I'm a map & compass kind of guy (but yes, I often carry my GPS when hiking).

I'd have to agree with Doug ... GPS'es for the masses. They're more likely to do better with them. But I can't tell you why. Looking at my GPS'es (a Garmin V and a Magellan Gold) I'd be hard pressed to call either one of them intuitive for an occasional user. For any user, really. After about 25 button presses and 3 or 4 mis-steps into incorrect submenus I'd finally be able to get one to point me back to my truck (and I'm a computer geek who's pretty good with electronics!) I don't see how Joe-sixpack-lost-in-the-woods could do it. But somehow they seem to manage on occasion.

Looking at the map & compass alternative, how would Joe-sixpack with the 4th grade education fare with the basic geometry skills needed to understand bearings, intersecting lines, north-pointing needles that don't exactly point north - you have to add (or was that SUBTRACT???) some other number that varies depending on where you are. Hmmm ... random button pushes on a GPS might actually work out better for Joe. At least he'd be likely to stumble onto the screen with an arrow pointing somewhere. He might think it was pointing to his truck, when in reality it was pointing to the Burger King in Butte Montana, but at least he'd stay heading in the same direction so he'd reach civilization sooner or later.