Why carrying a spare compass is wise...

This woman lost her only compass which resulted in a cell call to 911 for rescue. Fortunately the woman was in cell range and a Life Flight chopper flyover then was able to find, then land and retrieve the woman.

Kind of an odd tale...Did she not have a map? Usually in country with any kind of relief, a compass is not particularly critical, especially in good weather.....

I have to confess to being a frequent hiker and never carrying a spare compass except by accident (ex. occasionally loading the baggie containing an older Silva along with the baggie containing my map / newer Suunto). I'm not certain that's the conclusion I would draw from this example - there's not too much to go by, but was she in familiar territory, was it difficult terrain to assess, did she have a map, could she use alternative means (position of the sun) to assess general direction? I am not familiar with Utah at all so I can assume she got twisted in canyons and didn't realize her way out, and in that sense she had the lowest reliability emergency signaling device, her cell phone, and a signal.

Honestly, I tend to rely on knowledge of terrain, my maps and the one compass I have; failing that, I rely on knowledge, map and dead reckoning (which drainage I may be in, and where it may run to civilization). And of course dead reckoning sometimes means I may end up dead.

I always carry a spare compass, but I am not sure this is a good example of why? Too much is unknown to tell what happened here, but a compass is the least important tool of the kit in this type of terrain in good weather. There are several other ways to determine general direction, as hikermor indicated. It would seem to me that she was unprepared (no map, etc) or panic set in when she lost the compass. We will probably never know what really happened.

Pet peeve -- a compass put into everything that is marketed for the outdoors! Not only do I have my working compass (a Brunton Pocket Transit) and my backup (an old Silva Outdoorsman pin on) but there are compasses in the top of my match safes (one on me and one in my pack) there was one in my Ritter PSK, there are ones in my wife's hiking poles, one in her thermometer pull on her jacket, etc., etc., etc. If she were to look carefully she might have had one or two more without noticing. I like redundancy more than most, but this is absurd.

Respectfully,

Jerry

Interesting -- my cell phone has a compass. But then so do my watch and GPS

I always carry a spare compass because as this story demonstrates with the little details available, people can and do lose compasses and can find themselves requiring assistance when they would least suspect it.

Judging by some of the comments here, the overall idea and concepts of carrying a spare compass is not worth it. Sorry for posting the link...

That last may have been aimed at me so I should clarify. I have a number of compass's and I do carry a back-up magnetic, non-electronic compass. In addition to primary mag compass and back-up, many of my electronic items also have compass's built in although normally turned off.

As has been stated here many times the first step in many rescues is the subject getting lost.

Well, I said I don't carry a spare compass, only one for me - I'm just not sure that I very often need a spare compass, one generally being good for me. I realize folks get separated from their compasses, ok - that's still not enough for me to suddenly carry two compasses instead of one. YMMV and all that - nothing to keep anyone else from carrying as many compasses as they can haul.

Maybe this makes my a hypocrite, but it occurred to me after JerryFountain's post that my aluminum match safe has a button compass embedded in its cap, so I have that at all times I suppose as a backup. Being a button type I have never used it to navigate around.

Teslin, I should clarify my remarks as well. I usually go out with just one compass, which is rarely consulted. ut this is in the mountainous western USm where the skies are not cloudy all day and prominent terrain features and sweeping vistas are commonplace. For that matter, I am often travelling in country I know quite well. Even at that, i do have an electronic compass lurking within my wristwatch. I have played with it from time to time, but I have never used it "for real."

Things change drastically when you get out on the water and mix in some limited visibility and fog. A mounted deck compass is now mandatory when I am sea kayaking. I became a convert when I was planning, along with some friends, to embark upon a short (1 1/2 to 2 hour) paddle along the coast. I mounted my new fangled deck compass, mostly to impress this awesome babe (now Mrs.hikermor). We launched and bingo! -here came the peasoup fog. Maintaining a compass bearing became critical because we needed .to travel parallel to the coast just outside the breaker line. I consulted my compass more in thirty minutes than I ever have in forty years of hiking and climbing on land. That is not the only time I have made regular and frequent use of a compass, but all the notable situations are in marine settings.

Any compass must be completely reliable; if you are using it, you will be utterly dependent upon its accuracy - not a place for cheap junk.

I generally carry a good sighting compass in my pack. In my pocket I usually have a loop of cord with a small knife, match case, lighter, and a small wrist compass strung on it. I've never really thought of it as carrying a spare, rather it is to make sure I always have it, even if I should become separated from my pack. But I suppose it is a spare. Like hikermore, I find that in the terrain I frequent, I rarely ever need a compass. However, when you need a compass you often need it really really bad.

