Map and compass

[amicus]

I love my GPS, but would not leave with out my compass. The tracking feature on my GPS is great. I really feel good about my direction when I can see that im on the same trail that I started on. I think that both a good compass and a good GPS is a smart investment.

Gilbert

[harvestmoon]

I love my gps and it is my go to device while tracking. However, not having a backup to this electonic device is insane when traveling in the deep woods.  A topo and compas add very little to the burden of the pack.

[cgeiser]

I've done a ton of backpacking in the Sierras and in the Tetons and always carried a map and compass. I can't remember ever using the compass though. Out west it seems like if I pay attention to the constantly changing terrain I am always able to locate myself on the map simply through the terrain features. Of course, I carry the compass.

Recently I got a GPS for kicks. It's an eTrex. I can't seem to get used to the tiny screen and constantly zooming in and out. It takes me what seems like 20 button pushes to get the same "feel" for where I am at as I can get from 10 seconds of looking at the map after always paying attention to the terrain.

I don't know where I heard it but this is always true: You're not lost if you can find your way home.   :D  

Che

[Buckwheaties]

Look at the Garmin 60csx, Never looses a signal, at least not for me in the dense Pacific coast range in Oregon, very dense cover.. The Etrex doesn't even compare. I had one, gave it away..

[Chris Shelton]

I was really really close to buying one last year.  But dad talked me out of it.  I figure he would definatly be the go to guy about GPS, he is a avionic tech, and that is what he does installs radios and GPS's into airplanes.  I thought he was crazy when he told me that some of his freinds brought satellite phones to where we hunt and they didnt work.  But the first time I went with him I beleived him then.  I dont get it, there are trees, I mean it is the woods but it is not like super thick, the satellite radio, cell phones dont work, and the radios only work when they feel like it.  Weird, like a little bermuda triangle or something hidding in the Appalacians, lol

[Russ Clagett]

I don't like the fact that the GPS is always "behind". You're watching the little arrow while walking to your spot and suddenly it's pointing back behind you, cause you now have walked some distance past the spot. If this happens you have possibly alerted game you wanted to hunt, and you may have spoiled/scented up your area. In military applications the consequences of overshooting your objective can be much more severe..........

If you were keeping track of your progress on a map, and you used terrain association, along with handrails and a backstop, you could have walked right to the point without overshooting it....all the while paying attention to more important things.

[Jeff Strubberg]

Originally posted by freefeet:
 

Originally posted by Jeff Strubberg:
Uh, the Pentagon isn't going to turn off your GPS.  Not only is there an entire commercial industry surrounding GPS, your 911 PSAP is using GPS to locate that accident you just called in from your cell phone.  "Turning off" GPS would take a presidential order at this point and a politician willing to shoulder the burden of civilian deaths.  Ain't gonna happen.

Then why do the Pentagon have the option to do so?
 Why did they demand the same access to Europe's new sat nav system (refused thankfully)?

And regardless of whether they switch it off or not, systems can be hacked and anyone hacking into that system can switch it off or corrupt it.
And don't think it's difficult to hack into the Pentagon systems, they've admitted that there systems have been hacked many times.

On top of that access to GPS, the whole system is vulnerable to interference and tampering.

Like i said, i'm sticking with what's worked all my life, a waterproof map and compass.  Nothing can go wrong with that.  Even if the compass fails i can follow a map on the topography alone.  Map only topographic navigation is a good thing to practice when you're out in not to serious situations, it only increases to your nav ability when you do have a compass, and can save you if, and it's a big if, your compass gets damaged.

The pentagon has the option to do what they want with GPS because

1.  They own the satellites
2.  They pioneered the technology
3.  The agreements you have to sign to use those satellites reaffirm that the tech is owned by the pentagon.  It's not a conspiracy, it's simple control of a product you invented.

Hacked?  I think you are confusing satellite control systems and the social security system or something.  I guarantee you if it was easy to hack millitary satellite systems, our enemies would have shut those sats down long ago.

You know a ton more about map and compass than I do.  I can find the road I parked my truck on and that's about it.  There's no reason to demonize GPS to justify a personal decision, though.

