In the local Tesco (Brookfield Farm at Cheshunt, Herts on the A10)
they're selling imitation "Silva" type compasses for a pound each.
They seem to be perfectly serviceable and point in the general
direction of magnetic north, although most have small bubbles in the
fluid. If you've got Scouts like mine who drop them, tread on them and
leave them behind on hikes, it seems pointless to buy expensive ones.
The store at Cheshunt is a vast one, so they may not be available at
smaller sites. Worth keeping an eye open for anyway.
Splodge.

alansplodge wrote:

> In the local Tesco (Brookfield Farm at Cheshunt, Herts on the A10)
> they're selling imitation "Silva" type compasses for a pound each.
> They seem to be perfectly serviceable and point in the general
> direction of magnetic north, although most have small bubbles in the
> fluid. If you've got Scouts like mine who drop them, tread on them and
> leave them behind on hikes, it seems pointless to buy expensive ones.
> The store at Cheshunt is a vast one, so they may not be available at
> smaller sites. Worth keeping an eye open for anyway.

Ours is doing DIY stuff for £1 at the moment - just been in a purchased a 
whole load of paint brushes etc for our Group working party later in the 
year!

Pete

-- 
Peter Maley
SL, 3rd Whitstable
ESL, Tombstones ESU

On Feb 10, 1:00 pm, "Pete"  wrote:
> alansplodge wrote:
> > In the local Tesco (Brookfield Farm at Cheshunt, Herts on the A10)
> > they're selling imitation "Silva" type compasses for a pound each.
> > They seem to be perfectly serviceable and point in the general
> > direction of magnetic north, although most have small bubbles in the
> > fluid. If you've got Scouts like mine who drop them, tread on them and
> > leave them behind on hikes, it seems pointless to buy expensive ones.
> > The store at Cheshunt is a vast one, so they may not be available at
> > smaller sites. Worth keeping an eye open for anyway.
>
> Ours is doing DIY stuff for £1 at the moment - just been in a purchased a
> whole load of paint brushes etc for our Group working party later in the
> year!
>
> Pete
>
> --
> Peter Maley
> SL, 3rd Whitstable
> ESL, Tombstones ESU

My local branch of Poundland are also stocking compass at £1.

Regards

Mark P
West Yorkshire

On 10 Feb, 15:49, Mark P  wrote:
> On Feb 10, 1:00 pm, "Pete"  wrote:
>
>
>
> > alansplodge wrote:
> > > In the local Tesco (Brookfield Farm at Cheshunt, Herts on the A10)
> > > they're selling imitation "Silva" type compasses for a pound each.
> > > They seem to be perfectly serviceable and point in the general
> > > direction of magnetic north, although most have small bubbles in the
> > > fluid. If you've got Scouts like mine who drop them, tread on them and> > > leave them behind on hikes, it seems pointless to buy expensive ones.
> > > The store at Cheshunt is a vast one, so they may not be available at
> > > smaller sites. Worth keeping an eye open for anyway.
>
> > Ours is doing DIY stuff for £1 at the moment - just been in a purchased a
> > whole load of paint brushes etc for our Group working party later in the> > year!
>
> > Pete
>
> > --
> > Peter Maley
> > SL, 3rd Whitstable
> > ESL, Tombstones ESU
>
> My local branch of Poundland are also stocking compass at £1.
>
> Regards
>
> Mark P
> West Yorkshire

I bought a stock a while back.

I have never used them. They are no good for bearings, they are no
good for anything that requires even minimal precision.

Worthless and a waste of a pound.

I bought half a dozen from Aldi two years ago and within a year they all 
pointed in different directions so I hope that you have better luck :-)

-- 
Stephen Rainsbury
ESL Agathoid Explorer Scout Unit
www.agathoid.org.uk(remove this bit)

On Feb 10, 6:21 pm, "chris.5th"  wrote:
> On 10 Feb, 15:49, Mark P  wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
> > On Feb 10, 1:00 pm, "Pete"  wrote:
>
> > > alansplodge wrote:
> > > > In the local Tesco (Brookfield Farm at Cheshunt, Herts on the A10)
> > > > they're selling imitation "Silva" type compasses for a pound each.
> > > > They seem to be perfectly serviceable and point in the general
> > > > direction of magnetic north, although most have small bubbles in the> > > > fluid. If you've got Scouts like mine who drop them, tread on them and
> > > > leave them behind on hikes, it seems pointless to buy expensive ones> > > > The store at Cheshunt is a vast one, so they may not be available at> > > > smaller sites. Worth keeping an eye open for anyway.
>
> > > Ours is doing DIY stuff for £1 at the moment - just been in a purchased a
> > > whole load of paint brushes etc for our Group working party later in the
> > > year!
>
> > > Pete
>
> > > --
> > > Peter Maley
> > > SL, 3rd Whitstable
> > > ESL, Tombstones ESU
>
> > My local branch of Poundland are also stocking compass at £1.
>
> > Regards
>
> > Mark P
> > West Yorkshire
>
> I bought a stock a while back.
>
> I have never used them. They are no good for bearings, they are no
> good for anything that requires even minimal precision.
>
> Worthless and a waste of a pound.- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

Glad I avoid a mass purchase then.

