Bombchaser wrote:mrchad9 wrote:tazz wrote:IMO GPS is backup only.
Yes. It's a backup and a toy. No substitute for knowing how to use a map.
It's a toy if you are not proficient with it. This is 2010, people use GPS's. I use one in my line of work daily.
Yes- I use them too, in whiteout conditions and when in woods in the winter. But I'm careful to look at my surroundings too and not depend on it. A GPS makes navigation much quicker and easier in certain situations, but it would be foolish to depend too much on one.
In 2006 I was on Ben Nevis in a complete whiteout. We couldn't even see the ground vs the sky. We had no GPS, but made it down safely with a map and compass, even with no visibility. There's no chance we'd have made it if I'd always depended on GPS prior to that trip.
I had forgotten my compass in my hotel room, but luckily purchased one at the visitor center. I thought it a bit expensive at the time, turned out to be the best 10 pounds I've EVER spent.
