The buck stops at your own internal sense of direction, time and place. I remember backpacking on an old 1905 30-minute quad, that had major errors in basic stuff like where drainages went. We basically had to go by reading the terrain and remembering things. This was above timber in mountains, so it was not that hard. Ever think about how the Native Americans got around? Animals do not get lost either.

I am really glad I had the opportunity to learn these skills before even the more detailed 15-min quads came out. I am more "terrain aware" than "map dependant" and "sun-time aware" vis "watch dependent". I often do not even take a watch. Or a headlamp. Or a compass. Just a map, which sometimes I even forget to take the proper map. But I will admit that I backpack about 95% in mountains with open views.

Bill, to me electronic gadgets are a pain to use, and something to lose, not "cool". I do not get along well with touch-screens! Give me old fashioned dials. What I do like is Google Earth! Now THAT is cool!