I've never used a GPS for camping/hiking. Topo maps or dead reckoning has always brought me to where I need to go.
In aviation, that's becoming a huge issue. Many pilots I've spoken to have only ever flown in aircraft with GPS units. I asked a guy what he'd do when his GPS fails, and they do quite often. He had no idea how he'd complete a flight. I didn't learn to fly that long ago... maybe four years ago now, but I didn't touch a GPS unit for the first year. We used a map, a compass and a clock. When you hit your checkpoint +/- 30 seconds, it's a good feeling.
Personally, I find it's more satisfying to navigate the "old" way sometimes, be it in the air or on the ground. A map will never run out of batteries. A map will never stop for ten minutes trying to "acquire satellite signal..." If you drop a map on the ground while getting out of your truck, it won't break.
In aviation, that's becoming a huge issue. Many pilots I've spoken to have only ever flown in aircraft with GPS units. I asked a guy what he'd do when his GPS fails, and they do quite often. He had no idea how he'd complete a flight. I didn't learn to fly that long ago... maybe four years ago now, but I didn't touch a GPS unit for the first year. We used a map, a compass and a clock. When you hit your checkpoint +/- 30 seconds, it's a good feeling.
Personally, I find it's more satisfying to navigate the "old" way sometimes, be it in the air or on the ground. A map will never run out of batteries. A map will never stop for ten minutes trying to "acquire satellite signal..." If you drop a map on the ground while getting out of your truck, it won't break.
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