maps - paper or electrons?

[Earwig]

On a recent walk the discussion came to hiking gear (how unusual) and one of the topics was smart phones, map apps and batteries and rechargers and the redundancy of paper maps. Then I read an article about how GPS units and the like are creating "tunnel vision" in map users as they follow a track, rather than the broader "landscape view" that a 1:25,000 map printed on a metre square sheet of paper offers. Are paper maps redundant? What do people use to navigate longer walks?

Last edited by Earwig on Thu 19 May, 2016 4:53 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[neilmny]

One more would have been good Ian, "GPS with map and compass for backup."
I record my track and waypoints with GPS but I also know where I am on the map as well.
Here and there I use my compass and map to stay in touch with where I am and locate useful
features as position references. The little GPS screen isn't very good for that kind of thing.

[Earwig]

Good idea. I've changed the third option to cover that - don't know if you can vote again though.

[neilmny]

No I can't change it but my answer is close to what I wanted.

[photohiker]

I use a GPS with a compass and a Map (and the compass) for backup.

[GPSGuided]

All depends on the track and terrain.

On a well marked track, always review the day's plan on a paper map or on a large screen tablet/computer. While on the walk, a mapping GPS is the easiest for monitoring progress. Compass and paper map are primarily for backup or seeking a global view.

On a poorly marked track or off track, again it's critical to review the day's plan on a paper map or on a large screen tablet/computer. On the walk, it'll be a combination of paper map, compass and GPS, terrain dependent.

In 2016, it's a matter of using each tool to their strength than restrict oneself to one single modality.

[DanShell]

I haven't read the replies but for me it depends where I'm going.

I take a paper map and compass on all walks regardless.
If I am going off track to a new area I take my gps and I also have tasmaps offline on my phone to use with its gps as it is more detailed.
If I am going off track to an area I know well I just take the phone with Tasmaps and of course the paper map.

[GBW]

Maps, compass and GPS here too.

Like GPSGuided I use a large map to get a daily overview, smaller A4 prints to access during the day and the GPS to locate my position on a map if the weather is bad or I'm lost.

I find the topo maps on the Etrex too small and hard to read so usually refer to the paper map.

It's good to have a couple of options just in case.

[Mark F]

To me a compass is non-negotiable and as others have mentioned the lack of screen real estate on dedicated gps units is the reason I no longer use one, just my phone and an app with paper maps as backup. Given the ability of kindle etc to produce largish screen with low power requirements I feel Garmin etc are not keeping up with the hand held market - it seems to be all about increasing wrist based gadgetry rather than delivering the best hand held mapping unit - or have they resigned themselves to the inevitability that smart phones are going to ultimately dominate the hand held market.

[north-north-west]

Map and compass on every walk unless it's a short tourist track thing or somewhere I know really well. The GPS comes along as back-up and to record the walk. It's referred to only when the usual line of sight & compass navigation aren't working well.
Even on most tracked walks I like having a map. Don't bother at Freycinet or a lot of shorter daywalks (especially at Cradle or St Clair or Mt Field) but otherwise it's the norm.

[Hermione]

Map and compass, with GPS as back-up. The GPS mostly stays in my pack and just comes out if I want to check something, or if I'm aiming for something specific I might create some way points before the walk. Like others have mentioned the screen on the GPS isn't big enough to give you the same perspective as a 1:25000 map, plus it has batteries and could potentially fail.

[damoprz]

All of them, compass + map is enough 99% of the time. Not a particularly good navigator, but I haven't got very lost...
E-trex for tracking, plus its nice to know that you are actually exactly where you think you are. Then a phone for backup with saved OSM maps and a GPS.

[keithy]

I would have said map & compass then GPS and phone for backup, but for most of my recent walks, I have used Oruxmaps on a larger screened 7" tablet and usually with the digital version of the paper map I am carrying. The larger screen device is handier than a small GPS screen and the touch screen is easier to zoom in/out and generally navigate digital maps. So mine is now more a phone GPS and Garmin GPS and maps as backups.

I used my tablet & Oruxmaps combo with success recently in NZ, and I didn't pull out the printed paper maps I had for the entire 200km trip. I was quite impressed with the battery life of my tablet running Oruxmaps. Oruxmaps was running the LINZ maps viewtopic.php?f=21&t=22380 and it was great.

In some cases, I've gone back to carrying my smaller lighter eTrex 30 as a backup rather than the larger Oregon 600 as a backup GPS if I am also carrying the tablet/phone as the primary GPS. I'll still carry a map as a backup though.

Of course, like all things electronic, the tablet and GPS can fail as well, or batteries die, but so far with some redundancies, it hasn't happened to me yet. I have recently lost my Suunto compass somewhere though - it must have dropped out of my pack at some point, and that's been annoying. I always have a cheaper oil filled compass attached to my bag, but I liked my Suunto.

[Lophophaps]

Map and compass only. There needs to be this option, and I cannot complete the survey. Just twice a GPS would have been nice.

[slparker]

Map and compass on every walk unless it's a short tourist track thing or somewhere I know really well. The GPS comes along as back-up and to record the walk. It's referred to only when the usual line of sight & compass navigation aren't working well.
Even on most tracked walks I like having a map. Don't bother at Freycinet or a lot of shorter daywalks (especially at Cradle or St Clair or Mt Field) but otherwise it's the norm.

Ditto. map and compass for any walk where visibility or loss of bearing is possible. I never take a GPS but have a MGRS app on my phone to turn and acquire a grid reference.

[lee737]

Mapping GPSr as primary during walk. Planning beforehand on 1:25000 topo paper map. Backup is a spare GPSr, and topo map of the area I'm in. I carry a compass, but highly doubt I would use it!

[Davidf61]

Paper maps, printed at home beforehand in sections of where I'm going. GPS or phone as rarely used backup. Something about sitting around fire at end of start/end of day and poring over map, cuppa coffee blah blah....

[tom_brennan]

Like many here, map and compass. GPS sitting in the pack for logging the track, and if I need to double check something.

I forgot my map and compass on the weekend. Luckily the walk was largely on tracks, and in a small enough area that I could bring it up on the phone, and then occasionally refer to it as needed. But I found it made me rather nervous.

[puredingo]

Map and compass here too. I do own one of those old school yellow Garmin gps but half the time I carry the damn thing around with flat or no batteries in it, sometimes I'll use it to count the distance I've walked but I suspect it likes to flatter me.

The most useful item I keep is plain old track notes. The information is invaluable and the paper turns into a handy bit fire starting kit once used.