: I haven't thought this through very much but I am taking a GPS on my trip to
: the BWCA area. I was only going to use the Longitude and Latitude's now
: and then to see where I was on my maps. Julie mentioned that I should buy
: a clear waterproof pouch made for GPS's that floats and the GPS can be
: operated for different displays while still in the pouch. (Julie if you
: still have the address where I can buy this I would like to have it again.
: I lost it when my computer went down.) Now, it looks like I could put the
: GPS on COMPASS SCREEN and hang the bagged GPS in front of me for my
: compass just under the front deck. The downside, they eat batteries.

I'm told the GPS Compasses are only marginally accurate when you're moving. (It's a bearing feature, based on your track) When you're stationary, the GPS can't tell which direction you're pointing. I understand one of the new Garmin Etrex includes an actual electronic compass, but it eats batteries faster than the normal GPS mode.

Use the map and compass for most of your day-to-day navigation. Challenge yourself to find out where you are on the map first, and then use the GPS to determine how accurate your guess was. I've heard the BWCA is a great place for GPS, though, with so many different lakes and portages, it would be easy to get them confused.

Shawn--Magnetic compass user--Too cheap to buy GPS