ok lets talk compass vs GPS

[the Ferret]

On all these GPS threads guys say take a compass in case your batts go dead in your GPS. The way I understand it, a compass by itself is more or less useless unless you have a map to go along with it and the orienting ability to use both together. And to orient you need land features which you can't see in the dark right?

Now you can use a GPS and a compass together with no map.Right?  The GPS will tell you which compass heading to be on to return to camp, truck, whatever

Talk to me.

[VTer]

Where I hunt, I don't use map, gps and compass to get unlost. I'm usually using it for finding stuff. I'll look at maps and find the spots I want to scout and poke around in, get the coordinates for my GPS off the map and then use compass to get close then hone in with the GPS. I also mark my treestands so I don't forget where they are!  

[Woodduck]

I am always glad I took my compass and my toilet paper.  

[tim roberts]

Even though I carry a GPS.  I would much rather put my fate in the hands of my abilities with a compass.  GPS's have gotten better since the first one that I owned.  One year I relied on a GPS only and it got me so turned around that I didn't know up from down.  Its my opinion that a GPS is a good insurance policy, but it is no substitude for good woodmanship skills.  One other thing I see far to often GPS's being used to mark water holes, honey holes, etc.  Once again, its my opinion that this really isn't hunting, and the ones with radios......we'll leave that one alone for now.
A compass isn't nessarly usless with out a map.  When I was a kid in Scouts we would go on long hikes and use a compass to get us back to where we started.

>>>Tim------->

[Rico]

I'm a gps man myself I rarely carry a compass where I usually hunt you can hear civilization somewhere. I prefer the gps for marking features and then maybe transfering them to an aerial such as usaphotmap to view on the computer.
 I can think of some remote areas adirondacks here in NYS comes to mind,heck theres people that have never been found up there it is a vast forrest. Here I would want a gps and compass too, depending heavily on the gps.
  Made a couple of trips out west to Colorado and I don't think I could walk far enough in one day to get lost. I would feel more comfortable here with just a gps and no compass there are so many huge land features compared to  some heavily wooded remote area.
  The gps is really handy if your outfitter out west is familiar with one. You can just call him or text message your utm's to him and wait for the pack horses to show up.

[John Nail]

Mickey, seriously.
It's foolish to go way off back of beyond without a map-the paper kind. If a man made it (gps) it can fail. Mr. Murphy says it will do that when you need it most. I'd rather have a nice waterproofed map and not need it, than to have none.....well, You know.

[Forester]

Like VTer said, you can use a map with a compass to find things.  Yes, this includes your way home.  But you don't have to have a map for that one.  If you know that you travelled west to leave the road and go hunt, then you can follow your compass east, even in the dark, to return to the road.  Better yet, travel east/northeast and when you hit the road you know to turn south to get to your starting point.  That is a really simple example and many things will confuse the issue.

A map and compass can be pretty efficient.  A GPS can be very efficient if the batteries are good.  But a compass can be used to accomplish things if efficiency is not priority.  If it is an emergency then you may be best served to build  fire and hunker down if you can afford to do it.

[hogdancer]

Forester is right on. In another life I was a boat captain and literally spent weeks at sea, yes we had gps and everything else on board but always kept an eye on a compass and the compass is what guided us, everything else was just back-up. You can do some great navigating with a compass but you need to practise, you can't just go to wal-mart pick one up and put batteries in it and go.
As far as sending a text message to someone I don't think I want to touch that one.

[VA Bowbender]

The compass has been used to navigate for a very, very long time.  To use one with a map is the best thing, but it's not always necessary.  For instance if you leave your truck at 0dark:30 AM.  You can take a compass heading as you walk into the woods. ie; you leave heading North.  To return you just head South.  This sound very elementary, but at dark it can be a little difficult staying on course.  And this is just a general description. For more look up Orienteering.

I like my GPS's very much but I wouldn't stake my being lost on it.  Always have a plan "B".

[ishiwannabe]

You can use a compass without a map. A map is a great help, but you can still get directional ideas and lines with out one. I would take a paper map over a GPS for any serious trek personally. Batteries die, clouds/storm tend to mess with sattelite aqcuisition, etc etc. A paper map only requires light. Of course, with a backlit screen, you can make your way to a spot at oh-dark thirty no problem, providing you have fresh batts. To each their own I guess...

[Strutter]

You're right Mickey on using the compass and gps together.  I use my gps out west to mark  or go to a waypoint and then use the compass to get there.  Especially when travelling in the trees, the compass will work better than a gps without having to wait to acquire satellites.  I check out the maps of areas I want to hunt here at home on the computer and load the coordinates into the gps.  When I get out there, I hit the go to button and use the compass to get real close and then may turn on the gps to get to the spot I marked at home.  I think it's best to have a map,compass, and a gps when in country that is as vast as the Rockies where there is a real chance of getting lost and dying.  Together they don't weigh a pound and take up hardly any sapce.  I have the basic etrex and it has taken me miles from camp in the dark and back again with no problems.

