I hike, camp, hunt and fish in in thick woods, grasslands and desserts. I live in a suburban community and work in an urban area. I am not a pilot and I am not trekking through Alaska or Antarctica. That is important to know because what I say below is my opinion as it relates to people in similar situations rather than people flying float planes over northern Canada or something similar. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Well lets see here. My survival weapon of choice is a rabbit stick... now that that one is out of the way... <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

What size kits are we talking about here. The amount of navigational gear alone to which you refer is more than I would ever consider carrying with me. I own a GPS and several compasses but you won't find most of that stuff in my PSK.

Now, as far as navigation equipment goes, I see your point but lets not go overboard. Let me preface this by saying that I carry no 98 cent compasses. I carry an SAS ($30) in my micro kit, a True Nord ($20) in my PSK, and Suunto M-3 ($30) in my bag kit (which I do NOT carry with me in the woods). BTW I keep a small AAA AM/FM radio and a variety of maps in my bag kit also. I also keep a GPS in whatever vehicle (car, boat, etc) I am in.

Now for PSKS... I believe that a PSK (which I DO carry with me in the woods) is a last ditch kit (not al all inclusive do it all kit) and a compass is not nearly as important as fire, water, first aid and signalling! All my compass needs to do
it point north reliably. That's it. Nothing else. This is not the compass I bring with my to navigate maps. This is the
backup, last ditch compass that finds north and keeps me from walking in circles when it's cloudy, or
storming or I'm under a heavy canopy of trees, all of which render GPS useless and make it impossible to
navigate by the stars. I cant find polaris on a cloudy night and the GPS isn't going to work either. Now having said that I also argue with my compasses and tend to not believe them at times and therefore I also carry two. I carry the only on my wrist that is built in to my watch and also the one in my kit.

Topo maps, GPSs and large super-accurate compasses all have their place but it isn't in my PSK because if my PSK is too big then it is left at home or in the car and then everything in it is useless including the firemaking, water purification and signalling equipment which is IMHO by far the most important survival gear I carry.

In a nutshell, you say a mini compass will do nothing but point to north, and I say that exactly all I need it to do because navigating by sun and stars only works when you can see them. <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />