[pct-l] Compass

[herbstroh at charter.net]

I concur with the comments of others that a simple compass is adequate for
most trail experiences. And certainly one should have sufficient experience
on how to orient a map and triangulate position. But there is no substitute
for good map reading skills. 

Generally I pull out the map at every stop and check my approximate
location—not with the compass, just dead reckoning by eyeballing features
and the map. Not only does it help me keep track of where I am, I get a
better sense for how land features are described on the topo. One gets a
feel for how a particular pattern of contour lines looks on the land, and
the necessity of plotting position via compass is usually unnecessary.

There are times when sight lines are obscure, hiking off-trail, over snow
trying to find a pass, etc., where plotting is critical. But a compass does
not need bells and whistles to be useful in those situations.


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