Author Topic: Which paper maps.  (Read 3633 times)

BuzyG

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Which paper maps.
« on: 20:41:58, 02/03/19 »
Like many I love my OS maps.  But I have always found them a little unwieldy out and about. And dare I say heavy, as it only there as a back up these days.  So I was in the habit of printing and laminating maps for individual routes..  I have however recently discovered the little Yellow map series.  1:16000 scale OS data on neat folded and laminated sheets.  I may be lucky but just two of these little gems cover all of Bodmin moor so now I just leave them in my bag for when I nip out for a mid week wonder. O0 .

Any one else have a favourite paper map?

 

Percy

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Re: Which paper maps.
« Reply #1 on: 20:52:19, 02/03/19 »
I’m very fond of the little booklets that A-Z make using OS mapping. Only available for National Parks and major trails I think. A large area in a small package and much more manageable than a massive sheet map.


For example the Coast To Coast one:


https://www.amazon.co.uk/Coast-Adventure-Atlas-Geographers-Map/dp/178257168X/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1551559869&sr=8-2&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=coast+to+coast+map&dpPl=1&dpID=51oT4Pp3foL&ref=plSrch

Ralph

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Re: Which paper maps.
« Reply #2 on: 00:32:57, 03/03/19 »
Harvey Maps for me. The coverage is only popular areas but what with weight, waterproofness & being tear proof what could be better?.

richardh1905

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Re: Which paper maps.
« Reply #3 on: 08:14:02, 03/03/19 »
Any 1:25000 OS map - the cartography is superb, and sometimes I can just sit and 'read' a map almost as if it were a book.
WildAboutWalking - Join me on my walks through the wilder parts of Britain

adalard

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Re: Which paper maps.
« Reply #4 on: 09:10:11, 03/03/19 »
Any 1:25000 OS map - the cartography is superb, and sometimes I can just sit and 'read' a map almost as if it were a book.


They really are things of beauty, aren't they? I do the same thing quite often.


I have however recently discovered the little Yellow map series.  1:16000 scale OS data on neat folded and laminated sheets.  I


You just reminded me that I have one of those for the Upper Derwent Valley - it really is a cracking, little map and a great idea. We bought it at Fairholmes when we went over there walking and forgot to pack our regular map.

Percy

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Re: Which paper maps.
« Reply #5 on: 09:27:51, 03/03/19 »
Any 1:25000 OS map - the cartography is superb, and sometimes I can just sit and 'read' a map almost as if it were a book.
Yes. This is why I can’t get on with Harvey’s maps. They might be great functional maps but they’re ugly.


Other ugly maps - the French IGN ones :(

adalard

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Re: Which paper maps.
« Reply #6 on: 09:31:46, 03/03/19 »
Yes. This is why I can’t get on with Harvey’s maps. They might be great functional maps but they’re ugly.


I've never owned one but I have looked at them and I too find them hard work. I can't put my finger exactly on why that's so but suspect maybe it's their use of colour.

Owen

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Re: Which paper maps.
« Reply #7 on: 10:06:24, 03/03/19 »
I hardly ever use 1:25,000 I just find them far too cluttered with too much detail. I can't see the wood for the tree symbols on them.  I find the 1:50,000 much clearer and easier to use. I also really like the Harvey maps, I like the colours. I also think that printing them on plastic sheets is light years ahead of the OS paper or laminated maps.


I agree Frence maps aren't great, Swiss and Austrian maps are much better then ours, Italian and Spanish ones are "Oh dear".


Swedish maps are 1:100,000 so one map covers as much ground as four OS 1:50,000. Norwegian maps are 1:50,000 but only half the size of the OS ones, so you need loads and their expensive.

gunwharfman

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Re: Which paper maps.
« Reply #8 on: 10:30:45, 03/03/19 »
I have used Harvey's maps, for the C2C and the Pennine Way. I like them except for one problem, I'm colour blind (red/green) and in bright daylight I can see the route OK. But if I'm hiking in really dull weather, or if I'm in a pub or restaurant in the evening and want to check my route under artificial light, I can't, the maps just becomes blurred. If the venue uses coloured lighting, I cannot see them at all.

I've only tried to carry an OS map once, never repeated it!

I do like the A to Z booklets though, they are really good. Some colours (Kielder Forest for example) cause me a little difficulty if trying to read them under artificial light but not too much.

