In places where it is likely that visibility can at times be zero a compass is critical hiking equipment. The compass is crucial whenever you are hiking in the woods. It is likely that you will rarely ever use a compass but when you are lost it becomes the most important tool.

In most cases a compass is only useful when you use it with a map. Navigating with a map and compass is an essential hiking skill especially if you are thinking about traveling off-trail.

Over the years, compasses have improved a lot as with other hiking equipment but the basic compass is usually sufficient for general backpacking.

In general there are three types of compasses. First there is the "accessory compass" where they are either integrated into your other hiking equipment e.g. a trekking pole and knives.

Then there is the basic compass most commonly used by backpackers and usually sufficient.

The third type of compass is the specialized compass that includes a mirror, magnifier and a clinometer. The mirror improves accuracy when gauging readings on distant landmarks. The magnifier helps in reading small symbols in maps. The clinometer is for measuring the angle of inclination.

Silva, Suunto, and Brunton all make high standard compasses of different kinds from little compasses that hang from keychains to specialized compasses with a tiny thermometer, windchill chart, whistle and other bling blings. All quite useful when you need them.

The Silva Ranger has automatic adjustments for declination. A high tech compass like the Suunto GPS Plotter let you find yourself on a map using coordinates from a GPS unit. The Brunton Eclipse does everything and rather than a needle, it has a magnetic disk which is more accurate. This compass also has three inclonometers for slope and height adjustments and includes a set of reference cards for compass use and survival.

It’s important that whichever compass you choose, you need to make sure that it is tough enough to sit in your backpack for years and still be able to function properly when you actually need to use it. If you think you are going to use the different features then get the more advanced specialized compass.

A word of caution is that a compass from the U.S. may not work in Scotland. A friend reports that the needle points up instead of North. I don’t quite understand why but it probably has to do with the magnetic field.

Most people would want to only use the basic function of the compass for simplicity sake. In case of an emergency (you are lost), just see where the needle points and based on your map, intuition, knowledge or guesswork decide where you will go and stick to that direction.

Keep checking your compass if you’re traveling at night or when there is low visibility. If you need to use a flashlight to check you compass don’t let the flashlight get too close as the magnetic field may deflect the needle of the compass.

In daytime or when visibility is not a problem you can check your compass once then pick a distant target at the direction you decided to go and head for that target.