GPS for walking...

[NickFitz]

You get what you pay for. What about this, The UK on OS maps

Satmap: Way Ahead - Meet The Experts

I've got one of those, together with the complete OS 1:50K - it's a good bit of kit, and very rugged. I'd recommend the rechargeable Lithium power pack.

EDIT: in addition to the standard range of 1:25K OS maps, they also offer a service that lets you have one made centred on your chosen point - handy if you're going to amble around near somewhere that lies on the junction of four of the standard maps.

[bogeyman]

I need some advice - I want to buy a GPS not on a mobile but a proper one for walking. I want to use the OS maps, a bit rugged and waterproof. Needs to have a good screen.


Any ideas?


Ta Muchly.

Tone

Don't want to sound like a luddite, but is it really necessary if you're only walking in the UK? Presume you are as you specify OS maps.

I've walked around large areas of the UK, in all weathers, for years using just an OS map and a basic Silva compass.

I recommend a copy of the MOD's Manual of Map Reading and Land Navigation, (1988) formerly available from HMSO - until HMSO was abolished (it can still be found in specialist bookshops). There are many other basic guides still available.

In the hills, I'd rather put my trust in a basic map and compass than in some bit of kit that could get wet, squashed, fail from lack of batteries. I use them of course, but if they fail I can still find my way out.

[doodab]

A GPS is handy but I would always have a paper map & compass as a backup if I was going anywhere that the GPS failing might be a problem i.e. up a real mountain or out at sea.

I have some digital OS maps from here but I don't use them with a GPS.

Most GPS units allow you to plot routes in the OS map on a PC and upload it to the GPS but you aren't necessarily going to have the actual OS map on the screen of the device, if you want a proper map with contour lines, or OS maps for the device if they are available, you may need to pay extra. For example, these are the garmins that support OS maps and the maps aren't cheap

[Troll]

I've walked around large areas of the UK, in all weathers, for years using just an OS map and a basic Silva compass.

They taught us basic map reading in Geography at skool do they still do that?

[EternalOptimist]

They taught us basic map reading in Geography at skool do they still do that?

I really hope so. That was my favourite lesson that was, and as an added bonus, the teacher was into astronomy in a big way, so we learned a lot about that as well.

[xoggoth]

Just using map and compass is fine if you always stick to paths on the map and/or are in terrain where you can see anything at all but trees. Not much good if you run miles through dank drippy woods. Deer tracks aren't marked on maps.

Incidentally, I find these are best online maps for footpaths, use 1:50000 zoom:

http://www.streetmap.co.uk

[TimberWolf]

I carry a little compass that I got from a Christmas cracker when I go travelling, and am often lacking in the map department. I've always got where I wanted to go though, if not as efficiently as I might have done with a map. I also often navigate using the sun, but that's less precise. I've often wondered how high that flipping hill I just walked up was though, which is hard to estimate, which a GPS might tell me.

Aren't the O/S maps available for download now, at least at low precision? Too big to fit on my iPod as anything but many small useless images anyway.

[EternalOptimist]

Just using map and compass is fine if you always stick to paths on the map and/or are in terrain where you can see anything at all but trees. Not much good if you run miles through dank drippy woods. Deer tracks aren't marked on maps.

Incidentally, I find these are best online maps for footpaths, use 1:50000 zoom:

Streetmap - Maps and directions for the whole of Great Britain

thats not strictly true. (It's mostly true).
Orienteers manage ok in most terrain, I suppose it depends how serious you want to get

[Ignis Fatuus]

thats not strictly true. (It's mostly true).
Orienteers manage ok in most terrain, I suppose it depends how serious you want to get

As a general rule, if you are serious about something, you won't be getting your information here.

Doubly so if your life might depend on it.

[VectraMan]

BTW these things secretly keep a log of where you've been, which is handy for the police if they arrest you. If you're up to no good you might want to think about using a paper map and compass instead.

Not that anyone here would be up to no good.