[godelski]

Let me make it 2v2 then.

But I'll also note that I only know a handful of people that drive around without putting on their GPS. The people that use GPS tend to be bad at navigating without it. The people that don't use GPS tend to be better.

I'm not sure why this is controversial, given that we could rewrite the headline as "Study shows that those that practice spacial skills are better at spacial skills." The fact that everyone is arguing here seems a bit silly to me.

[tsimionescu]

The argument is not about the article, it is about whether "primarily rely on a map and compass, your GPS is only backup at best" is good advice for amateur hikers.

[godelski]

Which I still personally agree with. Until recently GPS has been a pretty expensive tool. Even now, a dedicated device costs hundreds of dollars and typically require subscriptions. Your phone also isn't going to be reliable since its battery life is extremely limited (especially when people forget to turn off their data and so their battery drains even faster than expected). This is probably the dominating factor in that recommendation. If you are going to rely on your phone for navigation you BETTER have a backup. If you are going to rely on a map, you SHOULD have a backup, but it isn't necessary. They are going with the safest option because they recognize that people will typically bring only one form of navigation. The only thing I'd change is removing the "only" and "at best" part from your quote. "Primarily rely on a map and compass, your GPS is a backup."

[ghaff]

Well, at least primarily rely on a map. I do tend to carry a compass in less familiar/more challenging situations but for hiking on trails a map by itself will generally do the job.

Some people are talking about situations that would be very challenging without GPS--low visibility/no trails--and I'd just say that I'd definitely want backup in those conditions. I wouldn't want to depend on a single phone.

[godelski]

I definitely agree with this. If you're in a situation where a map is failing, you probably have bigger problems than what the GPS would help with. It is also a situation where I don't think anyone but advanced hikers/backpackers should be in. Edge cases shouldn't set the standards.