When carrying spare AA primaries (not rechargeables), I strongly recommend Energizer Lithiums. They last much longer in storage, do not leak, and provide more power than alkalines, especially in high-drain devices.

No affiliation.

"A GPS without Batteries is as useful as a Gun without Bullets"

Therefore I always carry two sets of spare batteries.

On longer trips I now take 8 Rechargeable AA. I have also been experimenting with the use of a Solar Charger to charge my batteries when I am on longer trips. This way I can have a permanent supply of AA/AAA Batteries. This is no good on a short trip because of the weight of the panel and charger, but on longer trips it does help.

Seriously, what can go wrong with a compass? Apart from all those jokes about what happens when you place two compass close together (both will be wrong!), let's run through the different scenarios:

=> Compass smashed. Fairly easy to see which one broken and not

=> Compass needle is stuck and can't move freely. A 10 second test will show you if this is the case - just rotate the compass while you hold it horizontally

=> Compass needle is completely de-magnetised. Highly unlikely. Rotate the compass while you hold it horizontally, and you'll see

=> Compass needle has changed polarity (north points to south). Rare, but there are at least one report here on ETS of that happening. Use other indicators to tell which is which. If you can see the sun you can tell which direction that absolutely isn't south.


If the compass needle is magnetic and can rotate freely it will point to magnetic north unless there are other magnetic objects really close to it (such as the other compass). Period. There's no way a compass can be pointing consistently, say, 45 degrees in the wrong direction. You need human navigation errors for that... (such as messing up when finding out which heading you should use).

There was a lot of tongue-in-cheek with that not too serious question. The statement I commented on was "I usually carry two compasses. One might be wrong, two aren't." and in fact hikermor's post above is correct, two compasses can be wrong and for the same exact reason. I carry a compass, but the course taken from a GPS when walking is independent of the local phenomena that could affect a magnetic compass' accuracy/correctness.

Your point about carrying a back-up compass in case the primary is damaged or lost is valid.

Ron Hood demonstrated a good direction finding technique using a sun-dial: The Ottomani Sun Compass & Sun compass and direction finding

I carry a small GPS when hiking. Also a map and compass. I always try to stop at least once on a hike, pull out the map and compass, and practice determining my location. I've never NEEDED to do this, I haven't gotten lost ever (knock on wood!), but I like to stay in practice.

One thing I don't understand very well though. Here in Colorado I have lots of mountain peaks that I can triangulate off of to determine my position. And huge ridges and drainages I can use to keep myself "walled in" so I have a good handle on where I am by using just a map without compass. But how do people in the flat lands determine their location when there is nothing sticking up more than a few feet, thus nothing to triangulate off of? GPS would be a great tool for the flat land wilderness situation where you don't have many landmarks that would show up on a map.

How do you folks in the flatter areas of the country do it with only map and compass?

Before the drop-dead date and within the operating temps of alkaline batteries, you really shouldn't notice any performance difference with alkaline batteries compared to lithiums -- except that the lithiums are lighter and have a higher power density.

That said, if you have some emergency only gear and the batteries have been in there 5 years, you might notice a big difference. The alkalines may be leaking while the lithiums will still be good to go.

Yeah, I switched my lights and GPS receivers (less the Garmin 60CSx) over to lithiums. What was Garmin thinking when they designed the 60CSx to be incompatible with lithiums? A reason to upgrade to the 62? That's one reason I carry the ForeTrex 301 as a back-up.

Lithium batts will also perform better in low temperatures, compared to alkies.....Not as much of a factor down here, but it might be important in the Frozen North....

I have lost way too much equipment to leaking alkies to trust them in anything significant. For items in regular usage, i am very happy with Eneloops. For anything that is used intermittently, I will install lithiums..

Alkalines simply don't cut it for high drain applications. Such as "max" mode for most flashlights: They can't deliver the currents involved. The light will work, but at much lower intensity than you've bargained for.

Alkalines are OK if your needs are more modest. Say, your flashlight at low or medium modes. I don't like alkalines for several reasons, but that doesn't mean they won't work within some constraints (not too low temperatures, not in high current applications).

Izzy, I'm surprised that eneloops don't live up to your expectations. I'm quite happy with eneloops and similar low self discharge batteries by other vendors.

That being said, disposable (single use) lithium has a lot going for them. In particular in the "emergency only" scenario.

The charger and the charging cycle you use may affect their performance. So-called "inelligent" chargers and a slow cycle are allegedly better. My usage so far tends to confirm that notion.

Ditto on the above - I use smart chargers only.

I've stayed away from the eneloop charger since no one has confirmed it has intelligent charging circuits. On the contrary: Last time I checked, the available data made me suspect that eneloop supplies a "dumb" charger.

Hints: Unless you can charge ONE battery individually in whatever port you like and the manufacturer braggs about delta-v circuits it probably is a dumb charger.