Suunto MC-2G Global Compass

US Special Ops forces use this compass. This is pretty indicative of its reliability.
I own this compass as well as the Silva Ranger. They're both great compasses, but I prefer the Suunto (in spite of the fact that Suunto now makes the Silva compasses as well). The housing is indeed easier to turn on the Suunto, which is handy when you're shooting by sight. The Romer scales on the base are nice, although if you're serious you're probably already carrying a transparent Romer scale card (that's the plastic Graphic Training Aid thingy you take coordinates with, for all of you Lt.'s out there).
When I backpack, I take this Suunto as well as the Suunto GPS plotter compass, for working with (surprise) my map and GPS. If the Romer scales on the baseplate are really, really important to you, you might look into that compass as well/or instead of, as it features more scales and is just as accurate a compass.
All in all, this is the ultimate baseplate compass, in my opinion. I have miles and miles of rifle-piloting in the US Army behind me and now hump the hills for pleasure; land-navigation is a passion for me. Suunto makes the tools that I find most useful in that pursuit.

The compass handles very nicely. The housing is more comfortable to turn than the Silva Ranger CL. This started to become significant after a few minutes of handling. The Suunto can be used with one hand whereas it was difficult for me to operate the Silva due to the small knurls on the housing.

The bottom part of the mirror has a half-moon hole in it allowing a midpoint view of your map. Very nice.

The global gimbal system on the needle is pretty handy as you don't have to hold the compass totally flat for it to operate correctly. Or I could learn to hold the base level, too. Presumably in the southern hemisphere the magnetic field causes the compass needle to roll a bit.

The one very strange thing about this model is that the declination markers inside the housing are printed upside down. It appears that Suunto went with the declination readable from the opposing side while making the declination adjustment since the compass must be turned upside down to do this. It's an interesting way to differentiate.

The inclinometer is probably pretty handy for snow travel among other things.

The base is a little wide for my hand, as is the Silva. The mirror appears replaceable. Good thing since it's glass. The map markings don't start on the edge of compass. I prefer this since I never feel comfortable with that, but it's a personal preference. It has a 1:24000 and 1:62500 (?) scale for map measurements.

The sighting notch seems to work well. The lid snaps on to the base tightly and due to the thickness of the lid, you can't quite twist your thumb to pop it. It's a practice problem, I'm guessing.

The key on the lanyard is for adjusting the declination, though I don't think I'd do it because I'd forget to realign it.

The compass is very heavy compared to a baseplate design but that's due to the lid. It's a consideration if you're an ultralighter. Those ounces really do add up. There are lighter mirror compasses available.

The base does not have a centimeter scale whereas the Silva does.