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!