Compass - Do you Really Need One?

[Haertig]

Do I routinely need a compass? No. Do I routinely have a compass? Yes, when in the back country (always). No, when in populated areas. I actually have quite a few compasses. Baseplate compasses, sighting compasses, lensatic compasses. That's because compasses are just plain cool and fun to play with.

I will admit though, that where I live all's I have to do it look towards the mountains. That is west. Good enough for navigation in populated areas. And when hiking in the mountains, it is almost impossible to get lost here. To get out of the mountains and back to civilization, just go downhill. Unless you climbed out of the drainage you are in, going downhill will put you right back near your parked car. It you climbed up and out of a drainage and down into the next one over, you'll know that.

What scares me about getting lost is ending in in a heavily wooded flat area. You don't have any high mountains to sight on to get a fix. A flat desert is similar, but you usually have a long line of sight there, so it's slightly better than a dense forest. Super scary would be to be disoriented in a swamp in the middle of nowhere Florida. I'd definitely want a compass there, and also I would have looked at maps to have an overview of the area where I was going so that I'd know which direction to head to get out.

In the mountains, there are plenty of tall things you can take a bearing on to triangulate your position on a map, assume you are well practiced with topo maps and can match something you can see to contour lines on the map. You also need a map of the proper scale so that things you are seeing are indeed on the map you have with you. When I was a little younger and did a lot more hiking, I would shoot a few bearings and triangulate my position on the map at every rest stop. Not because I was lost, but because I wanted to practice my compass skills. Then I'd pull out my GPS to check the accuracy of my triangulated position. It's better to have a compass and map of the area and not need them than it is to need those things and not have them, or not know how to use them.

 

[Bacpacker]

Do I routinely need a compass? No. Do I routinely have a compass? Yes, when in the back country (always). No, when in populated areas. I actually have quite a few compasses. Baseplate compasses, sighting compasses, lensatic compasses. That's because compasses are just plain cool and fun to play with.

I will admit though, that where I live all's I have to do it look towards the mountains. That is west. Good enough for navigation in populated areas. And when hiking in the mountains, it is almost impossible to get lost here. To get out of the mountains and back to civilization, just go downhill. Unless you climbed out of the drainage you are in, going downhill will put you right back near your parked car. It you climbed up and out of a drainage and down into the next one over, you'll know that.

What scares me about getting lost is ending in in a heavily wooded flat area. You don't have any high mountains to sight on to get a fix. A flat desert is similar, but you usually have a long line of sight there, so it's slightly better than a dense forest. Super scary would be to be disoriented in a swamp in the middle of nowhere Florida. I'd definitely want a compass there, and also I would have looked at maps to have an overview of the area where I was going so that I'd know which direction to head to get out.

In the mountains, there are plenty of tall things you can take a bearing on to triangulate your position on a map, assume you are well practiced with topo maps and can match something you can see to contour lines on the map. You also need a map of the proper scale so that things you are seeing are indeed on the map you have with you. When I was a little younger and did a lot more hiking, I would shoot a few bearings and triangulate my position on the map at every rest stop. Not because I was lost, but because I wanted to practice my compass skills. Then I'd pull out my GPS to check the accuracy of my triangulated position. It's better to have a compass and map of the area and not need them than it is to need those things and not have them, or not know how to use them.

I do the samebat rest breaks, or if we hit a good open area with a view.

 

[Tirediron]

Being a few degrees off can get you really disoriented, my buildings are 23 degrees west of map north, it is natural for a lot of people to assume that it would be set at map north and think things tat they see across the ridge are not what they see. I have come out of my bush with firewood after dark and what I think is a light to the south, turns out to be ESE when I get to a clearing. It is easy to get a little off, some people have a very accurate built is compass, mine is off sometimes.

 

[Peanut]

Like most people I tend to veer to my weak side when walking without a distant reference. Left handed people tend to veer to their right or off hand. Right handed people tend to veer to the left. I always veer slightly left, I’m aware of this and make periodic corrections when walking in thick timber.

I grew up coon hunting at night in a big swamp near here, hunting and fishing during the day too. Night was toughest, navigation was tricky in a seemingly trackless void. Yet there are references, even at night in a swamp. They are just much more subtle (and can be deceptive sometimes).

But in ‘trackless’ places like a swamp it’s very easy to veer to your weak side. This tendency is strong in some people, others, not so much. Even if you have a compass, terrain will sometimes push you way off course. Terrain exacerbates any natural tendency to veer. If possible, test yourself to get a baseline. Find out how far you tend to veer over a set distance, like a mile or two. Then always keep this in your mind if walking long distances.

I learned about this as a kid. It's helped me many times. In fact i still keep this in mind when plant hunting today.

 

[lonewolf]

I have several compass, dont need one in my local even county area as I know the place like the back of my hand, if I went further afield a compass would be useful as my sense of direction is pretty bad or so my wife says.