The trouble with paper maps....

[Globalti]

...is when this happens:
View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=deZxw7Vr5Jk

 

[corshamjim]

Nice one. Reminds me, I must drop some hints before Christmas that's what I want.

 

[HLaB]

LOL

 

[ColinJ]

That's why I like my all-UK Memory Map OS map - no edges!

 

[Beardie]

Clever. But what if your e-map goes on the blink and the ground you're travelling on suddenly fails to load? Do you fall into oblivion?

 

[ColinJ]

Clever. But what if your e-map goes on the blink and the ground you're travelling on suddenly fails to load? Do you fall into oblivion?

Ha ha! I used to print out paper copies of the mapping for the areas I was riding in but my GPS has proved 100% reliable so I don't bother any more. I suppose I'll get caught out one day when something goes wrong with it!

 

[mcshroom]

I remember that as a cartoon picture once in a Scouting Mag, but that was more exciting

 

[Globalti]

I always use proper maps and always will; why would you want to use a GPS? You might as well read the map through a cardboard tube as you'll miss the general topography, the places of interest nearby and all the other fascinating features a map shows you.

Example: planning a trailquest event: how does GPS show you the general lie of the land over a big area like the North York Moors? In order to plan your route you need to see the river valleys and the hills so as to understand why the high-value checkpoints have been placed where they are then make a decision as to whether you will go for long distance and high value or stay local and bag lots of low value checkpoints. Maybe you can pre-plan this and download it into a GPS but how does the GPS cope with contingencies? Your major objective becomes unattainable for some reason so you decide to cut and run for the overnight stop, picking up a few low-value en route and avoiding time penalties. Only a paper map can give you the big picture that enables you to plan at such short notice, especially when minutes can become penalty points.

 

[briantrumpet]

That's why I like my all-UK Memory Map OS map - no edges!

I use the Mapyx Quo equivalent (the program is free, you pay for the OS map tiles). It makes route planning a doddle (it gives elevation data very accurately), then I try to memorise as much of the route as I can, just printing out the complicated bits. It means I've got proper OS maps, but only have to carry round a sheet or two of A4 paper.

 

[Flying Dodo]

I always use proper maps and always will; why would you want to use a GPS? You might as well read the map through a cardboard tube as you'll miss the general topography, the places of interest nearby and all the other fascinating features a map shows you.

Example: planning a trailquest event: how does GPS show you the general lie of the land over a big area like the North York Moors? In order to plan your route you need to see the river valleys and the hills so as to understand why the high-value checkpoints have been placed where they are then make a decision as to whether you will go for long distance and high value or stay local and bag lots of low value checkpoints. Maybe you can pre-plan this and download it into a GPS but how does the GPS cope with contingencies? Your major objective becomes unattainable for some reason so you decide to cut and run for the overnight stop, picking up a few low-value en route and avoiding time penalties. Only a paper map can give you the big picture that enables you to plan at such short notice, especially when minutes can become penalty points.

Or you could get a GPS which uses OS mapping.

 

[Globalti]

But you can't spread a GPS out on the ground and look at the whole area.

 

[coffeejo]

Horses for courses but I lost faith in GPS when my old sat nav gave up the ghost as I was driving through a maze of unmarked, badly sign-posted lanes in mid Wales and decided that I was, in fact, in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.

 

[ufkacbln]

But you can't spread a GPS out on the ground and look at the whole area.

Yes you can!