I see your point. No doubt about it, a GPS would have been useful to these folks.

The "dead weight" comment refers to my personal inclinations. I don't like the idea of being reliant on a complex, battery-operated tool to find my way home. And I don't like tech stuff separating me from the landscape, from the awareness of its flow and rhythm that slowly seeps into the mind as I walk.

If I took a GPS, I'd still be taking rough compass readings as backup, because I know the compass works, always. And if I'm doing that, why carry the GPS at all? Hence "dead weight" (for me). But maybe I'm all wet on this.

I see that prices and weights are coming down, and if I'm ever doing a trip in featureless bush, I may just spring for one.