Most but not all of my travel is over trails. Any issues can be resolved by hiking longer and kicking oneself in the butt. You can also go by the map, checking off features as you come to them. Where we were in AK, just follow the contour and drainages as we went, we had a great view as the bush pilot flew us in one at a time over open country. I can see where compass use would be needed where it is heavily forested, I have had limited training with a compass, in a class at the local community college, on the survival weekend, our instructor gave us a compass and a degree to follow, no problem, aim at a tree in your line, go to it, repeat. Luckily the small team I was on, they had experience, so I gave it a try. Cool.