A lesson in fog

It seems to me that a compass, at least your primary compass, should be placed on the deck rather than on your PFD. Mine is mounted near the bow, which makes it easier for me to use for navigation compared to a closer location. An air horn on a PFD does make good sense to me--my PFD came with a whistle.
I agree that having both a GPS and a compass is a good idea, and someone else mentioned that their fishfinder battery only lasts about 5 hours--same as mine. I have been thinking about getting a backup gps. Does anyone have a favorite model? I might use it hiking as well as kayaking.

Matt

I've had a few compass-on-the-deck days this summer.

I carry two compasses, GPS, and iPhone with navionics.

Three words, compass compass compass

Electronics are really nice as long as they work

I fired up the GPS my wife got for me a few years back, four miles offshore in confused swell, lit up nicely, blinked and died...never been offshore without a compass, but when you're sporting a new $600 gadget who needs it?

Always been a fan of compasses but even they fail, I have one on my table at home that looks fine but points randomly in no particular direction. Well known brand that I won't mention

Best bet is carry more than one compass, they're cheap and mostly reliable

Nothing nastier than being stuck in fog with no idea which way is home

Sometimes you have clues like swell direction or if you pay attention to which way the breeze is blowing but can't count on that

And imagine having to dial up 911 and tell them you're lost at sea

Mooch! Made my day seeing you post up!

 

your primary compass, should be placed on the deck rather than on your PFD. Mine is mounted near the bow, which makes it easier for me to use for navigation

Matt, I agree to disagree. I keep my compass tethered to my PFD just in case I get separated from my kayak.

Mooch! Made my day seeing you post up!

THanks Paul - glad to see you posting too - hope you got your salmon this year!

Mooch! Here I am stuck at work and all of a sudden I'm in a great mood!

I'm up to a three salmon year so far, as opposed to three salmon every two weeks, not that I'm crying about it or anything...that's family life and just having too many irons in the fire Anyway when you get fewer fish they taste better

I have Squaw candy if you want it, maybe not up to your high standards but just smoked this morning and will find a way to get it to you one morning this week

Say the word, I'll get Max to skip school and pedal up on his tricycle with a delivery

Wow, I've been offline, driving back to LA all day ... these are great comments on this thread !!

 -- I either wear my compass around my neck on a string, along with the whistle, or have it in the pocket on my PFD.  I think having another mounted on the hull somewhere visible is a GREAT idea. 

But I still want to get some sort of GPS -- primarily for safety but also for getting some good spots.

But I have a lot of research to do.   

I guess I like my gps electronics in general don't seem to like me

Unless everything you do is hugging the shoreline compasses are almost certain to come in handy now and then

I think fog generates more adrenalin in me than almost any kind of conditions except maybe looking at the back of huge break

Somewhere on this website I posted some fog footage I took between dux and muir beach, with confused water that was pretty much impossible to read

Here's a video taken somewhere between rocky pt and muir in the fog

First half shows water is literally rolling in all directions

Pretty hard to tell which way shore is by the visual

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=QjyRKvbsiw8&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DQjyRKvbsiw8

We had some THICK fog for a bit today at SC. I think it is pretty cool to be in, but that is in good/not lost conditions. bushy gave me a heading out of the harbor to follow to him. Found him no problem. It was nice relying on my FF GPS to navigate and get in some practice. I had two others following me to get to our destination in the fog later when it rolled in. I kept hearing "are you sure?". We got to where we were headed.  I do not have a compass on board and you all have convinced me. What do you recommend?

Been there and watched the battery level get low...
 Glad if digital went down, the analog would steer me right where I went wrong.
A compass and the knowledge to use it is better than that a fish finder/ GPS!
I have caught loads of fish with out a FF/GPS,but it's hard to brag about it if you can't get home!
I'm still kinda uneasy  in the fog,you just have to trust in the instruments

We had some THICK fog for a bit today at SC. I think it is pretty cool to be in, but that is in good/not lost conditions. bushy gave me a heading out of the harbor to follow to him. Found him no problem. It was nice relying on my FF GPS to navigate and get in some practice. I had two others following me to get to our destination in the fog later when it rolled in. I kept hearing "are you sure?". We got to where we were headed.  I do not have a compass on board and you all have convinced me. What do you recommend?

http://www.rei.com/product/408150/suunto-m-3d-leader-compass,-luminous?preferredSku=4081500029&cm_mmc=cse_PLA-_-pla-_-product-_-4081500029&mr:referralID=282c643d-139a-11e3-bae4-001b2166c2c0

What do you recommend?

I like the mountable Suunto.  It's been a fantastic addition to my deck this year after just having a compass in my drybag all these years.

http://suunto.factoryoutletstore.com/cat/35091-57054/Suunto-Marine-Compass.html?cid=81244&chid=4272&gclid=CNeO1f37rLkCFSZp7Aod4joAsw

I like the way Eric has his mounted and will look into doing something like that (I still want a GPS, too)  ... the picture Mooch posted made me smile --   I have a compass very similar to that one.  I bought it for about $5 in a special bin at the Fred Hall fishing show.

 I have one on my table at home that looks fine but points randomly in no particular direction

Sounds like a "Jack Sparrow" compass!  Only points to the thing you want most,

I'm going to hang it on my wall, maybe put it next to the gold watch my great uncle had in his pocket when he drowned

Most circumstances, like being inshore and reasonable conditions fog isn't a huge deal

Times I've been more than a few miles out and fog rolls in it fires up the adrenalin

I need to shop around for a nice deck mounted compass