So for me I now only use an app on my phone. Backcountry for the UK and SityTrail for France.

Maggot

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Re: Which paper maps.
« Reply #9 on: 10:51:42, 03/03/19 »
I have used Harvey's maps, for the C2C and the Pennine Way. I like them except for one problem, I'm colour blind (red/green) and in bright daylight I can see the route OK. But if I'm hiking in really dull weather, or if I'm in a pub or restaurant in the evening and want to check my route under artificial light, I can't, the maps just becomes blurred. If the venue uses coloured lighting, I cannot see them at all.

I've only tried to carry an OS map once, never repeated it!

I do like the A to Z booklets though, they are really good. Some colours (Kielder Forest for example) cause me a little difficulty if trying to read them under artificial light but not too much.

So for me I now only use an app on my phone. Backcountry for the UK and SityTrail for France.


Do you mind if I ask how you cope with the colours on your smartphone using the various mapping apps you use?  Is there a difference in the lighting or is there a setting you can use to take away the problem of being colourblind when looking at red/greens?  If you can't see the colours on paper, how can you see them on a smartphone?


I work with some people who are very dyslexic, and use various colour sheet filters on bits of paper and maps etc, but as you can imagine, the change in colour can cause significant issues (think bodies of water/marshland now looking pinky red!)  So, do you view things differently through some clever setting, or is it just as difficult, but easier because it is backlit or brighter or something.


Thanks

gunwharfman

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Re: Which paper maps.
« Reply #10 on: 11:40:18, 03/03/19 »
Smartphones have solved my problem completely, my apps are very easy to read, in daylight, under artificial light and in darkness. A liitle difficult when its a bright sunny day, I then turn my back to the sun and read it in my body shade or I just find a shady spot nearby.

I think its because my phone screen brightness can be adjusted to exactly what I want.

When my wife and I had to use paper maps to drive in an area we did not know, I could never be the map reader at night, once the interiour light was switched on I was 'blind!' Torches didn't help either. The large page AA type maps for me were always the worst!

When I was a full time Advocate I had a young client (a typist) who could only use a PC monitor if the screen background was blue and the words on the screen were white. Anything else and she just couldn't function. My role was to persuade her company to buy her the necessary programme. Her Manager was a real [censored] so I had to arm twist and threaten him with the companies formal Complaints Procedure. He quickly backed down, she I believe still works for the company, he left long ago.

jimbob

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Re: Which paper maps.
« Reply #11 on: 12:04:55, 03/03/19 »
Colour blindness (which to varying degrees affects one in twelve men) is not easy to explain to those who don't have it.
Different light wavelengths and intensities all affect the way light strikes the rods and cones in your eyes, so as GWM explains he can see ok in one situation that becomes confusing on another.
In 1975 the HSE produced a paper showing that it was actually dangerous to have red and green as the  difference between safety and danger in sign usage. That was swept under the bumpy carpet when Govt. realised the cost of changing traffic lights and all other forms of signage.
At times it can be very tricky for colour blind people and like deafness is rarely treat with sympathy by those who do not understand, as both are invisible to others.
Too little, too late, too bad......

fernman

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Re: Which paper maps.
« Reply #12 on: 12:36:40, 03/03/19 »
I hardly ever use 1:25,000 I just find them far too cluttered with too much detail. I can't see the wood for the tree symbols on them.  I find the 1:50,000 much clearer and easier to use.

But OS 1:25k maps show walls even fences in upland areas that are important for navigation, these are not on 1:50k maps.

As a visitor to Greek islands for many years, I have found the various maps available pretty awful, but in recent years Terrain maps http://terrainmaps.gr/index.php?l=en#aboutus have appeared. While they are not that highly detailed, they are reasonably accurate and worth seeking out.

Some interesting discussion of colour-blindness here; I recall the boy in my primary school class who painted grass and trees brown, and earth red.

jimbob

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Re: Which paper maps.
« Reply #13 on: 12:43:53, 03/03/19 »
I recall the boy in my primary school class who painted grass and trees brown, and earth red.
But he was probably painting what he saw.Just like every one else :)
Too little, too late, too bad......

Owen

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Re: Which paper maps.
« Reply #14 on: 13:03:05, 03/03/19 »
But OS 1:25k maps show walls even fences in upland areas that are important for navigation, these are not on 1:50k maps.


Don't get many of them up here. Contours are more useful. These are much harder to see on 1:25,000 maps.

 

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