Digital or paper mapping

[+2202]

I was surprised by the outcry to retain the OS coordinates as I have for some years become exclusively digital and therefore only rely on the WGS84 format.

I love the old paper OS and have many including the four local ones when I first started in this madness. But they were soon discarded never to be opened again when I acquired my first digital map. All my cache location and route planning is now on screen for uploading to PDA and can say that I am about 90% paperless.

 

So the simple question is, who still uses the OS paper maps and who uses Digital (Memory Map, Fugawi etc.)?

[+scanker]

I only have a cheap palm from Ebay and tried digital mapping on it by way of Fugawi, but it was too much like hard work on the small screen and it took too long whenever I synchronised the palm with the PC (for cachemate).

 

For the majority of caches I can cope with looking at the map on the online cache page (especially with the new Firefox functionality from Egdemaster) or if it looks tricky, I print an A4 1:25000 map from Fugawi to take with me.

[+Lost in Space]

iPaq, Bluetooth GPS receiver, Memory Map, GSAK, GpxSonar.

 

What's paper??

[+Stuey]

100% digital maps and have been since 2003. When we went to LA this year, I spent several hours/days/weeks(!) stitching together screen dumps of LA maps together so I could have digital maps out there too.

 

I still have a bundle of paper maps in one of the unopened boxes from when we moved house last year. Car boot sale or ebay may be where they go next.

[+macroderma]

I was surprised by the outcry to retain the OS coordinates as I have for some years become exclusively digital and therefore only rely on the WGS84 format.

I love the old paper OS and have many including the four local ones when I first started in this madness. But they were soon discarded never to be opened again when I acquired my first digital map. All my cache location and route planning is now on screen for uploading to PDA and can say that I am about 90% paperless.

 

So the simple question is, who still uses the OS paper maps and who uses Digital (Memory Map, Fugawi etc.)?

 

I use both

 

I use my PDA for cache listings downloaded via GSAK/Cachemate, but its a Clie so I can't use MM

 

I use MM to print off my maps - so is that digital ?

 

I think for multis an OS map is essential, and as you are calculating WGS84 positions on the fly I always need to orientate them on a proper map to plot positions and work out the route (although it is usually obvious).

 

On a number of occasions I have been thankful for a paper map and a compass, despite all my high tech gear

[+t.a.folk]

Paper for us .

 

Ordnance suryey maps and sometimes street map printouts as well from cache pages .

 

I print the cache details (minus logs) and give each cache sheet a number ,then pencil in the number at the relavant place on ordnance map to plan our route for the day .

 

By the time I've done that ,and prepared food for the day ,we don't usually get out much before noon .

 

Edited to add ....

And when doing multis always conveR each stage into brit grid either at home or in the field if next stage is unknown before doing preceeding stage .

Edited June 3, 2007 by t.a.folk

[+*mouse*]

It really depends where I am.

 

If I'm out in the wilds I like to carry a paper map and compass as a safety thing. I don't want to put all my trust in digital when I'm half way up a mountain.

 

If I'm not far from civilisation than the MM maps on my PDA are excellent and very convinient to carry. I only went paper free last week and so far it's been fantastic.

 

Before that, if I didn't own a map of an area and I wasn't going far of the beaten track, I used to pull up the map on MM and photograph the computer screen so I could view the map on the back of my digital camera while I was out - works a treat!

[+Simply Paul]

I do much the same as t.a.folks. If I don't have a paper map of the area, I might well print out a 1:50k map from Streetmap and use it for my plan of attack/tour of caches of the area/other points of interest.

 

However. I was out caching with Alibags the other day and was seriously impressed by her Pocket PC with memory map, tomtom and an external GPS unit. Seemed like a lot of practical technology for £100. Especially as paper maps are £6ish each and don't last that long in my hands!

[+Moote]

I still use paper mapping if I’m travelling off the beaten track, (fells, open moor etc) but I also carry my GPS and GPS enabled OS mapping at 1:25000 scale.

 

Now OSGB36 is great for a rough idea of location, but is not always fully accurate, all digital mapping, be it TomTom Garmin MapSource Fugawi or MemoryMap is calibrated to work with modern technology using WGS84 and not OSGB36. If you are relying on someone giving you an OSGB36 reference and the way they obtain it is via the old bottoms up method on the paper map, then you should find the location no trouble, but if they have acquired this via a GPSr, it could actually be out by up to 10%, due calculation errors of the GPSr attempting to make a complex curved earth into a flat paper coordinate. Therefore the 2 systems should never really be mixed, use OSGB36 for paper (never taking GPSr readings as true) and GPSr always in WGS84.

[+Teuchters]

It really depends where I am.

 

If I'm out in the wilds I like to carry a paper map and compass as a safety thing. I don't want to put all my trust in digital when I'm half way up a mountain.

