Orientation

[mttgilbert]

This poll's for you hegstrom.

[ajcanable]

I voted for both! but lately use my gpsr a lot more than a compass. but batteries do fail so i always have one.

[Daryl]

FYI: The Garmin Gecko 101 is on sale at Target for $78. It's a great little GPS about the size of an open matchbook. It's the smallest/lightest GPS unit I've seen. Normally it's about $100.

[bzachar]

...but batteries do fail so i always have one.

I carry two sets of fully-charged NiMH batteries: one set in the GPSR and the other in my pack. The other reason to carry a compass is the GPSR can lose lock in narrow canyons... but then you only have two directions to choose from! ;)

Bill

[Lizard]

I was given a GPS as a gift shortly after they emerged on the consumer market. I've messed around w/ it a couple of times but mostly it just stays in my closet. I can get around just fine with a map and compass, GPS seems superfluous to me. I could see using it if you are on a boat or somewhere else equally featureless, but on land I don't really see the point.

[mttgilbert]

I use a map and compass to do the actuall orientation, but I still carry a gps. I use the gps for calculating my actual distance covered, the speed at wich I covered it, and I use the waypoint feature to pinpoint interesting locales. I hardly ever use the gps for actually finding my way. Mainly I just like to be able to download the route and waypoints after a hike and compare them to what I thought it should be according to the map.

[te_wa]

It is my feeling that GPS units have gotten in the way of experiencing the true nature of "getting lost". I think that there is nothing more pleasurable than bieng in the backcountry, even on improved trails, when you wonder "where the heck am I". KNOW how to use maps, it is more fun and gives one a feeling of accomplishment. Luckily for me, I have never been stranded/lost but I think I would have to be next to hosed (real low on food/water etc..) before I used a GPS. Remember the movie First Blood? Rambo didnt need no stinkin trendy toys! lol!

[Daryl]

The GPS is kind of like the calculator when it first came out. Who needs one of those - people should be able to do the math on paper - you should use a slide rule or an abacus (that thing with the beads you slide back and forth)... How many people still feel that way about calculators? Who still uses the slide rule or abacus?

[bzachar]

I'm sure that when the *sextant* was invented there were purists saying,"who needs that new-fangled device, I can navigate by compass".

I'm sure that when the *compass* was invented there were purists saying,"who needs that new-fangled device, I can navigate by the stars".

There are Pacific islanders that even today can do blue-water navigation using only wave patterns and the stars... no maps, no nautical charts.

You can also use your watch to find North.

COMPASS??? HAH!

Bill
Navaids: GPSR, map, compass and sun.

[kiddiehawk]

map or map/compass. neither if i'm playing around in south mtn since it seems hard to get too lost, esp from the Baseline/48th St side of it, where I go almost daily for quick hikes/runs due to proximity to home.

[big_load]

I always carry M&C, but for on-trail travel in most AZ terrain I find an altimeter much more useful than a compass. If you check a few times an hour and track your progress, you can usually pinpoint location with a single, easy observation. It weighs less than a GPS and the battery is good for years. Unless you spend a lot of time cross-fixing landmarks, an altimeter usually gives earlier indication than a compass of being lost. Of course, once you are sufficiently "lost" (insert your own definition here), you darn well better have a compass and know how to use it.

When applicable, the altimeter navigation approach also requires minimal cognitive abilities, which can help if you're fatigued, hypothermic, dehydrated, in panic, or not that bright to begin with.

I can't compare with GPS since I've never used one, but I suppose it would be just as convenient. I'd like to try one sometime. However, I would never trust anything electronic as my sole means of navigation (and yes, I usually carry a small, cheap backup compass).

[PaleoRob]

I always carry a map and GPS, and will often plan my route in advance with the map, but I hardly ever use either when I'm hiking. I have a good sense of direction and can memorize landmarks, and it hasn't failed me...yet. But, that's what I have the GPS and map for.

[Jim]

I guess the survey is closed, but I would vote for neither. I use my wits. I never seem to be in areas that I would need a device to aid me. Granted, I have not been off trail very much, but as a forester out in the woods (not tree plantations) of Florida (but not Virginia) I was pretty good at knowing where I was. Aerial photos are a great help, too.

Around here I do some off trail hiking and seem to do quite well. I am usually going for a peak which is very obvious, so that is a big help. Still, come winter there will be some articles in the paper about people who went out of bounds on the Peaks and called search and rescue for help. That I don't understand. Its a volcano, just go down, or find your tracks and follow them back to your car.
I did some off trail hiking to woody mountain in the spring. It was mostly through dense vegetation, yet I still managed. I guess if I know an area I am fine, but its up in the air for unfamiliar terrain. Maybe I should get a compass. Of course, the compass is the easy part, its the pacing that is tricky.

[JoelHazelton]

The only times I've ever had problems is when I'm on the trail in the dark. Then map is essentially useless, but GPS is GREAT! And it's saved my butt a few times in those situations.

[RickVincent]

Google Earth has proven quite effective for pre-hike scouting of an area. I feel like I've already been there.

[snakemarks]

I use Angela (tibber)... Her sense of direction is much better than mine!

Seriously...
I carry all three. Google Earth is a fabulous tool for the most part. Unfortunately, their coverage of wilderness areas is really lacking in detail. GPS has saved me a lot of grief when a map has been too vague, and it has also caused tremendous confusion when I should have ignored it and just followed the map. There are several areas in the Supes where GPS not only fails routinely, but gives erroneous and very misleading readouts (the vortex? ;) ). I have learned (the hard way - naturally!) that a GPS is just another opinion to consider, not the only opinion and not necessarily the right answer.

That said, I shall continue to get lost every single time I leave the house!

[scorpion scus]

when going down the moody trail off bucks ridge in sedona as part of a long day loop hike it was verydark when i got down to the maze of roads that eventually bring you out to 525c to dogie t.h., and found my gps w/a topo to be very useful. so i usually bring multiple navigational devices.i use them all depending on cicumstances. gps and topo came in very handy when swimming down wet beaver creek to pin point our exact location. compass is useless in that situation, constant monitoring of a map would have worked too, but would have been a hassel when you are rockhopping and swimming all day long. so to me a gps is a good tool to have.

[Grasshopper]

so to me a gps is a good tool to have.

(certainly not the only navigation tool to consider, but a good one to have & to know how to use)
as gpsjoe says: "Become a skilled GPS user and it will set you free!"

[andy_ellarby]

I primarily try to use a map and compass, but always have the GPS ready to bail me out!

[Pathfinder Aaron]

Being an Eagle Scout and prior military, I had to learn how to use a compass. I always carry M&C with me. However I like to use my GPS for the fun of it, and also for it's usefulness. Set waypoints, and track travel data, speeds, averages, download route altitude profiles, save routes, etc. I just enjoy being able to get home and download all that information and see it overlayed on my mapping programs and have that data for future reference. I am definately a proponent of carrying a map and compass and practicing with it so you know how to use it when you need to. But I love my GPS unit for what information it can give me. I agree with the comment about emergent technologies and how there are always people that have something negative to say about it or resist the change. Eventually, like most forms of technology, everyone will use it and the old style will become obsolete. In my opinion, the major thing keeping people from using them besides cost, is there reliance on battery power and the trouble you can get into when you don't have a back up. For a birthday present though, I was given the 3-blade Solio solar charger, and I strap that on my pack out in the sun when I'm hiking hooked up to my gps unit and as long as there is some sun out, I can keep that gps unit on all day long without having to use any of it's battery, so really, the battery itself has become the backup. Plus I keep two batteries on me anyway just to be safe.