Okay, now that I am not in a classroom waiting for my students to finish a quiz let me expand on a few things.

First, as many have intimated, no tool is worth a damn if you do not know how to use it. These days, it seems that land navagation is the lost skill of the outdoors. Inexpensive GPS seem to be one of the last nails in Land Navigation's coffin. Learn it navigate without a GPS, you can find courses across the country but you can get started with a good book like Be Expert with Map and Compass by Bjorn Hjellstorm and practicing alot. Once you are good at finding your way without electronics, you can add a GPS if you feel like it for added safety. I like to mark my location with my GPS and then turn it off so that I have the batteries to find my way back should I need to. Another thing to not forget is at least one set of spare batteries for each device that uses them.

If you can, buy some extra materials to build fires and shelters with and practice with these items.