 

If I'm not far from civilisation than the MM maps on my PDA are excellent and very convenient to carry.

 

I agree entirely.

[+The Flying Boots]

We use both.

 

Digital is Mapsource and Memory Map.

 

But I wouldn't be without my trusty paper maps. They're so much nicer to look at as you see the bigger picture rather than that from a tiny screen.

[+drsolly]

iPaq, Bluetooth GPS receiver, Memory Map, GSAK, GpxSonar.

 

What's paper??

 

There's two types, hard and soft. I'm not sure what you use the hard stuff for.

 

I use a Loox 720 (has a 640 by 480 screen, so gives me four times as much screen area as most other PDAs. Memory map only. Separate GPS unit, so that when Windows crashes, I don't have to wait for the GPS to reacquire.

 

I used to use GPXSonar, but then I decided Cachemate was better. but I stopped using Cachemate because there's no link between it and MM. So I wrote a thingy that means that when I double-click on a cache flag, it brings up the HTML page (loaded previously using a GPX file made from GSAK updated with pqs). And in that html file, I have a link that lets me click to the live cache page on the GC.COM web site, via gprs on a mobile (rarely needed, but handy when it is). Also, I colour-code the cache flags. Red for trad, green for multi, blue for puzzle. Flag reversed if it's a mico, flag upside down if the last log was a DNF. So it means I can answer "where shall we go next?" at a glance.

 

You can't do that with a non-digital map.

[+Orchards Finest]

Both

MM on laptop and PDA

Paper OS Explorer maps around our local area and the landranger series if on holiday.

Despite having MM on the PDA we always carry a paper map (and compass).

As has been said before planning a route is easier on a paper map than by looking at a 60x75mm screen.

[+stora]

Both.

 

I use digital maps all the time but if I'm out on the moors I will take a paper map ans compass just as a back up.

[+The Hornet]

iPaq, Bluetooth GPS receiver, Memory Map, GSAK, GpxSonar.

 

What's paper??

 

There's two types, hard and soft. I'm not sure what you use the hard stuff for.

You're obviously too young to remember the delights of Izal!

 

And to stay on topic - Digital

Edited June 3, 2007 by The Hornet

[+CrazyL200]

Digital - forgotten what paper maps look like.

 

Software: Memory Map, Mapsource, GSAK, Cachemate.

Hardware: Ipaq 5550, StreetPilot 2820, Etrex Vista C.

 

Oh, and the CacheTruck to get there.

[+wheelybarrow]

We still use OS maps - tried and tested method for us.

[polygoon]

We still cach 100% paper because we don't have a pda or something like that

[+Lost in Space]

 

You're obviously too young to remember the delights of Izal!

 

 

You could make an excellent, totally waterproof cache box out of that stuff......Could also be used as a paint roller......

[+SidAndBob]

Although Topo UK on the GPSr is usually quite adequate I like to take a map when I'm in the Brecon Beacon for instance, though I will generally print this from Memory Map. It gives a good overview of the whole days route as screens can be a bit small for this.

OS map occasionally in the back pack as back up, but it would have to be a major day out.

[+Moote]

I used to use GPXSonar, but then I decided Cachemate was better. but I stopped using Cachemate because there's no link between it and MM. So I wrote a thingy that means that when I double-click on a cache flag, it brings up the HTML page (loaded previously using a GPX file made from GSAK updated with pqs). And in that html file, I have a link that lets me click to the live cache page on the GC.COM web site, via gprs on a mobile (rarely needed, but handy when it is). Also, I colour-code the cache flags. Red for trad, green for multi, blue for puzzle. Flag reversed if it's a mico, flag upside down if the last log was a DNF. So it means I can answer "where shall we go next?" at a glance.

 

You can't do that with a non-digital map.

There is a way of linking MemoryMap icons to Cachemate and it's been available for over a year; use \cmate://GCXXXX in the csv export using Roolku's script, (I think Edgemaster also has a Macro for GSAK which could do this) details of Roolku script can be found Here.

 

Also Cachemate has online links built in, and I know that these work, as I have just used one. It also appear that what you using at present, is also available in a GSAK standard MemoryMap and HTML exports, and has been since I started paperless caching in 2005.

 

Sorry off topic but required correction.

Edited June 3, 2007 by Moote

[Edgemaster]

Personally, planning a cache hit would be on-screen, with all the markers.

However, due to a lack of a PDA, I will usually get a rough idea of where all the caches are located and have a good idea of the route I'll take.

Since I only use public transport/foot/bicycle, I will always take a 25k OS map out with me.

[+BikerKats]

Both

MM on laptop and PDA

Paper OS Explorer maps around our local area and the landranger series if on holiday.

Despite having MM on the PDA we always carry a paper map (and compass).

As has been said before planning a route is easier on a paper map than by looking at a 60x75mm screen.

