Author Topic: Is using a GPS a threat to your life!!!  (Read 5312 times)

Pura Vida

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Re: Is using a GPS a threat to your life!!!
« Reply #15 on: 22:32:44, 09/06/16 »
Could there be another point that is being missed? There have always been people that have gone into the hills with a map and compass even though they don't know how to use it.


Having new technology doesn't change that. If you don't know how to read a map then you will be unlikely to be able to effectively read a GPS.


Maps and compass have been around for a long time and for those that have taken the time to learn how to use them they are excellent tools.


GPS and electronic maps have become much more affordable and versatile in the last ten years and if you take the time to convert the Map and compass skills or learn how to use the new technology without touching a Map and compass then that is also an excellent tool.


Both Map and compass and GPS have limitations, if you know how to read maps you will understand the limitations. When you know the limitations you can take the appropriate steps to mitigate those limitations by selecting a similar or different type of back up, or both.


IMO there are too many people that put there trust in the tools without taking the time to learn how to use them properly. No different that a chippy using a hammer to put screws in!


I'm different in that as I train teenagers how to use Map and compass for their DofE expeds I still use Map and compass as my main tool. I supervise the teams and I prefer to have maps so that I can figure out where they might be if they aren't where they think they are or should be! I also have a Etrex 10 in my rucksack just in case I have one of those Oh [censored] moments. Only ever had one of those and that is what spurred me on to buy a GPS ;-) I do have colleagues whom use digital mapping tools for the same purpose as I use paper.


If you don't know how to read a map, paper or digital, then a compass or GPS won't help. Those are the people that the article are aimed at, not those of us that can read a map.


The art, for me, is to read my route, from the map, and determine what features that I should be aiming for, or passing in a short distance then to put the map in my pocket so that I can enjoy the walk. The GPS can be used similarly.
Show a man a route then he will have an Adventure; Teach a man to navigate then he will have many adventures

keithie

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Re: Is using a GPS a threat to your life!!!
« Reply #16 on: 22:55:05, 09/06/16 »
it might also be worth mentioning that a compass is uneccessary really if you have a dog with you in a new area. There is scientific evidence that dogs will poo to the north ..


http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/dogs-poop-in-alignment-with-earths-magnetic-field-study-finds/


so, so longa as you dont mind squeezing your dogs tummy like a tube of toothpaste when you're not sure of your direction, all should be well :)




Personally I've not fully tested this, but it must be true.

ninthace

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Re: Is using a GPS a threat to your life!!!
« Reply #17 on: 22:57:02, 09/06/16 »
Putting cost issues to one side for a minute, if your DoE students were shown how to select and plot a route on a map and then migrate it to a GPS with mapping on it, do you think they would they get lost more or less often?


Also if they ran into trouble and were GPS equipped, would they not be able to give an accurate grid ref?
Solvitur Ambulando

Pura Vida

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Re: Is using a GPS a threat to your life!!!
« Reply #18 on: 23:17:44, 09/06/16 »
"Putting cost issues to one side for a minute, if your DoE students were shown how to select and plot a route on a map and then migrate it to a GPS with mapping on it, do you think they would they get lost more or less often?
Also if they ran into trouble and were GPS equipped, would they not be able to give an accurate grid ref?"



Would they learn from having the GPS do more/all of the work? There is sooooo much learning that goes on from them getting lost, or even just going off route for a short distance that I would not advocate them using a GPS so that they could be 100% accurate

They already have the opportunity to plan routes, print maps and create route cards using mapping software provided by DofE. (I suspect that there is the ability to download files from those functions but we/I don't use them.)

There are plenty of "life skills" that come from using a map. Focus, concentration, teamwork, negotiation etc, The GPS cannot facilitate that. I can.
« Last Edit: 23:22:11, 09/06/16 by Pura Vida »
Show a man a route then he will have an Adventure; Teach a man to navigate then he will have many adventures

alewife

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Re: Is using a GPS a threat to your life!!!
« Reply #19 on: 07:17:49, 10/06/16 »
My map skills are not the best, and I don't (yet) have a GPS;if you're joining me for the Brecon Beacons meet up in July, YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED ;D ;D
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sussamb

