and thickness for me… in case of the Silva, please without the plastic surrounding it if you can carefully pop it out of it – it comes both with and without that.

Lastly, I am looking for information on the use of either compass in the northern / southern hemisphere. Can they be used in both? Or are there separate different models for each hemisphere?

THANKS!

Matt