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Though GPS units are becoming a popular alternative to compasses, keep in mind that to use a GPS unit you require a satellite signal. Satellite signals can be hard to find near cliffs or dense forests, and are obviously not available inside caves. GPS units are worthless as soon as the battery runs out, so for a couple ounces a compass is well worth carrying as your backup navigation device.
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Parts of a Compass
Modern hand-held navigational compasses use a magnetized needle or dial inside a fluid-filled capsule (oil, kerosene, or alcohol is common); the fluid causes the needle to stop quickly rather than oscillate back and forth around magnetic north. Most modern recreational and military compasses integrate a protractor with the compass, using a separate magnetized needle. In this design the rotating capsule containing the magnetized needle is fitted with orienting lines and an outlined orienting arrow, then mounted in a transparent baseplate containing a direction-of-travel (DOT) indicator for use in taking bearings directly from a map.

Other features found on some modern handheld compasses are map and romer scales for measuring distances and plotting positions on maps, luminous markings or bezels for use at night or poor light, various sighting mechanisms (mirror, prism, etc.) for taking bearings of distant objects with greater precision, 'global' needles for use in differing hemispheres, adjustable declination for obtaining instant true bearings without resort to arithmetic, and devices such as inclinometers for measuring gradients.

Using a Compass
The simplest way of using a compass is to know that the arrow always points in the same direction, magnetic North, which is roughly similar to true north. Except in areas of extreme magnetic declination variance (20 degrees or more), this is enough to protect you from walking in a substantially different or even opposite direction than expected over short distances, provided the terrain is fairly flat and visibility is not impaired. In fact, by carefully recording distances (time or paces) and magnetic bearings traveled, one can plot a course and return to one's starting point using the compass alone.

However, compass navigation used in conjunction with a map (terrain association) requires a different compass method. To take a map bearing or true bearing (a bearing taken in reference to true, not magnetic north) to a destination with a protractor compass, the edge of the compass is placed on the map so that it connects the current location with the desired destination (some sources recommend physically drawing a line). The orienting lines in the base of the compass dial are then rotated to align with actual or true north by aligning them with a marked line of longitude (or the vertical margin of the map), ignoring the compass needle entirely. The resulting true bearing or map bearing may then be read at the degree indicator or direction-of-travel (DOT) line, which may be followed as an azimuth (course) to the destination. If a magnetic north bearing or compass bearing is desired, the compass must be adjusted by the amount of magnetic declination before using the bearing so that both map and compass are in agreement.

The modern hand-held protractor compass always has an additional direction-of-travel (DOT) arrow or indicator inscribed on the baseplate. To check one's progress along a course or azimuth, or to ensure that the object in view is indeed the destination, a new compass reading may be taken to the target if visible. After pointing the DOT arrow on the baseplate at the target, the compass is oriented so that the needle is superimposed over the orienting arrow in the capsule. The resulting bearing indicated is the magnetic bearing to the target. Again, if one is using 'true' or map bearings, and the compass does not have preset (pre-adjusted declination), one must additionally add or subtract magnetic declination to convert the magnetic bearing into a true bearing. The exact value of the magnetic declination is place-dependent and varies over time, though declination is frequently given on the map itself or obtainable on-line from various sites. If not, any local walker club should know it. If the hiker has been following the correct path, the compass' corrected (true) indicated bearing should closely correspond to the true bearing previously obtained from the map.
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