Intangible Assets (Details) (USD $)	12 Months Ended					12 Months Ended		12 Months Ended		12 Months Ended		12 Months Ended		12 Months Ended		12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010	Dec. 31, 2009	Dec. 31, 2011 Acquired identifiable intangibles	Dec. 31, 2010 Acquired identifiable intangibles	Dec. 31, 2011 Acquired identifiable intangibles Product technology Years	Dec. 31, 2010 Acquired identifiable intangibles Product technology	Dec. 31, 2011 Acquired identifiable intangibles Customer relationships Years	Dec. 31, 2010 Acquired identifiable intangibles Customer relationships	Dec. 31, 2011 Acquired identifiable intangibles Trademarks and tradename portfolios Years	Dec. 31, 2010 Acquired identifiable intangibles Trademarks and tradename portfolios	Dec. 31, 2011 Acquired identifiable intangibles Other Years	Dec. 31, 2010 Acquired identifiable intangibles Other	Dec. 31, 2011 Nonacquired intangibles Patents Years	Dec. 31, 2010 Nonacquired intangibles Patents	Dec. 31, 2011 Nonacquired intangibles Acquired in-place leases and other Years	Dec. 31, 2010 Nonacquired intangibles Acquired in-place leases and other	Jul. 31, 2011 Thermal Vision and Measurement Aerius Photonics LLC [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Raymarine Tacktick Ltd And Belamarin OY [Member]
Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Gross carrying amount						$ 95,123,000	$ 88,078,000	$ 85,662,000	$ 85,362,000	$ 8,197,000	$ 7,947,000	$ 24,530,000	$ 23,010,000	$ 4,202,000	$ 4,277,000	$ 12,882,000	$ 10,881,000	$ 8,830,000
Gross carrying amount				32,076,000	32,250,000
Gross carrying amount				245,588,000	236,647,000
Less accumulated amortization				(88,588,000)	(66,793,000)									(3,478,000)	(3,287,000)	(6,166,000)	(4,340,000)
Net carrying amount	164,440,000	177,385,000		157,000,000	169,854,000
Net carrying amount														724,000	990,000	6,716,000	6,541,000
Weighted average estimated useful life						10		10		14		4
Weighted average estimated useful life														17		7
Acquired identifiable intangible assets from acquisitions																		8,830,000	1,100,000
Aggregate amortization expense	33,200,000	25,800,000	16,400,000
2012	24,739,000
2013	22,840,000
2014	17,873,000
2015	13,755,000
2016	$ 9,102,000