I've used Silvas, Suuntos and Bruntons for 45 years for rough surveys, wilderness routefinding and backpacking. Like a lot of technological gizmos compasses increase in cost as precision and durability increase. There are trade-offs. For me compasses are like firemaking - carry redundancy. So here's my take - for map orientation and cruising from a map the Ranger type is best. My old Silva has served well for 40 years - don't know what's up with those today. When marching the handbearing compasses are best - I now carry a fairly new Suunto combo compass and clinometer - accuracy is high order (est. to 0.25 deg.) - but you'll blow your $100 on the compass alone. It is not best for baseplate/map work. Finally, the top of the heap is the Brunton Pocket Transit. I have one nearly 45 years old and it's a gem. Heavy as lead, faultless accuracy (you could, if careful, survey with it), tough as nails. The real thing will set you back more than $200. Knock-offs for under $100 - but I wouldn't trust them. I usually carry two of these plus a Marbles Arms pin on. I don't usually <img src="/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" /> get lost!