I carry a pocket compass and have one on my phone I use way more often. Crazy how young people can't tell directions. We got into a disagreement at the cabin on the direction a deer was shot years ago. Went out put the compass on it, I was right, even a nephew went home and double-checked it, I was right. Makes me shake my head.

yeah , I give directions like go west on F take that to OK continue west on OK and the landfill is on the north side of the road

I will hear is that right or left? and I shake my head.

at our deer camp if we couldn't point a simple compass direction my great uncle would have taken us out for a lesson on which way was north then hang our compass around our neck and point several times a day in a direction meaning you tell him what direction that is
he was a commercial fisherman and tug captain for barges and harbor work on the great lakes.
we also were corrected if we said toss me a rope , probably be something like "hey cowboy where's your horse ?"
it was a line , you are on the water , near the water , surrounded by water , it was a line , if you went out west roping horses then I guess it could be a rope.

Our new instant everything society wants answers to what ever comes along They don't have time to learn how or why Just give them the answer to the problem Some time ago on another forum a poster had just gotten a new weather app for his phone And now his question was if the app showed the wind direction to be SW Did that mean the wind was blowing TO that direction or was it blowing from that direction .Bob Dylan explained it a long time ago "You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows If you are outside with your new weather ap phone and still are not sure of the wind direction you might be safer to go inside and stay there In our early days we where taught to learn the needed skills to become an outdoorsman And it was a life time learning process To be called a wooodsman or as Don Schumacher a well known outdoor trapping writer referred to it a woodsbum was a title that was sought after and was a complement So for all that still like to use a compass more power to you Skills enable you to be better at whatever you do

Impossible to get lost while using the Silva Ranger. Open it up and you’re also right there in the mirror.

I have several of different kinds. They work great if I can only convince myself to believe them. Amazing how I can get turned around in short order.

How many know how to use an astrolabe?
All the great explorere and cartographers Like Cartier used the astrolabe since there were no maps of that country.Those guys made the maps.
I would say not many people know how to use an astrolabe.

I remember on a dual survivor episode the comment was made that without a visual bearing you tend walk in a circle towards your dominant hand and I do believe it, if I’m walking though an alfalfa field looking down trying to find something I tend to go to my right. I remember in high school we had basic compass training we didn’t really work with a map but the good thing it taught us was to use the compass to walk in a straight line and at least here in Iowa you will eventually come to a road.

That's the problem with looking down for too long. Its like nailing one foot to the ground...lol

I always carry a compass in the deep woods although it has become increasingly difficult to keep one handy and protected from magnetic sources. A couple of years ago I found my compass had reversed polarity. I had carried it in a backpack pocket with my glasses that were in a case with a magnetic closure.

I have my ol' man's all brass GI Compass from WW2, he carried all over the Pacific theater. Works just fine.

I don't think I would take that out in the woods

I am fairly certain I have lost more compasses than I ever had go bad or break.

You need the find my compass app

Especially useful early morning fog bound runs on the river. And you best know your river well if venturing out there with compass and fog lights.

ALL GOOD ADVICE above..... Just like knives ==== 1 is none, 2 is 1, etc..... Never have been Lost...Just confused for Awhile..........Noteworthy, Here in the Adirondacks lots of Iron Ore deposits in the ground. Tut

and old abandoned pipelines (low pressure) can jack things up.

ok....educate me.

The most lost I have ever been was because I TRIED to use a compass.
I was hunting and digging ginseng in southern Il. in an area I was not familiar with. When I left my truck I took the bearings, I was headed south east. After few hours I wanted to head back to my truck. Looked at the compass to decide for sure which way to head back. What that thing told me was backwards from what I thought I needed to go. But, I decided it was smarter than me so I took off in what it was saying was north west. Several miles later I come out on a road. A road I knew I shouldn't be anywhere near. I was eight miles from my truck and it was getting late.
I headed back once again and did find my truck. Long after dark. I threw that compass as far as I could throw it and have never carried one since. I have not gotten lost since either.

I would love to know how to use one, I would love to be able to trust them. But what I was told by some is that in at least that part of the state the iron ore pits make them useless.

Did I have the wrong type of compass, or do the iron pits make them unreliable?

the time to test and practice with a compass isn't the first time you go deep in the woods.

driving around , walking around where you know which way is north
driving around your area you could get a good idea of if it is effected by the iron ore in the area. the roads around your ginseng spot if the compass points true driving on them then you should be good

in an open field , parking lot , park . make a mark , place a rock , a stick , something.
make it interesting put a dollar under the rock
the goal is to make the marker not easily visible so you don't just walk back to it
stand over your marker
look in a direction it doesn't matter , the arrow on the base of the compass needs to point that direction, the compass stays level ,without moving hold your compass turn the dial until the "red is in the shed" meaning the red end of the needle is in the designation indicating north now sighting over the compass in the direction you choose look for a target to walk to like a tree in line with your arrow , walk 50 paces strait at your target and stop , now what ever number shows at the arrow for your direction of travel add 120 to it and dial it in

say I started at 20* and walked 50 paces I would turn the dial to 140* then walk 50 paces then turn the dial to 260*. turn my body each time after dialing in the additional 120 till the red is in the shed then walk 50 paces

the red stays in the shed all the while I am walking and sighting at the target

if you come back and you are easily able to pick up your marker , you did it right

if you can do that several times then you should be able to take your bearing headed in at the road and add 180 to it to come back out

practice it to know how it works before you need it to work.

You can buy old compasses cheaply at auction, but buyer beware. I recently looked at a picture of 14 compasses for sale in one lot, on an online auction and 5 different directions were shown as North.

Keith

Silva Ranger used here.
Use a GPS also to mark trap locations with written notes. Just in case I tip over. Someone will be able to pick them up.

here is a good very simple video