 

Both, as above.

Technology (and batteries) has been known to fail occasionally so paper maps are a good back-up when using the PDA.

[+8paws4legs]

i wouldn't know where to start with just an o/s map so it's memory map and fugawi for me. i print the maps out though and take them with me. i ruined the only compass i had by leaving it near a strong magnetic source - it was never the same after that. therefore when out in the field i just have the GPSr to rely on. can't afford a PDA

[+Fifth Barrowcliffe]

Give me paper maps, I am obsesed with them, nothing beats looking at old and new maps, and seeing what has changed over time.

 

I used to use memory map ploting cache locations and then use the OS map to get there (Some times an old Inch to the mile!), but as I have changed to a Mac from a PC, I don't yet have any digtial maping software on it (does any one using a Mac in the UK have any recomendations?).

 

I rely on the OS maps and my Garmin Nuvi 360 (Except when it tries to take me down roads I know don't go) and my trust Etrex Yellow to find the cache.

Edited June 3, 2007 by Fifth Barrowcliffe

[+Team Sieni]

I use OS Explorer (1:25000) maps. (+Compass ... electronic compass in GPSr isn't up to snuff)

 

If I don't have a map of an area I print off a 1:50000 from Fugawi (runs on desktop) Sometimes with cache locations imported. But let's face it 1:50000 doesn't cut it.

 

Download cache locs to the GPSr so don't really care how they are represented. If I do type in from cache page then use WGS84, but thats the only time lat/lon concerns me

[The Red Kite]

Give me paper maps, I am obsesed with them, nothing beats looking at old and new maps, and seeing what has changed over time.

 

I totally agree. I love my paper maps.

 

Totally gadget free, except the Geko- and that includes a car

[+Mr'D]

I am probably 90% paper and 10% digital on the PDA. As I don't like taking my PDA in the field I usually end up printing off maps from MM and marking the intended caches. The PDA mapping has come in handy a few times however... when plotting coords for the final on a multi/mystery (especially when near a river!)

[+Happy Humphrey]

I have a drawer full of maps, and do enjoy looking through them occasionally.

 

But for a caching trip I wouldn't dream of using any paper at all: it's all electronic (oh, except for a notebook).

 

I suppose that I could use a paper map for...

 

 

...no, I can't think of any good reason for using them when geocaching!

Edited June 4, 2007 by Happy Humphrey

[+Father Jack]

digital

[+Master Mariner]

Always been digital apart from a notebook that I use for my scribblings. I must admit though I do derive pleasure from looking at paper maps and charts as they have a better "feel" to them.

[+minstrelcat]

Paper maps - I have a large pile of local OS maps in the car (mostly bought cheaply off eBay) or I use printouts from Fugawi for other areas. Being at uni I can also borrow OS maps for other areas from the library.

 

I tried using maps on the PDA but the screen was too small and it took too long to scroll to scroll to a new area. I also find it very hard to see a PDA screen when the sun is bright - it's bad enough trying to read a cache descritiption let alone try and spot some small detail on a map.

 

Lisa

Edited June 4, 2007 by minstrelcat

[Moss Trooper]

I use both, digital mapping is only as good as your batteries.

 

So if I'm out and about, especially in the wilds I always carry map and compass, but use Mio 550 with Memory map, cachemate and Garmin GPSmap 60csx.

 

There is a difference between knowing where you are on a map and map reading.

 

Moss T

Edited June 4, 2007 by Moss Trooper

[+2202]

 

There is a difference between knowing where you are on a map and map reading.

 

Moss T

 

Too true, too true.

 

And it does not matter whether its digital or paper.

Its an art that appears not to be taught in schools anymore and even from what I have seen, the DOE scheme does not seem to address it very well either.

[+Alboy]

I'm never out for long enough or far enough from any civilisation to worry about taking a paper map, but I know I prob should.

 

So 100% paperless for me.

[+pklong]

Paper as I don't have a PDA. Even if I did there is no way I would go too far off the beaten track without a paper map and compass as technology knows how to die when you most need it, half way up a mountain in the mist!

[+L8HNB]

Paper using the web page and a print off from Memory Map at present.

 

We're trying to go paperless but dont see much point in it for local caches. Having said that the so called "improvements" to the web page and endless non relevant cartoons etc. might send us down the digital route just to get rid of some of the dross...........

 

Don't forget some caches use both, GCZ2BK starts off with Northings and Westings then goes into OS refs derived from the clues!

 

Linda & Henry, L8HNB.

[+gazooks]

Mostly digital for me with MM on my Dell X30 with GPXview for the cache listings.

 

I do tend to take a paper copy of a multi cache (something to write on).

 

If I were to go into the 'wilds' then I would most likely take a compass and MM printout (just in case)

Edited June 4, 2007 by gazooks

[+Lost in Space]

 

There is a difference between knowing where you are on a map and map reading.

