Author Topic: Good place to keep your map  (Read 4616 times)

richardh1905

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Re: Good place to keep your map
« Reply #15 on: 17:27:51, 24/04/19 »
I recall on one university mountaineering club meet in the Lakes many years ago, we ran down the slopes from Hindscarth towards Robinson into the teeth of a near gale; one of my friends had map case, compass, whistle and a football scarf around his neck - these got in such a tangle that he had to be cut free!
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richardh1905

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Re: Good place to keep your map
« Reply #16 on: 17:29:42, 24/04/19 »
In answer to your question, Rob, my GoreTex jacket has what they describe as a 'Napoleon pocket', which is big enough to take an OS map with ease.
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pdstsp

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Re: Good place to keep your map
« Reply #17 on: 17:40:16, 24/04/19 »
In answer to your question, Rob, my GoreTex jacket has what they describe as a 'Napoleon pocket', which is big enough to take an OS map with ease.


Ha - mine too - (the ME Lhotse club), but we don't all live in windy old Orkney - down here in the badlands of mainland UK we take our jackets off for a couple of walks a year  ;D


I hate map cases round my neck with a vengeance - I tend to carry the map in rucksack, using phone or gps as primary navigation.  When I relied fully on paper maps, I used to try to stuff them in cargo pockets, hang them off hip belts, never found a method I liked.  The advent of the OS app and the ability to print localised maps was such a relief.  Just like ninthace - I use document wallet which folds up small and fits in most pockets.

fernman

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Re: Good place to keep your map
« Reply #18 on: 18:43:29, 24/04/19 »
My preference is for folding cases with D-rings on them so you can pass a cheap karabiner through one and clip it onto a rucksack shoulder strap. It then hangs on one side below your waist and can readily be unclipped when you want to study the contents.
I did have an allegedly waterproof camo one that I binned when my map got wet. The replacement is a Aqua-Quest 'The Trail' which is definitely waterproof. Manufactured in USA it is well-overpriced in this country for what it is, I paid £20 four years ago and I believe they're much more now.
The Aqua-Quest is a bad size for OS maps but not impossible if you don't mind folding them lots to fit them in.
However, it is ideal for A4 printed sheets which are my preference nowadays. As Owen said earlier, you need to add the grid numbers to them. Then when you are unsure of your exact location you can get your grid ref from a phone app and pinpoint your position on the map.

Mel

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Re: Good place to keep your map
« Reply #19 on: 19:48:02, 24/04/19 »
Before I invested in a map case I just used a couple of bulldog clips to hold the map folded to the area I wanted and tucked it in my rucksack's waist strap when not needed. 


Now I've got a waterproof map case which I tuck in my waist strap when not needed. 


Or, I do a screenshot print of bing maps ..... HOWEVER ... these are not to scale (so no good for measuring distance and pacing) but they do fold up and fit in your pocket. Great for printing in a size I can actually read without glasses though.








Rob Goes Walking

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Re: Good place to keep your map
« Reply #20 on: 20:00:02, 24/04/19 »
Or, I do a screenshot print of bing maps ..... HOWEVER ... these are not to scale (so no good for measuring distance and pacing) but they do fold up and fit in your pocket. Great for printing in a size I can actually read without glasses though.

Would they still work to locate yourself using bearings? I think so but am not sure.

Why not get OS maps and then you can print them off to scale? It's only £24 a year or £3 a month if you wanted to try it. Perhaps you don't need it though if Bing maps works.

Mel

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Re: Good place to keep your map
« Reply #21 on: 20:23:37, 24/04/19 »
Yes, they would work for taking bearings.


I'm happy with VR and buy the map tiles as and when I need them.  Bing maps prints works fine for my needs.  You are aware you can view the OS maps at 1:25k and 1:50k scale on Bing maps aren't you?  A screen print doesn't convert it to that pointless flat green map with a few roads on.




Rob Goes Walking

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Re: Good place to keep your map
« Reply #22 on: 20:31:58, 24/04/19 »
Yes, they would work for taking bearings.


I'm happy with VR and buy the map tiles as and when I need them.  Bing maps prints works fine for my needs.  You are aware you can view the OS maps at 1:25k and 1:50k scale on Bing maps aren't you?  A screen print doesn't convert it to that pointless flat green map with a few roads on.

I meant a subscription to Ordnance Survey's online mapping not ViewRanger's Premium mapping. I subscribed to them to access their aerial 3D view before I learnt ViewRanger can do almost as good a job with the premium account I already had with them.

https://osmaps.ordnancesurvey.co.uk

That mapping. I already paid for it or I would investigate using Bing. Does Bing print grid lines too?

Mel

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Re: Good place to keep your map
« Reply #23 on: 20:41:16, 24/04/19 »
Yes, Bing prints out the gridlines, but I do it as a screenshot (pressing the print screen button on my computer and dumping it into a word document).


