The message of this thread is "a compass even with a map, will not help you find a specific spot on that map if you are lost , unless there are easy landmarks, which means maybe you didn't need a navigation device anyway."

I do have references that will vouche for my navigational skills - I did study celestial navigation in preparation to sailing around the world (didn't happen), and I can use a sextant. Because of this I recognise some basic failures of the camping compass myth.

Properly used a good compass will point to magnetic north. If it has a 360 degree rose marked on it, its easier to use, so now you can reliably determine magnetic east, west, ssw or what ever, but you need to know the magnetic offset for the area you are in to know true cardinal directions. This is generally not a big deal to set with prior knowledge.

OK so now you are in say 100 square mile area and your truck is parked somewhere in there and you screwed up and got lost, but you have a compass and know the magnetic offset, and you have a map and you can determine true north, so you can set your compass down on the map and turn the map so its aligned with true north. Now you either have to have an unmistakealbe land mark and another piece of information [like altitude trail crossing data], or two unmistakeable landmarks to triangulate on [YOU DO KNOW HOW TO DO THAT RIGHT?], and then transfer those bearings onto the map [again - you do have a protracter right?], and then for a trail in the vicinity of the intersection and those lines and there you are. Or maybe the trail isn't on the map. Or maybe those aren't the landmarks that you thought they are. Or heck, now theres 2 trails there - seen that before.

If a GPS works, you set a waypoint at your truck before leaving it and to get back to it you walk towards it on the little screen. Spare batteries further, grasshopper.

I would much rather bet on the odds of my GPS failing vs most people failing to find the truck with their compass and map skills. A compass is one of the ten essentials and as such it creates a false reliance and sense of safety that is dangerously misplaced. I suggest people walk half a mile from home and try to find home with their compass alone. Some people couldn't find their house with a compass from their driveway - its true.

This post is just about finding your way back to your transportation. Actual figuring out where you are is very difficult and a law of compass navigation is NEVER GET LOST, if you are lost, traditional navigation theory fails hikers because you first have to figure out where you are, then how to get to where you want to go..

Jim -- and ya know I didn't write this to anger anyone, just to challenge one of those camping myths. Prove me wrong or stop telling beginners that a compass will serve them well and get them unlost.