I don't think you should feel sorry for posting. I thought it stimulated some worthwhile discussion.

Teslinhiker,

If you are referring to me, there is no need to apologise. It is always interesting to read this type of link and can be instructive. The idea that she lost her compass should make us all think about what we would do. Carry a spare is just one possible answer. I apologise if you got the impression that I felt the post was inappropriate.

Respectly,

Jerry

Teslin, I think one element involved is the simple fact that most people (including 'outdoorsy' ones) really don't have serious landnav skills. Most have never had to cover distance off-trail in challenging terrain using baselines, catching features, pacecount, and ded reckoning. Most have been served quite well with trails and simple terrain association, so they have no concept of needing backups of serious tools.

It's like those guys who "have been shooting since I was 9 years old" but would get their butts handed to them on a simple IDPA course of fire and can't clear a pistol malfunction onehanded.

They don't know what they don't know.

Don't sweat it.

LOL -- for the most part, that's me! I relearn the complex landnav stuff every five years or so, then promptly forget much of it because I'm not applying it. (I should really do more orienteering etc., but who has time?)

I get creatively turned around a fair bit, so I usually carry a simple, skinny compass in my pockets when hiking. This compass gets used frequently to give me a mental map of obvious landmarks and general trends of trail and terrain.

On a longer or more complex trip, I would not hesitate to add a second, proper compass and map (topo or forestry) if needed.

IMHO the most "challenging terrain" for navigation is flat land with thick forrest or brush cover. One can't do terrain association because there isn't any real terrain, and in any case you can't see what few landmarks there might be because of the brush. That's where compass, pace count, etc become critical. What people tend to think of as challenging terraine (steep and rugged) is often the easiest to navigate in by terrain association.

One result of the now ubiquitous use of GPS, with map displays, is that many people not only don't know how use a compass, but they are also inept at map reading and terrain association as well. But that's the geezer in me speaking. I'm a geologist by training, and back in the day we learned to make our own maps in the field by pace count and Brunton Pocket Transit. It was always amusing to plot up ones data and calculate the closure error of one's traverses!

Exactly. And those who haven't dealt with it, especially at night or in storm (or both) are quick to dismiss the tools due to a lack of experience and skill.

They don't know what they don't know.

I have seen people swear that their compass is broken.Because they are "positive" they are going in the right direction even though the compass says different.Pull out the backup compass and eliminate doubt by comparring the two.....

BOATMAN
John

That won't do you any good if you are affected by magnetic variation, say local iron rich rocks which will distort both compass needles equally. This happened to our climbing party on Orizaba. We had accomplished the usual dark o' thirty early start and my companion was steering by compass. We were able to determine that the compass was off by more than 45 degrees, thanks to the presence of the Big Dipper/pointer stars/North Star brightly shining in the sky. The constellations are the ultimate authority; however, you can't count on them always being visible.

Aksar brings up a good point about featureless terraain where terrain features are absent or obscured. At the other end of the spectrum are situations where compass directions are irrelevant. Deeply incised canyons in the Colorado Plateau come to mind. When you are in one of those, the only directions of significance are upstream and downstream. What counts is a good topo map so you can look for possible ways out of the canyon (if that is what you wish). Sometimes even GPS signals can be deflected and degraded, giving an inaccurate position

I wrote a short post for Seattle Backpackers Magazine about carrying a back up compass.

http://seattlebackpackersmagazine.com/evaluating-back-up-compass-models/

Blake

outdoorquest.blogspot.com

I have several small button type compasses that go with me out in the woods, even places I have practically memorized the trails. That and the compass on my GPS ought to be adequate compass backups.

I don't use any of them very often. Usually only when it is so overcast I cannot see the sun.

I will probably get slammed for saying so, but my primary navigation aid... is my GPS (Garmin 62s with compass) because it is much easier to use and provides a lot more information. Not only does it have the base map, City Navigator and topo maps but I can also overlay aerial images. Will I run out of battery power? Perhaps, but I always have extra batteries. I have my camera which uses 4AAs but I carry an extra set of 4AAs in its case in my EDC bag. Running out of juice is not a likely scenario with me.

My backup is my Suunto MCA. Then there is the button compass in my PSK. And the physical maps I usually carry in the vehicle. If I get lost, it would because of my absence of using the options available to me!

No, I won't be one to slam you. I have no problem with using GPS as your primary nav tool, since you carry carry alternatives (I assume you practice using them from time to time). My problem is with folks who only carry a GPS, and have no clue how to get by without one.

+1. Says it all.

You are right on the mark.

Rarely does my SAR team come across a subject carrying any navigation gear at all. That is the subject of another thread.