While I try to understand the declination and deviation concepts, I am primarily a short-distance land navigator who matches compass, GPS, and map to visible physical landmarks. That and looking back at my trail frequently has served me well so far.

At sea out of sight of land, or in deep woods where distant landmarks are not readily visible, for example, I would be in trouble with my current skills. My GPS and use of waypoints and built-in maps would help, but I can only hope I would have time to study-up before encountering the far-at-sea or deep-woods situations.