Why You Need A Compass And A GPS For Outdoor Adventures
Many people, mistakenly believe handheld GPS units completely replace the old standby — a handheld compass (and its map companion). For short hikes on your home turf, perhaps, but for serious outdoor activities, here are three reasons why you should bring your compass and map.
GPS Units Need Movement for Accurate Directions
First, GPS units display accurate directions to you only while you are moving. When standing still or moving very slowly you’ll get directional readings that vary wildly, which is not very handy if you are standing on top of a mountain trying to figure out which direction you are facing.
Newer iPhone models and some handheld GPS units get around this problem with built-in electronic compasses. These compasses detect the Earth’s magnetic field rather than relying on satellite communications, so they produce the same result you would get with a handheld compass with 2 to 5 degrees accuracy depending on how much you spend.
GPS Display a Limited Amount of Fine-Scale Information Unless You Zoom Out
The overview you get from studying a map, which always displays its finest-scale features, provides great information about distant features that you may be able to recall when you need to. GPS screens either have to be panned or zoomed, or both, to show you the same information. So a good old-fashioned paper (laminated) map is a must for adventurers. Unfortunately GPS units and phones make poor protractors for plotting courses on a paper map. A baseplate compass does the job perfectly.
Analog Has Staying Power, Not Battery Power
The possibility of a handheld compass breaking or malfunctioning is smaller than with a GPS or other mobile device. Some GPS units are very rugged, but there are still more things that could go wrong (like forgetting the spare batteries). The best strategy is to refer to your map and compass frequently, checking your battery-hungry GPS as a backup and to store waypoints.
Need to know more about why you should have both a compass and GPS? Visit Compass-HowTo.com to learn all you need to know about this and many other compass topics. You’ll see compass reviews and recommendations, and helpful information on learning how to use a compass.
