Adamlogan,

If you have a borrowed map, you can draw magnetic north lines that generally point to Chicago. Use the diagram on the map to confirm the direction, but use the compass to draw the magnetic north line. Then lay the base plate of the compass on the mag north line and rotate the map so the north arrow is on north. Then you can read all mag headings off the map.

My light's effect on animals is interesting. Cats don't mind staring right into the white light. Most other animals are scared off by the red light from my camera even if a hundred feet away.

If I want to go all out and prepare a map, I'll get a mag heading on the trail about every .05 miles. I'll make a table of these headings.

Google "thumbing a map" for a way to keep oriented on a trail.

If you are going to prepare a map beforehand, I suggest buying a circular protractor. It can be done with a compass, but you have to be careful of any metal parts in tables, or even in your pen or pencil.

To give you an idea of how accurate a compass is in the proper hands, I often walk a mile out into the prairie (walking distance, not straight line) and hide an Altoid can with $10 in it. A week or two later, I'll go back by a different route and find the $10. I've never missed yet. After a mile of walking, I'm always within 50 feet of the can. Then I set up a search pattern to find it.

The most important bearings are in the first few hundred feet from the trailhead. I've avoided taking off on the wrong trail a few times by checking these. Intersections are also important.

I use an inexpensive headlamp I got at Batteries Plus. I probably have at least a 1,000 miles of night hiking with it as I night hike almost every morning on the bicycle trails. It gives about 17 hours of light on three AAA rechargeable batteries. Too many lumens is not good as they are not necessary and they use up the batteries too fast. My backup for backpacking is a small solar powered light I got for $7.00 at an airport.