A lot of variables, the most important being type of terrain, the dangers with said terrain and tracks versus no tracks.

I see no problems navigating a maze of trails in a heavily used recreational area. That is great fun. If (or rather, when) you get lost you can usually pick a trail that heads somewhere in the general direction of civilization. That trail will cross bigger trails and before you know it you know where you are.

Negotiating steep and difficult terrain without trails to follow is a totally different ball game. If you do that at night then you need to be fairly confident in your ability to find and follow "lines" of the land. You also must be fairly confident in your ability to NOT try short cuts down unknown gulleys and the like. It is very easy to become land locked if you try shortcuts in the vertical direction. You won't magically fall into a black hole because you dare to try night time navigation, but you may very easily fall when you try to extract yourself from a land locked position.


As always, the responsibility is yours. My best advice is to test and train your nighttime navigation skills in a fairly forgiving area, such as a heavily travelled recreational area, national park or the like with lots of trails.

I've tried different setups. One favorite was a dim flashlight (zebralight H50) at the lowest setting strapped to my chest, just above my map case. That gave just enough glow to see where I put my feet while being excellent for preserving night vision so I could see the faint outline of the terrain around me. It was also excellent for reading the map, although having the light so close to the map was somewhat blinding. I've also blazed through the trails with 200 lumens at my head. Great fun.

Using GPS... may be cheating, but it is also a skill that must be mastered, and something you need to train. Doing so at night is great fun and highly educational.


I think the best piece of advice is to try to develop the skill of extraction: If I'm lost (somewhere HERE on the map, but don't know exactly), then develop the skills to extract to something to big to miss. A power grid line, a road, a river, a lake, a track... Preferably, you should plan your route along such lines. Always look for them on your map. Also, develop the crucial habit of not ignoring the nagging sense of uncertainity that comes when obvious landmarks are in conflict with what you think they should be like. Usually, that is a pretty good indicator that you are about to become lost. Those skill sets are valid night and day, but are stressed much more at night. Which is why it is so fun