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Article: Navigating by the sky: caught without a compass? Let the sun and stars be your guide.
- Article from:
- Sports Afield
- Article date:
- September 1, 2006
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2006 Hearst Communications, reprinted with permission of Hearst. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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The smart and responsible thing, of course, is to always carry a compass, even if you know the lay of the land pretty well, even if it's only a brief outing, and even if you have a GPS unit keeping you firmly homed-in. Because it's possible to get turned around in familiar country, or during a half-day hunt, and GPS units can break or fall into the water, run out of battery power, or be blocked by terrain or forest-canopy interference.
But let's say you were imprudent and didn't bring a compass, or that you did dutifully pack the thing but now it's broken or lost. For whatever reason, you're out in the wild and don't know north from south, and therefore are ...