Silva compass - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Silva compass, or Silva of Sweden, aka Silva Sweden AB is an outdoors products company, most known for their high-grade compass

Compass

A compass is a navigational instrument that shows directions in a frame of reference that is stationary relative to the surface of the earth. The frame of reference defines the four cardinal directions – north, south, east, and west. Intermediate directions are also defined...

es and other navigational equipment including GPS tools, mapping software

Map

A map is a visual representation of an area—a symbolic depiction highlighting relationships between elements of that space such as objects, regions, and themes....

, and altimeter

Altimeter

An altimeter is an instrument used to measure the altitude of an object above a fixed level. The measurement of altitude is called altimetry, which is related to the term bathymetry, the measurement of depth underwater.-Pressure altimeter:...

s for aircraft. They also offer a marine

Marine (ocean)

Marine is an umbrella term. As an adjective it is usually applicable to things relating to the sea or ocean, such as marine biology, marine ecology and marine geology...

range. The company's founders invented the hugely popular orienteering

Orienteering

Orienteering is a family of sports that requires navigational skills using a map and compass to navigate from point to point in diverse and usually unfamiliar terrain, and normally moving at speed. Participants are given a topographical map, usually a specially prepared orienteering map, which they...

or protractor compass used around the world for outdoors navigation.

Silva Sweden AB is a company created and based in Sweden

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

that exports worldwide, and operates in numerous countries. They have marketing companies in Sollentuna, Sweden, Mantes-la-Ville

Mantes-la-Ville

Mantes-la-Ville is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. It is located in the western suburbs of Paris from the center....

, France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

, Friedrichsdorf

Friedrichsdorf

Friedrichsdorf is a town of the Hochtaunuskreis, some north of Frankfurt am Main in Hesse, Germany.-Location: Friedrichsdorf is located in the Taunus area, ranking third among the Hochtaunuskreis boroughs after Bad Homburg vor der Höhe and Oberursel...

, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

, and Livingston, Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

. In 2006, Silva was acquired by the Finnish Fiskars Group

Fiskars

The Fiskars Corporation is a metal and consumer brands company founded in 1649 at Fiskars Bruk , a locality now in the town of Raseborg, Finland, about 100 km west of Helsinki on the old main road from Turku to Vyborg...

. Silva and Gerber

Gerber Legendary Blades

Gerber Legendary Blades is a maker of consumer knives and multitools headquartered in Tigard, Oregon, United States, within the Portland metropolitan area. Currently Gerber is a sub-division of Fiskars Brands Inc, owned by the Fiskars company of Finland...

are Fiskars' main outdoors brands.

Because Johnson Outdoors

Johnson Outdoors

Johnson Outdoors Inc. produces outdoor recreational products such as watercraft, diving equipment, compasses and navigational products, and outdoor clothing.-Company history:...

Inc. owns the Silva brand name in North America, Silva Sweden AB compasses and other products are sold under the Brunton
Brunton, Inc.
Brunton, Inc. is a manufacturer of technical gear for outdoor activity located in Riverton, Wyoming. Brunton is well known for innovation in the categories of recreational compasses and navigation gear, binoculars, backpacking equipment, family camping, GPS, headlamps, solar panels for portable...

, and Nexus labels in that market. The aim of Silva Sweden AB is to "Design, develop, produce and market world-class quality products on a global basis for users within the Land and Marine markets".

History

Silva Sweden AB created their first compass in 1928, and established their company in 1933.

Below is a Chronological timeline of important dates in the history of Silva Sweden AB:

1928 Gunnar Tillander invents the first orienteering (protractor) compass.
1932 The Silva company is established in December 1932.
1946 Björn Kjellström
Björn Kjellström
Björn Kjellström , originally from Sweden, was a ski orienteering champion in Sweden and co-founder of the compass manufacturing company Silva Sweden AB....

begins Silva U.S.A. operations as The Silva Company (later Silva, Inc.). Compass assembly factory established in La Porte, Indiana. Silva Orienteering Services established to support the sport of Orienteering in North America.
1948 Kjellström founds Silva Ltd. of Canada.
1958 Silva Production AB expands with new plastics manufacturing operations
1960 Silva Production AB expands with new tooling and manufacturing operations
1964 Silva Type 15 (aka Ranger) deluxe model compass introduced, with mirror sighting system, adjustable declination, and liquid-damped needle.
1973 New manufacturing plant, Instrumentverken in Sollentuna. Johnson Wax Associates
Johnson Outdoors
Johnson Outdoors Inc. produces outdoor recreational products such as watercraft, diving equipment, compasses and navigational products, and outdoor clothing.-Company history:...