[tradtusker]

Ah everything can have its place, thats the beauty of the Hunting across the board.

I like to use Compass, map and GPS together as they all have their unique advantages when hunting.



Along with Basic Navigation using stars and the Sun if you where to be in such a position.

Frankly i dont mind not knowing where i am if your capable of surviving in the given situation, being lost to Some...is a bit of Freedom to others  

Have fun out there    

[nkw880]

i use them and i use the map like a flight path chart since i dont really know how to use it all that well but havent been lost yet

[Shinken]

I used to carry only one compass - UNTIL -

I had an interesting experience in a remote mountain basin that had a magnetite deposit.

After that I always carried 2 compasses (even though 2 compasses wouldn't have solved the 1 compass dilemma in the previous case) - UNTIL -

I was hiking out in the dark across a snow field scattered with drainages that I "knew" ran N to S (at close to 0 C after a long day afield)...finally, I pulled out compass #1 and read that the drainages were running E to W...I didn't "believe" compass #1 (hypothermia and/or exhaustion was starting to kick-in)...I traveled a bit further (maybe 30 min)...pulled out compass #1 and then dug compass #2 out of my survival kit and found that both compasses agreed with one another and that the drainages were still running E to W so I adjusted my course to fit the bearing even though - mentally - I was suspicious of BOTH compass readings...I finally reached the road I was searching for about 4 miles south and downhill of my vehicle location.  Fortunately, a landowner had seen my flashlight turn on when I finally discovered the road and came to investigate.  Ever so kindly he provided me with a ride back up the hill to my pickup....

Ever since then, I have always carried 3 compasses...and checked my directions frequently WITHOUT doubting the bearings under critical conditions...

Practice your orienteering - a recommended woodsmanship skill....

Shoot straight, Shinken

[chrisg]

I agree JeffStruberg, no need to demonise a different choice.No conspiracy there either. Navigation is an intriguing science and skill, many cultures use their own way of explaining observed phenomena. They all 'work'. Gps is the latest and most remarkable example, doesn't mean the others dont work or are bad, neither is GPs. I find satisfaction in using ancient techniques as much as in knowing to the last metre where I am. Mostly I am happy to be 'in the area' and knowing how to get out. Our topography where I hunt is not generally as extreme vertically so exact passes and climbs are not as important but like on the ocean or in a desert a minor error can cost you a long, thirsty walk. The same basic principle applies all over, be aware of where you are and keep an eye on the bigger picture, confirm that any way you like and if it looks funny STOP and check properly.
chrisg

[freefeet]

Originally posted by Jeff Strubberg:
Hacked?  I think you are confusing satellite control systems and the social security system or something.  I guarantee you if it was easy to hack millitary satellite systems, our enemies would have shut those sats down long ago.

You know a ton more about map and compass than I do.  I can find the road I parked my truck on and that's about it.  There's no reason to demonize GPS to justify a personal decision, though.

I'm not trying to demonise something to justify a personal decision.  I was born, brought up, and served in the British army and learned how to use a map and compass at a young age.  It wasn't a personal decision, there wasn't anything else to use.

And now i have a choice i look at the choice fully.

The Pentagon have been trying to extradite an Autistic young man from the UK for years now for hacking into their systems and causing damage.

Luckily he wasn't actually doing it to cause mischief, he was only looking for evidence of UFO's, although the Pentagon claims he caused $millions of damage in doing that.  But the point stands, if an amateur can do it then others certainly can.  No system is completely safe from attack.

Then there's China.  Blowing up satellites in orbit showering the hole place in high speed debris flying everywhere.  One bit of that debris, or other space rubbish, hits a GPS satellite and then where will you be?

Then there's meteor showers - regular occurrences.  Only a matter of time before one of those takes out an important satellite.

As i said, i'm not trying to demonise this.  Just stating the facts as to the vulnerability of modern technology.  Rely on it completely without any back up and you could find yourself in serious problems.

Play with your GPS by all means, fun toy, but please, learn to read a map and use a compass, it could really save your life.