Mark P
West Yorkshire

"Stephen Rainsbury" <stephen@rainsbury.net-spamnet- -> wrote in message 
news:7wHrj.5065$XI.3001@text.news.virginmedia.com...
>I bought half a dozen from Aldi two years ago and within a year they all 
>pointed in different directions so I hope that you have better luck :-)
>
> -- 
> Stephen Rainsbury
> ESL Agathoid Explorer Scout Unit
> www.agathoid.org.uk(remove this bit)

I have had some 'cheap ones' work fine for years, but the faults can be 
these:
The ring with divisions was actually inside and not attatched. A bearing was 
fine when immediatly taken , but the ring then floated freely around inside! 
Others, the whole centre became so loose it wouldn't stay put.

We have had two expensive Silva ones reverse polarity, probably becuase they 
were left on a car dashboard.

Eddie

On 10 Feb, 12:55, alansplodge  wrote:
> In the local Tesco (Brookfield Farm at Cheshunt, Herts on the A10)
> they're selling imitation "Silva" type compasses for a pound each.

£1 each!? I can do you a bowl of water, piece of card, magnetised
sewing needle, piece of cork, and a blob of blu-tack for a tenth of
that price. And I bet my contraption will work just as well. :-)

> They seem to be perfectly serviceable and point in the general
> direction of magnetic north,

How much 'general direction'? Is that just differentiating between N
or S? I can do that without a compass!

> although most have small bubbles in the
> fluid.

And almost certinaly won't have a jewelled pivot for the needle.

Probably only good for using in the 'classroom' as an introduction to
the compass. Anything more or using them outdoors is a waste of money.
Pick up 10 if you've a spare tenner, but don't think of investing in
them as serious kit/equipment.

> If you've got Scouts like mine who drop them, tread on them and
> leave them behind on hikes, it seems pointless to buy expensive ones.

I will only buy compasses from one of three manufacturers: Silva,
Suunto or Recta.

I have 2 fairly old Recta compasses similar to the current Recta DO310
models. Paid IIRC about £15 ea. for them. Still in good working order
after 15 years (?) use.

For orienteering purposes I generally plump for Suunto models. I have
a dozen A-20 which my yp use/did use. Excellent quality. I also have a
M-3 which I got for a very cheap £25 a few years ago. A good thing
about Suunto models is that they use a 2-zone system as opposed to
some others (e.g. Silva) who use the standard 5-zone. Very useful if
you're going to use them further abroad. I have just bought an update
to my M-3 - an M-3G, one that has a globally balanced needle (and it's
on test now in ME zone on the other side of the globe).

For good all round use I use Silva. I have 5 Field 7 which small kids
(small hands) such as cubs prefer. My main stock is a dozen or so
Ranger 3 which I'd rate as the best all-round model and ideal for
Scout/Explorer use. Then there are a couple of Expedition 4's (there
used to be 5 of these!) and for my personal use an Expedition 54. I
also have some - now a tadge battered - 19L map guide (slide on)
compasses which I use for basic skills training (setting/orienting the
map, walking round the map, etc)

In addition I also use a Silva 6 NOR spectra for orienteering (it's a
thumb compass) plus spare.

You can pick up a Ranger 3 from Tescos for £13/14 and a Field 7 for
about £9/10. Good value and good investment. Recommended. Groups/
Troops I've been in have mainly had these.

All these are mine and I haven't had any worries about scouting kids
using them.

I tell any kid/parents whether they're using one of mine or a group's
compass feel free to use it, abuse it, stamp on it, throw it around,
or leave it behind. At the end of the day they'll get a b*****ed
compass and I'll get the money to replace the compass from their
parents in return! And yes it has happened twice!

'Why on Earth would you want to damage or lose something that one day
might just be needed to save your life?' is the message that kids are
given from day 1.

> The store at Cheshunt is a vast one, so they may not be available at
> smaller sites. Worth keeping an eye open for anyway.

I know it's very tempting to think that in a group of say 10-20 scouts
you're only going to 'risk' a tenner with these Tesco compasses rather
than a whopping £120/130 with some decent Silva model, but that risk
is significantly lowered if you teach them to look after the kit from
the start.

I would always go for buying 1 Field 7 over 10 cheap Tesco value ones
unless I had a tenner to spare and was thinking of just using the
cheap stuff as an extra aid on some basic compass work.

GAGS