Learning + Tutorials

Almost all of us carry instantly updated maps and GPS systems in our pockets these days in our phones, reducing the threat of being lost to almost nil.

But what would happen if you didn't have your phone, or the battery died, or your Tom-Tom took a swim? What if you just don't get any signal where you are?

Lets look at the old fashioned, never-fail navigation tool: the humble compass.

If Super Storm Sandy taught anyone on the east coast anything, it's that huge winter storms can happen and cause incredible destruction and inconvenience.

Power outages are commonplace and can take weeks to restore, which leaves people without heat, hot water and electricity. 

You may not be able to drive due to snow, ice, and downed trees. That means limited access to food. Water pipes can freeze and explode without heat causing your home to become uninhabitable.

Back in the late 1980s, an oral surgeon was in the middle of a two-week raft trip down the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon in Arizona, when disaster struck.

He and two other men were on the bank, getting their 18-foot (5.4-meter) raft ready for a trip down the Crystal Rapids when it got caught in a wave, filled with water and ripped the line from their hands.