GAIA is all I use. I don’t carry a compass or map; phone has both. Been doing it since 2008 and never a failure. Sure, it could fail. But I do study the route on maps (on my computer) and study the route on google earth before each trip. Plus, 99% of my hikes are day trips. I’m never far from a road.
I still have my Silva Ranger compass. It’s a beautiful piece of kit. But I don’t carry it.
I usually do SOTA activations during the week and most other walkers I see are older. But when I activate at the weekend I do see a lot of younger people out. And if it’s a popular area such as the Yorkshire Three Peaks (G/NP-004, G/NP-005 and G/NP-010) then there are usually lots of younger walkers out. Again, it’s the honeypot phenomenon.
Last time I had reason to check, there was no vaccine available for Lyme disease. There used to be, but it was discontinued.
I was only aware of the TBE jab.
Interesting though - if there was one for Lyme disease, why would it be withdrawn?
Either it didn’t work well or had dangerous side-effects.
I think it was a commercial decision based on lack of sales. It was mentioned in one of my professional journals years ago but not home currently so can’t check.
I wince when I see people in shorts on the hills. I’ve pulled more than a dozen ticks of our three dogs in the last four weeks hillbagging in England and Scotland.
Paul,
The only place where knowing the direction of the North Pole isn’t helpful is at the South Pole.
If it’s overcast or at night and I can’t see the Sun knowing the way to the N Pole certainly helps me decide which way to go. I have a sort of map in my head having prepared before I depart but sometimes whether to go left or right needs a prompt.
Using the moss growing on the Southern side of tree trunks is pretty broad in terms of direction. In thick forest the moss can pretty much circle the trunk. A compass is much more definitive.
Having a phone with my position spotted on a map with geographic features and North marked is pretty luxurious. The screen map doesn’t get torn or blow away or disintegrate with a bit of moisture.
The screen map is always better than the one in my head for new or infrequently visited places.
73
Ron
VK3AFW
This pup could have done with a compass. 
If you don’t know which way is North, do what those 3 wise blokes did 2025 years ago and use the stars?
Ron: Ha ha, I must apologize to all of you who live down under. I am sure it can get quite annoying with most of the world being Northern Hemisphere-Centric.
Like so many things in this day and age, I’m so grateful that I learned to get around in the analog-photo-print-mechanical-world before the digital revolution. I am fortunate that I got a foundation there and I was able to transition along with the changeover.
I love the new tools. They are fabulous. But I learned what they’ve replaced. I think it would be difficult to get one’s bearings on the rapidly shifting sands of progress these days. So easy to get lost without a bedrock understanding.
I often admonish people new to the wilderness to stop, put down the screen on a hike, turn around at various intervals and look back at the landmarks behind you on your way up. They are going to come in handy on the way back - especially if the battery on your device goes dead.
I love Gaia - but you still need to know how to read contours on a topographical map to effectively find your route. I’m so glad I spent so much time looking at topos.
Another country head from
73 Eric KG6MZS
Rubbish! What about if you wanted to go north? 
…don’t know what you are talking about Paul, we are at the top of the world; your down under.
Geoff vk3sq
Any and every direction is north if you are at the South Pole.
That works on the North Pole too.
True. Though GPS comes in handy too (unless someone tries to jam the GNSS 
)…
It might be if you have a safety bearing. If you know there’s a freeway or road in a certain direction, and you can just walk in that direction to get un-lost.
There is a lot more to overland navigation than just paper and compass (and knowing how to use them). One of the cool things about trekking in areas lacking of trees (like the UK, or the US West etc) is if you do study the maps, and the topography and identify the “handrails” etc, it’s quite possible to go at it w/o any of the above, the key though is studying those maps ahead of time, and having an understanding of the location you are in (and some amount of internal compass for proper orienting to the area). Reality is though I saw a lot of the same issues throughout the 2010’s in the Tahoe area as apps like AllTrails and Gaia were becoming more and more popular. The team I used to be on did upwards of 130 callouts per year mostly coming between May and August, yah we had a lot of end of season burnout. However the past couple of years while visitations to the area are up, the callouts seem to be less. Not sure if it’s because the navigation tech is getting better, or maybe a bit of “kindness from strangers” (I know I have had to be a good samaritan on more than one occasion while doing SOTA)… Hoping the UK is just experiencing that initial early adopter bump and that it will eventually normalize.
3 things which improved my navigation:-
Doing my summer / winter mountain leader assessment . You must be able to find the most obscure features in hills. Not just tops. You must use timing/pacing etc.
Taking part in Orienteering. Requirement to find points on a map which you can only see when you reach them.
X country skiing in Norway in winter in the dark. Many features on maps disappear. Navigate using slope aspect and using slope angle and handrails such as valleys.
I fancy having a go at this sometime - looks like fun.
https://bmbo.org.uk/
Sometimes referred to as, ‘cunning running’. The best are expert navigators and they’ll easily beat a good runner whose not done orienteering before.