As a former land surveyor I have a good understanding of the parameters of a compass of this size and configuration. This is a very good knockoff of the Brunton design, which makes a quality product, and I used in the field for years. However, compasses of this size can not be used for actual surveying, but rather, for general orientation for those in deep woods, or desert on cloudy days or low light. They work fine for bushwhacking out in those situations since here in Oregon, at least, its usually impossible to walk a straight line for any distance at all. Thus, you need to use it to re-orient every time you move past an obstruction. Naturally, no compass is going to help you if you don't know the direction of the road you are trying to reach. --- take the map since there are plenty of places (in Oregon) entirely without reception.