I'm fairly certain it's not possible to print the OS maps screen image using Bing's print function.


I let my OS subscription end after discovering VR.  I don't have VR premium either.  I have the free version and just buy the OS map tiles as needed (works out much cheaper per year for me than subscription to either OS or VR Premium).








Innominate Man

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Re: Good place to keep your map
« Reply #24 on: 23:53:37, 24/04/19 »
A couple of added considerations from me;
I used to take my own OS map (to work) and print off the section(s) I intended using for walks, thereby saving my map from weather damage and prolonging it's life. I would fold the A4s in half and insert them into one of those clear plastic wallets from stationers.
I found the half size = A5 was easier to stash in my jacket chest pocket.
A while later I realised you could buy an Ortleib map case of A5 size. Despite potential navigational shortcomings of doing this, I never found it a problem.


The only downside is, that over the years the clear Ortleib has discoloured and instead of being a clear plastic, I now have maps with a distinct sepia tinge!
I should hold my hand up and admit that my last map case was bought in about 2008/9 - so perhaps they are expected to discolour after so many years  ::)


It is probably time for me to buy another new one, although I do have the standard big size case which was shelved when I moved onto the smaller version. Perhaps I'll give that an airing.
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archaeoroutes

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Re: Good place to keep your map
« Reply #25 on: 12:58:28, 25/04/19 »
I just use a pocket. One of my criteria on buying walking clothes is to have a pocket suitable for a full OS map.
Map cases to me are annoying dangly things that whip round in the wind and add weight.

With the advent of modern printing that doesn't warp the scale at the edges of the map, and waterproof printer paper, I mostly print off what I need for the actual navigation, leaving the full OS map in the rucksack as a backup.
When teaching navigation, one of the key things I aim to get across is map contact. That means keeping where you are on the map in touch with where you are on the ground. Thumbing is a big part of this. So I would expect someone focussing on their nav to have the map in their hand the whole time, their thumb on the most recent place they confirmed their position, and the map orientated so the moment they lift their hand up it is the right way round. This is much easier with a printout due to wiehgt and size and ability to fold to a handy' size.


ETA: I use VR for most things, but have found the OS mapping site much easier for printing off maps to the correct scale. Once I have a pdf of a particular area I can use it again and again.
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Rob Goes Walking

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Re: Good place to keep your map
« Reply #26 on: 13:07:44, 25/04/19 »
I just use a pocket. One of my criteria on buying walking clothes is to have a pocket suitable for a full OS map.

Not possible for me due to walking clothes manufacturers not selling in my size.


When teaching navigation, one of the key things I aim to get across is map contact. That means keeping where you are on the map in touch with where you are on the ground. Thumbing is a big part of this. So I would expect someone focussing on their nav to have the map in their hand the whole time, their thumb on the most recent place they confirmed their position, and the map orientated so the moment they lift their hand up it is the right way round. This is much easier with a printout due to wiehgt and size and ability to fold to a handy' size.

I thought I'd only have to practice thumbing for a while and then would be able to move on to having a rough idea where I am and using confirmation and relocation techniques to get a better fix. Is this not how you do it post thumbing stage as, as you say, you stow it in a pocket you don't thumb your location most of the time?

Rob Goes Walking

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Re: Good place to keep your map
« Reply #27 on: 13:36:21, 25/04/19 »
My maps just arrived a day early! Rain is forecast so kind of ironically in an attempt to move away from digital aids I'm going to have to buy the book in e-format as well as my phone is waterproof and the paperback isn't. Now the only question is do I go practice later today or tomorrow (or both)?

Just a note I've got some very basic nav experience, ViewRanger isn't completely magic, I've still been collecting features and sometimes setting attack points or/and handrailing even if I didn't know what it was I was doing!

Also I noticed Mel in her blog calls what my book calls "collecting features", "handrailing", where as my book calls "handrailing" following a linear feature to an attack point. Is there some discrepancy in the use of the terms?

sussamb

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Re: Good place to keep your map
« Reply #28 on: 15:20:47, 25/04/19 »
Handrailing is when you follow a linear feature. A collecting feature is something that 'collects you'  so you may for example be following a track that hits a line of trees, the trees act as a collecting feature to confirm exactly where you are or may be used to indicate you've overshot where you were trying to get to, sometimes referred to as catching features.
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Rob Goes Walking

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Re: Good place to keep your map
« Reply #29 on: 16:02:18, 25/04/19 »
Thanks sussamb that's what the book says, although it refers to collecting features as the technique of noting which collecting features you've passed to keep an idea of where you are (it suggests ticking them off on paper but that seems extreme to me seeing as this is something I was already mentally doing without knowing what it's called). After fighting with the OS map and realising you have to tear the cover off I've been practicing keeping the map orientated walking around my flat. Simple enough, if I can do it blind shouldn't be a problem with the terrain as a clue. Will be practicing the skills properly tomorrow!

 

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