snatch the pebble from my hand....

Jim is exactly right in that GPS is as close to fool proof a tool as we currently have. You still have to know how to use it properly though. Granted, it is easier to master, and once mastered you are pretty much set (with spare batteries of course).

If you are lost. And I mean really lost! That compass is NOT going to save you; your wits are what is going to save you. But lets just look at a situation that is a little less dire.

Some young geologist is heading roughly north from an access road that trends roughly Northeast-Southwest over a relatively featureless region. He has a good starting point and is aiming for a prospect that is about 8 miles away. This idiot also forgets that the new belt that he got as a gift has an iron belt buckle. He gets out of the vehicle, stands a good distance away from the vehicle to shoot a bearing and heads out. Over the next 2 hours he rechecks the bearing usually from a spot around his belly button to stay on course. After 2.5 hours, he thinks about the belt and realizes his bearing is way off. Now the objective is to get back to the vehicle. Take the belt off and re-shoot for the road which is roughly due south at this point and start walking. 2.5 hours later he hits the road and heads to the vehicle. Next day, he finds the prospect in about 2.25 hours without the belt on.

The point is, with some prior knowledge and some reasoning, a compass can be very useful. And we didn't always have GPS...they had to have gotten around somehow. I think it was called reasoning.

warmest regards to everyone!

sK

ps It may be my ego, or that I am too cheep (most likely), or that I have seen too many people bungle with them, but I still don't have a GPS. I will probably get one soon though.