Map reading - can anyone do this now?

[psmiffy]

I love GPS - Ive owned a handheld GPS ever since they became affordable in the days of selective availability – accurate to around 100m – more than good enough to find where I was on a 50k OS map – the latest incarnation is good enough for me to use to sketch stuff onto 1k and 2k base maps – assuming I get the grid offset right – however Ive never used GPS to navigate myself to anywhere.

Map reading tho is not just about being able to determine where you are at any moment in time, the nature of the terrain or where you are going – by being able to accurately interpret and use maps you are training the spatial map that is stored in part of your brain – by continually updating and refreshing the spatial map you are able to project an image in your mind that tells you which way up the world is and where places are in relation to each other. I fear that within a few decades that there will be a generation that totally relies on GPS information and will not have this ability and are effectively lost if they go outside their home locale – in fact I sure Ive met some already – those who claim poor poor sense of direction – there is no such thing as a sense of direction - unless of course you are pigeon brained - just good navigational skills

Use it or lose it! (the skill, not the GPS jobbie... )

[Ben@Forest]

...they are my favourite bed time read.

When I tell people that, they look at me as if I'm strange and tell me I need to get out more - which is ironic...

I love 'em too. If I have a gripe it's that the 1:50,000 Landranger doesn't generally slide into the back pocket of a short-sleeve cycling jersey. Oddly the centre pocket on long-sleeved jerseys is often big enough. Rode on Saturday and needed a Landranger, managed to fit it in by removing it from it's cardboard outer. Do CTC jerseys account for this - if they do I might buy one!

[whoof]

Even if you work with GPS, I've installed and verified GPS systems on ships you still have to learn mapping theory i.e. datum and projection as simply looking at WGS 84 doesn't do it for more precise positioning.

Personally I prefer paper maps although Mrs Whoof's Garmin has been useful in the past.

[hamster]

Mountain Rescue is often mispercieved as just rescuing people that have fallen off a mountain. In addition to that we are often called to search for missing people in urban and rural areas, for many different reasons, missing walkers, missing elderly people with dementia, people that wish to do them selves harm, missing children, the list is quite long. We are called to help the ambulance service, if the terrain is difficult. We have assisted the fire service with the recovery of casualties from car crashes when the car has ended up in a ravine. Some teams provide assistance during floods.
My team covers roughly the area west of a line drawn from Bridgend to Aberyswyth, but often go further afield to help other teams. So, locals who know the ground, not possible. Calls to places as far afield as Hereford, St Davids, Carmarthen, Newton and Aberystwyth.

I would not use a GPS to guide me, I would use it to navigate, along with a map, compass and all the navigational techniques I have learned over the years.

I am not one of those anti GPS tpyes, but I really do believe that people need to learn how to navigate with a paper map and compass first. I find it quite scary that some people venture into the hills with just a GPS and a route programmed into it to follow, with zero navigational skill. Ignorance is not always bliss, and a GPS is not a shortcut to experience.

Neil

Absolutely. Maritime navigation training emphasises that GPS is an aid to navigation. That means you still have to engage brain and there are other sources of navigational input.

[pwa]

Recently I had a GPS run out of battery a few miles from my destination, and whilst I had a paper map for most of my ride I did not have one to cover the last bit. I used my nose and a bit of luck to complete the journey, but I felt like a fool for not having all the paper maps I needed. GPS is good, but don't rely on it. It will let you down sometimes.

[Jimstar79]

I've always used paper maps but have started looking at getting hold of a Nokia 520 or higher for its offline gps navigation function - free downloadable maps and navigation without even needing to connect to the internet. I'm planning on heading up into the north west of Scotland and am thinking: do I have to buy paper maps to cover the entire area? Will they be 'heavy' or take up room in my bags? Would a cheap smartphone be adequate? What happens if it runs out and I'm in the middle of nowhere? A small, light smartphone like the Nokia 520 would be easy to use and weight wise I'll hardly even notice it being there. I'm in a slight dilemma. Paper or digital, or both?

[LollyKat]

I've always used paper maps but have started looking at getting hold of a Nokia 520 or higher for its offline gps navigation function - free downloadable maps and navigation without even needing to connect to the internet. I'm planning on heading up into the north west of Scotland and am thinking: do I have to buy paper maps to cover the entire area? Will they be 'heavy' or take up room in my bags? Would a cheap smartphone be adequate? What happens if it runs out and I'm in the middle of nowhere? A small, light smartphone like the Nokia 520 would be easy to use and weight wise I'll hardly even notice it being there. I'm in a slight dilemma. Paper or digital, or both?

There aren't many roads in north-west Scotland so unless you intend to ride on off-road tracks and paths, a page or two torn out of a road atlas will be sufficient, unless you need contours. I was up there myself recently and used the Philips Navigator Scotland, at 3 miles to the inch (1 1/2 to the inch in the central belt). It is very clear and the pages will fit an A4 sleeve. The Achiltibuie-Lochinver section was on two separate pages, so I use Streetmap to print out a page from the OS, centred to keep it on one page.

Alternatively you could take the Nicolson Road Map 2. Based on the old OS 1/250,000 series it covers an area from Cape Wrath to Greenock, the Outer Hebrides to Dingwall, with beautiful shaded contour lines. It is a bit heavier than a few pages from the atlas.

I took a Garmin with me but only used it to find my way through Inverness. I would never rely on it alone, though - I always take some kind of map, as well as a small compass.

[Jimstar79]

Hi LollyKat,

Thanks for the tips! I think I am going to follow your advice and go with the paper version or the world!