Rob

[Dan Worden]

Just to throw a monkey wrench at you old timers. In areas of northern MI there is so much iron that a compass is about as usefull as a dead battery.  

Now back to your regularly scheduled discussion  :p

[Lone archer]

I also us a gps mostly for scouting and charting hot dpots and treestands on maps. But what I dislike most is that I find myself holding the unit in one hand and constantly checking if I lost reception. I wish they would make an external antenna so you can clip it on to your shoulder or pack so you don't loss reception and you can keep it in your pocket or pack and take it out when needed. I use a garmin legend. And always have a compass.

[Osagetree]

I never get lost,,, only temporarily disoreinted! So, I don't need a GPS or compass.

Lost is a state of mind... Hello,,,,,, you're on Earth!  

[bowfiend]

I have all the gadgets, but this season I'll have an orienteering compass on a lanyard around my neck. I grew accustomed to using a "wrist-top computer" for navigation. I hunt a lot of thick timber in rugged terrain and it's easy to get turned around. I always take bearings as I'm going to make sure I'm headed where I want to go. I was scouting with a friend a couple weeks ago and my fancy watch compass quit working - but not before I had used it for a half dozen bearings over four miles into the wilderness. Let me tell you, when I realized the compass wasn't working I had a "holy s**t" moment. Luckily, the compass on my GPS was working and we got out of there after a lunch break and some map work.
Point is, I just don't have any confinence in digital compasses anymore. Even on the way out I was seriously doubting the GPS. I'm still going to carry it, but the old school compass is going to be my primary.

[Rick McGowan]

I grew up long before the GPS was even thought about. I spent a lot of time on the Great Lakes in small boats. Often fog was so thick I couldn't see the bow of the boat, so I learned to navigate, by time and direction. ie, I knew what direction I needed to go, I knew how far I had to go and how fast I was going, so I knew how long it should take to get there. I still do the same thing with a compass, I don't always carry a map with me, but if I look at one before I go, I know what direction and how long. To tell the truth, if I can see the sun, I seldom use the compass, I know what direction the san is at various times of the day. It did confuse me for a while when I went to the southern hemisphere, but I got used to that also. As was said above, a compass dosn't always work, places in Michigan, Alaska and I have watched the needle swing 180 degrees wrong in one step in Australia and then a few steps later swing back. I do us a Suunto wrist compass a lot, just because it is convenient and the sun dosn't always shine. I do use the GPS, but I don't ever rely on it to find my way home, I do use it to mark a spot so I can find that easily again from any direction, such as an elk carcase. I know of several elk that were killed and never found again!

[John Havard]

Mickey,

Please refer to the following links.  I think many/most of your questions will be answered.

 http://kifaru.net/compass1.htm

 http://kifaru.net/navigate1.htm

 http://kifaru.net/plot_blust.htm

A GPS is a wonderful tool but so is a good compass.  Knowing how to use each is important and increases their worth accordingly.

John

[NDTerminator]

I used a compass and map together long before I even heard of a GPS.  Learned how in the Army, and got even better later in life when I learned to fly, pre-GPS.  

Private pilots now barely learn how to navigate, they rely on the GPS, and as soon as they are allowed, the auto-pilot slaved to it.  To me, flying means manual controls, a map on your kneeboard and a compass used in conjunction with common sense and dead reckoning.

When I'm hunting unfamilar territory, I carry two GOOD compasses (I like Silva's) a map, and a GPS.  The GPS is a cool tool, but I rely on my compass & map...

[Tater John]

I suppose I'm in the old school category because I learned to navigate with a map and compass. It was the only choice at the time and teaching new boy scouts orienteering at least once every year or giving  brief refreshers as needed I'm, well, bias. Even so someone always packs a gps on outings and it has settled many 'no we're here' arguments.

If anyone was to plan on chasin' critters like elk in the big mountains, if for no other reason, with a GPS you can track your travels and record the changes in elevation and altitude, that alone is pretty cool! Beware though when you only travel 4 miles horizontal, 2500' verticle and you'd swear then bet your best... it was farther and higher you might be disappointed in the accuracy in a GPS.

Rusty

[paleFace]

i won't tell you that a GPS is the end all, but i will tell you if used correctly they are dead on accurate. last year i marked a waypoint to a stand that i hung in the mountains. two days later in the pitch black dark i decided to hunt the stand and my GPS took me right to the stand. i could have used a compass, but i know from 10 years in the U.S. Army Infantry that trying to to reach a waypoint in the dark with a compass is a lot harder and a lot more time consuming.

i will always have a compass as backup, but i feel confident with the GPS. as far as batteries going bad, well that's easy to remedy. pack extra batteries or take them out of your flash light. all of the electronic equipment that i have in my pack use AA batteries by design.