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  • #16
    Originally posted by Justin View Post
    Ha...Real bushwhackers use a hiking stick with a Go-pro attached at the top.
    Fixed that for ya
    Phil



    “The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of folly is to fill the world with fools.” —Herbert Spencer

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    • #17
      Originally posted by 1894 View Post
      Fixed that for ya
      Ha!
      Real bushwhackers use a hiking stick as a selfie stick.

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      • #18
        I carry a Garmin GPS as my main navigation which I keep in a zipped pocket and have a regular compass tied to my pack inside a readily-accessible pocket in case my batteries die and I lose my spare batteries for some reason. It's always a good idea to have a backup, especially when your primary device is electronic.

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        • #19
          Originally posted by Boreal Fox View Post
          I carry a Garmin GPS as my main navigation which I keep in a zipped pocket and have a regular compass tied to my pack inside a readily-accessible pocket in case my batteries die and I lose my spare batteries for some reason. It's always a good idea to have a backup, especially when your primary device is electronic.
          Your choice, but the order is backward in my opinion. Compass and knowledge of map with eyes on terrain should be primary, then GPS is only an optional backup tool best left buried in a gear bag.
          "Now I see the secret of making the best person, it is to grow in the open air and to eat and sleep with the earth." -Walt Whitman

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          • #20
            Originally posted by Wldrns View Post
            Your choice, but the order is backward in my opinion. Compass and knowledge of map with eyes on terrain should be primary, then GPS is only an optional backup tool best left buried in a gear bag.
            Agreed!
            GPS is for recording data.
            If you rely on a GPS as your primary navigational tool (in the backcountry or in your car), you're doing it wrong!

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            • #21
              GPS is a great tool! I don't use one. When in the woods one wants to be focused on the woods, aware of one's surroundings, aware of your escape from the modern rat race. Methinks that the GPS hinders said awareness. But to each their own, if it gets you out there in the first place then it is a good start.
              "A culture is no better than its woods." W.H. Auden

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              • #22
                My GPS is used as a backup to the map and compass.

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                • #23
                  Originally posted by wiiawiwb View Post
                  my gps is used as a backup to the map and compass.
                  +1
                  Oh I'd rather go and journey where the diamond crest is flowing...

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                  • #24
                    My compass is a backup to navigation by terrain association techniques, I use the landscape (and the sun) among numerousother navigation clues to guide me through the woods. A pevious poster was corect, a GPs is for data collection, Mine is used mostly to verifySAR area coverage and for canoe race target speed monitoring
                    Last edited by Wldrns; 10-11-2016, 08:28 PM.
                    "Now I see the secret of making the best person, it is to grow in the open air and to eat and sleep with the earth." -Walt Whitman

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                    • #25
                      Thanks guys. To be clear, my original post was not advocating use of GPS for primary navigation. I was recommending physically attaching your compass to oneself to avoid separation. Carrying a spare in your pack is also a great idea.
                      Exploring the US one mountain at a time.

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                      • #26
                        We all use our map and compass when we hike and backpack. In this busy world, I find myself using marked trails more often as I want to get to a desired location with the available time I have. Maybe the extra few hours will get me to "X" rather than to "Y".

                        I have to remind myself to spend more time going off trail and seeking new points of interest never seen before. The exercises alone will keep the map and compass and navigational skills honed. Sometimes, it's also fun to get off course, scratch you head and wonder how that happened, and find an alternate route to the desired location.

                        My GPS is always with me but I would consider it a defeat to have to put the map down and use the GPS for navigation purposes.

                        I've hiked with friends who live out west and, in the open spaces where they hike, landmarks are always easy to find on the map. In the dense forests of the Adirondacks, where I always seem to be under the canopy of trees, reading the subtlety of terrain features, as Wldrns said, becomes a more important skill.

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                        • #27
                          Having done hiking in the Mojave, you get spoiled when you can see your destination 10 mi away - all you have to do is walk a straight line to get there. After years of hiking the NE, I look at the websites of people on the Colorado or Muir or PCT, and get very jealous.
                          #9404
                          http://edthesmokebeard.com/

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                          • #28
                            "Real bushwhackers use a hiking stick, not a trekking pole."

                            The difference between a hiking stick and a trecking pole is about $90.

                            John M.
                            Because It's There, and it may not be tomorrow

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