Jim,

I do not know what an expert is but I have been orienteering since 1980. Before that I was a navigation instructor in the military.

I keep "in touch" with my map and have never been lost so bad that I could not determine my location within a half hour. My primary navigation is map reading only. I rarely use my compass.

The worst type of error is a parallel error. That is when you are in the drainage, but think you are in a parallel drainage. Linear features like ridges and drainages seldom have the same orientation. Shoot a compass bering on the linear feature and not for a map feature with the same orientation.

I can make up situations where I would need a GPS, but normally I avoid those situations. I have never been caught high in limited visibility with only a narrow safe bail route. I have bailed on trips and will again, but I bail before the situation gets grim. This is supposed to be fun. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />

The military liked to set up navigation problems where you were likely to fail. The lesson was supposed to be that it is safer to dig in and call an artillery strike on your own location that to try to navigate in impossible conditions. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" />