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Re: Best way to bring maps

Hi Thom! Of course, there are all sorts of ways of doing the mapping, but this is my system. Firstly, I don't use GPS, as I'm well used to map-and-compass techniques. I have started to carry a little Gecko, but just to confirm my position for confidence (especially in forests with many junctions!).
I've done 7 Challenges now, using A4 paper sheets at 1:50000 printed off my computer using Anquet. I have a bomb-proof map cover for each day's maps, and the rest kept safe in another map case. I have a spare set of sheets too, if walking alone (otherwise, husband Mike carries the spare set). Also, I have the whole route at small scale on another couple of sheets (or rip pages out of an old road atlas) in case it all goes pear-shaped and I need to find a road/town/bus. Also, very importantly, I always carry cut-down OS sheets of the main mountain ranges that I'm crossing, in case I am forced off my A4 sheets! The sheets, and indeed the OS maps, can be sent home or ditched when I've walked off them.
My daily map sheets go in their waterproof Ortleib case with a safety cord fixed to it (attached to my rucksack), rolled up and stuffed under my hip belt, or an outer pocket of the rucksack, for easy access but not flapping round my neck.
Now you've asked the question, you'll get a confusing complexity of answers, but the main thing is to practise a few different methods and techniques over the next few weeks, find out what suites you best!

Re: Best way to bring maps

I too print out my maps from Memory Map. But unlike Phil I do use waterproof paper - Tuffprint I think it's called. Brilliant stuff. Seems pretty indestructible.

I'm a bit belt and braces with maps. I use the printed out sheets to navigate with, having the day's A4 map(s) rolled up and fastened to my rucksack shoulder strap. But I also have at least half of the relevant sheet of the 1:50k OS map in my rucksack in case of a significant re-route becoming necessary. I don't carry the whole lot but post ahead in my resupply parcels. And if that wasn't enough I have all the maps on my smartphone using Viewranger, which is great for getting a position fix.

Re: Best way to bring maps

David Williams
... unlike Phil I do use waterproof paper - Tuffprint I think it's called... Seems pretty indestructible.


I used waterproof paper for my print-outs one year. In true ultra-light style they had many uses, excelling as a sit-mat, groundsheet underlay, pea-shooter and toilet trowel.

However their use as tablemats at an evening soiree was not without problems. A gust of wind felled my glass of Barrettines and I watched in horror as the purple nectar slewed over the map, and Her Majesty's contours, rivers & woods slid crazily from the page! In a panic to retrieve the situation, my Havana slipped from my grasp and I was engulfed in a ball of flame.

A quick witted Lord Elpus bundled me into the river and the day was saved, if not the map.

Re: Best way to bring maps

thank you all. great feedback.

Re: Best way to bring maps

Thom, I tried to e mail you direct but your address was not recognised.

Re: Best way to bring maps

ViewRanger.....great for getting a positioning fix when you come across a wet behind the ears TGO numpty whose been wandering aimlessly around a small woodland for the last hour trying to find the correct way out.

I was so glad to meet somebody with a phone!!

Re: Best way to bring maps

A4 sheets of my route printed off at 1:50,000 on standard paper.

Most stored in a re-sealable freezer bag in the hydration sleeve of my pack, along with my Route Sheet. The current day and next days A4 sheets in a rolled up LokSak attached to my shoulder strap by two loops of bungee (and the LokSak clipped to something with a length of 2mm cord, in case the wind decides to try and blow it away).

I also take a set of 1:50,000 map print-outs, but printed at 1:100,000 or greater so I get at least double the coverage (but the same level of detail) in case I wander off-route. I carry a small flexi magnifying glass in a hipbelt pocket to read these as the detail is very small.

Back-up is the whole lot on ViewRanger, with a couple of useful Apps thrown in on the phone (altimeter, OS Locate etc). The phone only ever gets switched on if I'm hopelessly lost, or have the sense that something just doesn't look right.

Re: Best way to bring maps

Wrestling with the same problem. I'm thinking of taking the OS 1:50 000 maps (probably trimmed to essentials plus a little extra) in my backpack, and using waterproof double-sided A4 printouts for actual walking. Since I don't have a printer, I'll be paying for a printing house to do it for me, and that means I need to save the maps in PDF and then send them to be printed out. I'd love to somehow get all the map sheets in a single file, or at least not be forced to save them all separately, as the facility I asked about the cost will charge 0,50 euros for each file in addition to the waterproof sheets and the actual printing.

At the moment the only online mapping software I have is the OS maps premium subscription and I'm not quite sure if their printing option is the best possible.


Okay, back to route-plotting (almost there...). Thanks for any advice in advance. I honestly didn't have a clue all this preparation woud be so time consuming! (and yet I love it!).

Minna / Finland, a first-time Challenger

Re: Best way to bring maps

Hi Minna, it's possible to combine all your pdfs in Acrobat, that's what you mean.

1.Within Acrobat, click on the Tools menu and select Combine Files.
2.Click Combine Files, and then click Add Files to select the files you want to include in your PDF.
3.Click, drag, and drop to reorder the files and pages. ...
4.When finished arranging files, click Combine Files.


By the way, where in Finland do you live? I've worked for Finnish company for 29 years, and lived over there for 2 years. I still travel over to Helsinki every month.

Re: Best way to bring maps

Hi John and thanks for the techno-tip - I like to think of myself as a fairly competent modern person, but sometimes it's just too much .

I live in Tampere, which is the third biggest city in Finland. I have many friends in Helsinki so I visit there quite often. Maybe after Challenge we can have a mini-meet in Helsinki .

Minna

Re: Best way to bring maps

Hi Minna,

If you don't have Adobe Acrobat, which is the paid version of their software, you can download PDF Split and Merge for free and use that to merge all the different PDFs into one file.

Re: Best way to bring maps

Thanks Brian

got one from the App store for 1€. Works like a train toilet (a Finnish saying meaning it works really well).

Minna