I can give you a "steering" example. I was helmsman on a boat in the Santa Barbara Channel. Fairly heavy fog so no landmarks were visible. This was also pre-GPS, so I was steering strictly by compass heading. Unfortunately the dial I was using was stuck and I performed a very graceful 180 degree arc before a momentary opening in the fog clued me in. The ship's captain, with access to a better compass, had been watching this performance and decided to let it continue, doubtless in the interests of science. We were in mid channel, clear of both rocks and the shipping lanes. All of this took about 45 minutes or so.

On land, in rough terrain, it is a different story. There you will typically be traveling uphill or downhill and with the aid of a good map, it is very easy to keep on the proper course to a destination. At least I have never gotten as messed up on land as I did that afternoon in the Channel. Usually on land, my compass goes unused.