Silva compasses are a brand which originated in Sweden with roots in the 1930s. By pure coincidence, the instrument maker Gunnar Tillander met with together with the three successful orienteering brothers of that time, Arvid, Björn and Alvar Kjellström. Gunnar was also an avid orienteer, and at this time, the sport was gaining wide attention. As the interest in orienteering developed, they tried to improve the product range by introducing a liquid dampened compass which was also combined with a protractor which enabled the user to obtain fast and accurate map bearings. They grew to meet the needs of the outdoorsmen market. People such as campers and hunters had a need and so with distribution across the USA they started to develop a name for themselves. Silva translates as “forest” and is certainly a very fitting name for their instrument brand. Please review the offerings below. You will find a wide range of products ranging from standard compasses to wrist mounted compasses, digital compass watches, pin on compasses and even carabiner keyring compasses.