I always carry a couple compasses in my pack and a GPS but I do not trust them with my life.
My first contact with a compass was in the Boy Scouts. My scout master was a WW II Marine scout.
In the Army I went through the basic compass class and an advanced class, For a special job..
When in strange country I like to at least use Base Line Navigation. Pick out a creek, road, power line, rail road tracks to have a line to navigate back to, In bad weather or dark.
When hunting in the West I like to carry an altimeter to. When I hunted Colorado 1 time, Before GPS's, Our camp was in a little grassy park at 9800 feet. Got caught in a 30" snow storm, The mountains disappeared. Left camp traveling West. That evening I headed East and held the 9800 Ft. elevation. Out of the storm I could see something taller than me that was dark. A few more steps I could see it was the blue tarp our outhouse was covered with. The white tents was not visible. But it was a good feeling to know I was in 30 ft. of shelter, food and my dry bed.
For 15 years as I worked the Appalachian Mountains of Eastern West Virginia.
On Red Oak Mountain my bird dog and I had chased singles grouse and when I filled my limit, I headed up the hill to get to the road I had drove in on. I got on the ridge top and no road. I pulled out my compass and told Freckles we have to go SE to find the road. I went down the hill wondering what am I into. About 150 feet the land leveled then I started climbing again, Soon I seen an open sky line and there I was at the road. I had been on a spur ridge with a low gap separating it from the main ridge between Williams and Cranberry Rivers.
About 2 years later one night the local fire chief called me, And advised we had a lost hunter in Red Oak area. He wanted me to drop every thing and meet him at the fire tower. I told him I would be there in about 45 minutes, My dinner was on the table. My rule was, Look after No. 1 first. Me fed, Dry boots, clean socks, food and strong tea to last all night in my back pack. I ate, Got my gear and headed up into the area. Just about where Freckles and I had came into the road from our experience on Red Oak, A hunter was walking the road toward the fire tower. I stopped rolled the window down. The hunter said, "What is all the vehicles coming in here for". I named the hunter and advised the hunter was lost and this is the Search Crew. He said, "Well That Is Me". I asked if his gun was loaded, And told him grab him a gun case out of the back seat, Case your gun, I will take you to your vehicle.
I pulled in at the fire tower gate and here came the Fire Chief, " You finally made it". I said, "Yes, and I introduced him to the lost hunter". You should have seen the look on the Chiefs face.
Many of the searches I was involved in, Was a person without a compass. Caught in fog or snow in a storm and missed a ridge or went through a low gap and was in a different river drainage.
