"Ask the person who got lost if she'd have been willing to pay $126 to know exactly where she was AND how to get to the parking lot on her own. "

I think what I meant is that it might be overkill, say, for a leisurely afternoon stroll down a marked trail in a wooded park. (I don't know if this was the case, but that's the impression I got).

If Cameron anticipates having trouble getting them to pay attention to some basic training, its going to be tough to teach them to use the GPS, map and compass well enough to get them out of trouble on their own. One step at a time.

I'd be willing to bet that the response to an attempt at survival training is "But I have my cellphone!" It won't help much to change the excuse to "But I have my GPS!"