(JWA) acquires Silva, Inc. (Silva USA).
1979 Silva USA compass manufacturing facility in La Porte, Indiana is closed.
1980 New Office building for Silva Production AB. Silva USA, now owned by JWA, moves its headquarters to Binghamton, New York.
1981 Silva Production AB launches its first electronic instrument design
1981 Acquisition of different lines of sporting goods for Swedish sport market by Silva Production AB.
1982 Production of first electronic instruments by Silva Production AB.
1985 Johnson Worldwide Associates (JWA) purchases Silva Ltd. of Canada.
1984 New Warehouse.
1986 Enlargement of Silva Production AB manufacturing plant.
1986 New showroom for Silva Group products.
1989 Launching of largest investment program ever for The Silva Group. Market - production - research & development.
1990 Inauguration new premises Silva France
- 25 million compasses produced
- New subsidiary Silva US Marine
- New manufacturing plant in Livingston, Scotland
  Scotland
  Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
- Acquisition of precision instrument producer Sisteco Finland
1992 Silva Group launches its first satellite navigator
1995 Björn Kjellström dies. The Silva factory in Haninge reinaugurates
1996 Silva Production AB acquires Brunton, Inc., resulting in the largest compass manufacturing concern in the USA, and terminates its compass distribution agreement with Silva USA/JWA.
1997 JWA (later Johnson Outdoors, Inc.) files suit to retain exclusive rights to the Silva brand name in North America.
1998 As part of a new marketing plan, Silva Production AB of Sweden distributes its original Swedish-made compasses under the Brunton and Nexus labels in North America. In turn, Brunton-designed compasses such as the Brunton 9020, 8040, and Eclipse are labeled with the Silva or Silva Voyager brand for sale in areas outside North America.

North American Trademark Dispute

After the founding of Silva USA in 1946 and Silva Ltd. in Canada two years later, both affiliates were later acquired by Johnson Wax Associates, later Johnson Camping, Inc., and by 1985, Johnson Worldwide Associates (JWA). From 1980, JWA had imported Swedish-made compasses manufactured by Silva Production AB for sale in North America.

In 1996, a decision by Silva Production AB to end sole distribution of its Swedish-made Silva-brand compasses by Silva USA led to a court battle the following year between JWA and Silva Production AB (Silva Sweden AB).

In 1998, JWA and Silva Production AB of Sweden reached a settlement whereby JWA retained the exclusive right to sell compasses under its Silva trademark in North America, made by unnamed manufacturers. JWA also retained the North American rights to some product names such as Ranger, Polaris, 1, 2, 3 and others commonly used and recognized in the U.S. and Canadian markets and made popular during the time Silva Production AB was manufacturing Swedish-made Silva compasses for JWA in North America. JWA was eventually renamed Johnson Outdoors, Inc.

For its part, Silva Production AB/Silva Group retained the right to manufacture and sell compasses under its Silva trademark outside the United States and Canada, as well as market its Swedish-made compasses in North America under the Brunton and Nexus brands. The Swedish firm also retained the right to state on Nexus packaging and in the Nexus catalog that Nexus compasses are made by Silva Production AB, but did not retain the right to advertise this fact.

Current activity

Today, The Silva Group consists of the parent company, now called Silva Sweden AB, together with its subsidiaries Silva Ltd. in the United Kingdom, Silva France, Silva Deutschland, Silva Far East, and The Brunton Company (Brunton, Inc.) in the USA and Canada. The core activities of the Silva Group consist of design, development, manufacture of compasses for land and sea and sales of compasses, GPS and outdoor instruments, headlamps, binoculars and other electronic navigation equipment.

Silva range

At its facility in Haninge, Sweden, Silva manufactures a wide variety of portable compasses for recreational, hiking, scientific, and marine uses. The company produces a range of models, from simple protractor or baseplate compasses like the Expedition 3 and Expedition 4 to more advanced models such as the Expedition 15TDCL, as well as sophisticated sighting compasses including the Expedition 54 (in North America, the Brunton 54LU) and the Silva SightMaster line. Some models, such as the Silva Ranger Pro 25TDCLE, have been equipped with built-in battery-operated lighting for use at night or in poor light. In keeping with its origins as a company, Silva also offers its Orienteering Series of Jet, Spectra, and NORCOMPASS models optimized for orienteering

Orienteering

and adventure racing

Adventure racing

Adventure racing is a combination of two or more endurance disciplines, including orienteering and/or navigation , cross-country running, mountain biking, paddling and climbing and related rope skills...

competition.

Silva Group has a long history of supplying variants of their general-use compasses to various military forces of the world, including the defence forces of Great Britain

Great Britain

Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...

, Denmark

Denmark

Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

, Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

, New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

, and Sweden

Sweden

. In particular, the Silva 3 Militaire 6400/360 and 4b Militaire NATO 6400/360 baseplate compasses, the Model 54/6400b (aka 4/54) prismatic compass, and the 15T Militaire 6400/360 mirror/optical-sight compass are in wide use. All standard models have luminous lighting; models with a 'b' (beta) suffix are fitted with self-illuminating tritium

Tritium

Tritium is a radioactive isotope of hydrogen. The nucleus of tritium contains one proton and two neutrons, whereas the nucleus of protium contains one proton and no neutrons...

lighting.

Besides compasses, Silva manufactures several other types of outdoor and navigational equipment. The range includes GPS receivers, wind meters, headlamp

Headlamp (outdoor)

A headlamp is a light source affixed to the head for outdoor activities at night or in dark conditions such as caving, orienteering, hiking, backpacking, camping, mountaineering or mountain biking...

s, binoculars

Binoculars

Binoculars, field glasses or binocular telescopes are a pair of identical or mirror-symmetrical telescopes mounted side-by-side and aligned to point accurately in the same direction, allowing the viewer to use both eyes when viewing distant objects...

and other accessories.

History

North American Trademark Dispute

Current activity

Silva range

See also