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Originally Posted by Dick  I find quite the opposite. With compassing my focus is on keeping a straight line and knowing my approximate distance travelled. I find that I don’t get much opportunity to “smell the roses”. If I want to step off my line I have to remember / record my distance and mark the spot so I can return and continue compassing. In contrast, with GPS I can wander about freely. I can check out the valley, the ridge, and scoot over to the pond and get a good feel for the layout of the land and the available 'survival' resources... knowing that I can relocate myself on the map at pretty much any time I want.
Also, with map and compass obstacles can be a pain. If you meet a fast flowing creek and have to move up or down stream to cross it, it may be difficult to get back on your line. Circumnavigating cliffs, bears, and any number of other obstacles require careful and somewhat laborious consideration with a map and compass. |
I actually hardly ever even use the compass unless I get really really lost, which rarely happens, and a compass has been more than I need to find my way back. I never follow a straight line. I can usually just go wherever I want and pretty much know where I am. But for the rare occasion that I am lost, I still know that there is a field to the east, or a trail to the south, etc. Then I just head in one direction until I get to something familiar.
I guess if I wanted to be super adventurous and go someplace that I wasn't familiar with at all, then I might bring along the GPS. I was mainly talking about just general every day use.