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Here's a common use case of my compass for my purposes.
>follow firebreak to approximately west of a lake I want to visit, think I can see a break in the trees
>leave break, not nearly as downhill and much thicker than I anticipated
>old man's beard and succesionary pine keep visibility really low
>really wet forest from snowmelt, little rivulets everywhere make it impossible to go straight
>get to lake, can't stay to watch peak of the sunset, too much anxiety
>no way to know I'd be headed back to the break once I put the lake behind me since I forgot my compass at home last night.
Had I had it, I could have simply just taken a western reading in the complete dark and been fine.
Bring a small reliable compass everywhere; you don't need your orienteering merit badge, but being able to navigate off of known linear landmarks is incredibly helpful.