 

Moss T

 

Totally agree, I you don't know where you are, on a map, a compass is as much use, safety wise, as a chocolate fireguard.

[+Team Sieni]

Totally agree, I you don't know where you are, on a map, a compass is as much use, safety wise, as a chocolate fireguard.

Both the compass and the chocolate fireguard could be pretty useful. You could use the compass to determine your location relative to landmarks or natural features on the map, and then you could use the chocolate fireguard as a tasty snack.

 

If Ray Mears happens to pass by the he can show you how to make fire by rubbing your PDA and your GPSr together.

[+FollowMeChaps]

What was the original question? Oh yes, paper or digital maps.

 

Paper for maps, either the real McCoy if we have the area, or possibly a Streetmap print out if not and a map is required for the cache - in my experience not that many are. I can't afford the electronic maps plus Palm's are too small for my eyesight and often daylight illegible. I do use a PDA with TomTom to find the parking/access also for Cachemate listings, though again if I'm hitting an area I'll mostly cut and paste the important bits onto a Word doc and print on paper.

 

I've not yet tried a chocolate fireguard though it's now on my to do list!

[+Fifth Barrowcliffe]

Totally agree, I you don't know where you are, on a map, a compass is as much use, safety wise, as a chocolate fireguard.

Both the compass and the chocolate fireguard could be pretty useful. You could use the compass to determine your location relative to landmarks or natural features on the map, and then you could use the chocolate fireguard as a tasty snack.

 

If Ray Mears happens to pass by the he can show you how to make fire by rubbing your PDA and your GPSr together.

 

And if you do get stuck, and its cold, and have had the training from Ray Mears you can use the map to as kindling to start the fire, and then you would need the fire guard (Hot Chocolate anyone!)

 

Seriously, there is something wonderful about maps, especially old ones that someone has used before, and has marked or put annotations on them (So why did they go there?) Plus their batteries don't run out.

[+Family Hodge]

Family Hodge struggle to nav the net , so its paper for us, one day i will catch up or just continue enjoying my os maps, its a tactile thing.

[+The_Botherers]

Paper paper and more paper for us We actually really enjoy planning in the evening with OS map(s) spread out in front of us. All the caches get a circular sticker (easy to remove if wanted but stay put if not peeled off) and a number. The kids help with the plotting and learn quite a bit of geography. Just love it - print outs of caches we haven't had time to complete (we are always printing out lots and lots) are put into a filing system, ready for another day. OS maps can be ordererd from any local library so no cost involved there. The only downside is that caching can't be done spontanously. Small price to pay though for hours of fun

[+goldpot]

Neither for me I'm resisting anymore gadgets to carry as I like to hunt light, having said that I still lug around my eTrex, mobile, camera, spare batteries, bottle of water, wallet, keys, pens, TBs, double-barrel shotgun, geocoins and a scrap piece of paper with all the coords and hints written on it. However, I do study the OS maps on the computer before leaving, but I don't print them off because I have no ink! I was joking about the shotgun

Edited June 4, 2007 by goldpot

[+PopUpPirate]

I got tired of printing out reams and reams of A4, with a page or more for each listing, then a map, with X's on it, so I decided to go fully paperless. I think it worked for about a week, but then the PDA kept crashing, or didnt have enough charge, or summat else went wrong with it. So I've gone semipaperless, where I use all the lordelphs icons and everything, and do a printout from memorymap with the caches highlighted with all the magnificent iconery. Then I do a GSAK printout with the co-ords and hints and everything, giving 30 caches to a page. Works a treat and more than once I've had paperless caches asking to look at me printouts because their PDAs are playing up again. Windows Mobile just isnt up to it yet, in my opinion - give it a couple of years for the technology to progress and it'll be cracking, but paper will always have the benefit of not needing technology to work!

[+Lost in Space]

You could use the compass to determine your location relative to landmarks or natural features on the map...

 

..........and if you were in the middle of Dartmoor or, more scarily, in the Lake District, and a thick mist/fog came down..............?

[+FollowMeChaps]

You could use the compass to determine your location relative to landmarks or natural features on the map...

 

..........and if you were in the middle of Dartmoor or, more scarily, in the Lake District, and a thick mist/fog came down..............?

 

............map, compass, spatial knowledge and common sense, or you shouldn't be there in the first place!

[+t.a.folk]

You could use the compass to determine your location relative to landmarks or natural features on the map...

 

..........and if you were in the middle of Dartmoor or, more scarily, in the Lake District, and a thick mist/fog came down..............?

 

In my opinion one shouldn't venture out to places like the middle of Dartmoor if you don't know how to navigate yourself off in fog using map and compass .

Have done it myself several times pre G.P.S.days .

[+maxkim]

Max 100% digital, Kim 95% paper, When together we tend to go the digipaper route