Im certainly not a modern-day Luddite; I have a GPS nav unit in my car, but I also have maps (including two Delorme topos) and a dash-mount magnetic compass which I know how to use. I worry about the proliferation of electronic navigational aids and beacons. Dead batteries aside, in a marshall law situation, elements within the gov't will flip a switch and disable the satellites and transmitters that support these devices (and probably cell phones too). If the basic traditional nav skills and equipment are marginalized, they will be lost to the majority.

It would be interesting to stop and check everyone with a beacon, GPS, or nav unit and see if they have a traditional magnetic compass and map, and really know how to use them.