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Are you teasing us: do you actually use a compass camping? I've never met someone (who wasn't a Boy Scout) that camps so hard they need a compass! (Said in a jo

Are you teasing us: do you actually use a compass camping? I've never met someone (who wasn't a Boy Scout) that camps so hard they need a compass! (Said in a joking yet genuinely curious voice.)

cecilpl2 5y ago
Anyone who does any backcountry camping should have a map and compass and know how to use them.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- DrPhish 5y ago
  and the first thing to know when bringing a map and compass into the backcountry is that if you didn't use them (properly!) to get in, it'll be hard-to-impossible to use them to get you back out. There's more to it than you think! Orienteering is a deep enough subject to be a tool, hobby and sport. Recommended skill, just for the entertainment value
  - aYsY4dDQ2NrcNzA 5y ago
    Try to aim for a spot somewhat left or right of your destination, so that when you arrive you know which side to begin your search.
  - CRConrad 5y ago
    Side note: Oriente(e)ring is still, AFAICT, part of phys. ed. in Nordic schools just like it was decades ago when I went. Conscription also helps, of course. On the whole, I'm pretty damn satisfied with the overweening cradle-to-grave nanny state, making sure you get at least the rudiments of basic life skillz and all.
seoaeu 5y ago
If you are going into the wilderness, you should really check a map beforehand. At very least, figure out which cardinal direction you can go to get back to civilization. Even just knowing "walk west and eventually you'll hit a highway" greatly improves your odds if you get very lost.
- SavantIdiot 5y ago
  Funny you mention that. Last year in Oregon a man stepped off the trail near a place called the Gorge while hiking too close to sunset, its is a huge wilderness north of the 26. People kept saying: dude, if you just went south you'd hit the freeway, but apparently he tried that and there were unscalable hills/cliff faces/vegetation for dozens of miles that when he followed them for a place to descend got him even more lost! Beyond me why someone would go off trail, or even start hike that late in the day!
  - seoaeu 5y ago
    Yeah... in hindsight checking for impassible cliffs would have been a smart move too
user3939382 5y ago
Yep, I do! I camp deep in the woods, sometimes alone, and I have a tremendous respect for the danger of getting lost and have several layers of plans to prevent, and react to, that outcome. A good reliable compass is a part of that.

Are you teasing us: do you actually use a compass camping? I've never met someone (who wasn't a Boy Scout) that camps so hard they need a compass! (Said in a joking yet genuinely curious voice.)

cecilpl2 5y ago

Anyone who does any backcountry camping should have a map and compass and know how to use them.

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
DrPhish 5y ago
and the first thing to know when bringing a map and compass into the backcountry is that if you didn't use them (properly!) to get in, it'll be hard-to-impossible to use them to get you back out. There's more to it than you think! Orienteering is a deep enough subject to be a tool, hobby and sport. Recommended skill, just for the entertainment value
- aYsY4dDQ2NrcNzA 5y ago
  Try to aim for a spot somewhat left or right of your destination, so that when you arrive you know which side to begin your search.
- CRConrad 5y ago
  Side note: Oriente(e)ring is still, AFAICT, part of phys. ed. in Nordic schools just like it was decades ago when I went. Conscription also helps, of course. On the whole, I'm pretty damn satisfied with the overweening cradle-to-grave nanny state, making sure you get at least the rudiments of basic life skillz and all.

seoaeu 5y ago

If you are going into the wilderness, you should really check a map beforehand. At very least, figure out which cardinal direction you can go to get back to civilization. Even just knowing "walk west and eventually you'll hit a highway" greatly improves your odds if you get very lost.

SavantIdiot 5y ago
Funny you mention that. Last year in Oregon a man stepped off the trail near a place called the Gorge while hiking too close to sunset, its is a huge wilderness north of the 26. People kept saying: dude, if you just went south you'd hit the freeway, but apparently he tried that and there were unscalable hills/cliff faces/vegetation for dozens of miles that when he followed them for a place to descend got him even more lost! Beyond me why someone would go off trail, or even start hike that late in the day!
- seoaeu 5y ago
  Yeah... in hindsight checking for impassible cliffs would have been a smart move too

user3939382 5y ago

Yep, I do! I camp deep in the woods, sometimes alone, and I have a tremendous respect for the danger of getting lost and have several layers of plans to prevent, and react to, that outcome. A good reliable compass is a part of that.