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Re: Is using a GPS a threat to your life!!!
« Reply #20 on: 07:36:38, 10/06/16 »
It's OK Debs, I'll have mine with me  ;)
Where there's a will ...

alewife

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Re: Is using a GPS a threat to your life!!!
« Reply #21 on: 07:40:28, 10/06/16 »
It's OK Debs, I'll have mine with me  ;)

 O0
Alewife


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Rather be walking

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““The hardest part was coming to terms with the constant dispiriting discovery that there is always more hill.”
― Bill Bryson, A Walk in the Woods

Mel

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Re: Is using a GPS a threat to your life!!!
« Reply #23 on: 19:33:20, 10/06/16 »
I think “casual” walkers who use GPS assume it works the same as a car satnav and don’t realise that (as kukkudrill says) the line between waypoints is “as the crow flies” and not the actual “path on the ground”.   
   
Perhaps those are the types of people the article is referring to and not folks such as those on this forum who choose walking as a hobby/career and learn the skills behind the GPS (ie. map reading) to compliment this.  
   
I know the first time I used a GPS to navigate (a route I’d plotted myself) I fell into this trap of assuming the route shown between the waypoints would “read the map” and take me along the path on the ground.  I remember feeling rather disillusioned with the usefulness of a GPS after that outing!!!!  It was only after digging deeper to figure out what went wrong that I realised “properly” how following a pre-plotted GPS route works.   
   
A “casual” walker who’s seen a “nice walk” in the paper, downloaded a route and followed it, might get confused when their direction of travel arrow is pointing them a different way to the path on the ground – then tries to follow the arrow (because the route must be right), especially if the GPS starts chirping and beeping at them because they’ve strayed a certain distance from the plotted route… I can see how they could get into difficulty if they can’t read a map and are, indeed, blindly following the “instructions” of the GPS and don’t understand how the unit generates the route between each waypoint.  
   
   

jontea

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Re: Is using a GPS a threat to your life!!!
« Reply #24 on: 10:17:28, 11/06/16 »
Some interesting comments made.

Personally I enjoy navigating with paper map and compass, because I find it more of a challenge.
In the past, I've enjoyed testing my skills in more remote areas and in poor weather on solo walks, gradually  making routes more difficult.
But carrying the GPS and knowing how to use it has given me the confidence to be able to do it.
Knowing if I get it wrong on the map, my GPS will bail me out.

Yes I agree your head isn't in your map every couple of minutes using a GPS, and this would allow you to admire the views around you, check out the wild life etc. and that in itself brings satisfaction, and pleasure, I know because I've done it. :)

However I think from map reading, you're looking at those same views but in a different way, noting the terrain and everything in it when map reading becomes some how, more important and therefore you become more aware of your position.
And so when I do get it right, under whatever circumstances arise I'm rather pleased with myself ;)
But it's thanks to my GPS I Have done it  O0

I guess it all comes down to what an individual wants from a walk ;)


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Kukkudrill

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Re: Is using a GPS a threat to your life!!!
« Reply #25 on: 22:55:22, 11/06/16 »
Interesting article:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-36493619


Jamming of GPS for military training purposes. Interesting indeed. Are the Hebrides a military training area or could this conceivably happen in other places like the Lake District for example?
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ninthace

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Re: Is using a GPS a threat to your life!!!
« Reply #26 on: 23:39:56, 11/06/16 »

Jamming of GPS for military training purposes. Interesting indeed. Are the Hebrides a military training area or could this conceivably happen in other places like the Lake District for example?


I would have to kill you and eat you if I told you........... but "some parts are" and "no" in that order if my ATC map of the UK is to be believed.  Exercises of this type this tend to take place in areas of low population density.  The Lake District is a low flying training area so you get the hills and a free flying display - bonus. Jet noise is the sound of freedom!
Solvitur Ambulando

jontea

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Re: Is using a GPS a threat to your life!!!
« Reply #27 on: 08:50:38, 12/06/16 »

I would have to kill you and eat you and Exercise in The Lake District so you get the sound of freedom!

Funny how you can edit a quote  ;D
Walking is the world’s oldest exercise and today’s modern medicine.

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ninthace

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Re: Is using a GPS a threat to your life!!!
« Reply #28 on: 10:02:41, 12/06/16 »
Solvitur Ambulando

 

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