# Free maps, been stupifyed by your GPS?



## sailaway (Mar 12, 2009)

I just finnished 2 weeks on the road and covered close to 5,000 miles. I went through half the states east of the Mississippi. I have a gps which I rely on like a crutch. I started thinking about the big case of maps that I carried pre gps. They are all 5 yrs. old. I got to be thinking what if the satalite system went down, I would be in bad shape. I always carry a back up truckers atlas, but even it is an 05 edition. I started stopping in each welcome center as I entered a new state and picked up one of their state maps up for free. I think it is a good idea to have an assortment of current maps as back up for a BO situation. Has anyone else been stupifyed like me?


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## mdprepper (Jan 22, 2010)

I usually use mapquest or randmcnally online for directions. I do not have a GPS. I always try to have current maps of where I am going. I stop at the welcome centers for mine too. I guess I am a little old fashioned in that I prefer to use a paper map. I can understand those. GPS, too much technology for this old girl!


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## UncleJoe (Jan 11, 2009)

With all the traveling you do in the east, I would think by now you should know "east of the Mississippi" as well as Sandusky.


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## ZoomZoom (Dec 18, 2009)

I don't have a GPS and rely on paper as well. Mrs. Zoom has a GPS and when we're traveling, I tell her she can play with it all she wants but I'd better not see the screen nor hear it talk. I don't trust them as far as I can spit. Had them give me too many directions I knew were wrong. Most just then say "Well, it'll get you there eventually". BTW, did you notice how much they're strapped down in rental cars? No matter how hard you try to rip it out to throw out the window, it just won't budge.


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## The_Blob (Dec 24, 2008)

I think I use my GPS more like an I-pod... I've put 20GB of muzak on it 

does anyone buy those County/City Map books? They have individual cities mapped out in detail. I have about 10 of those for the counties I drive in the most.

You can request a map from most states & get a free map sent to you, well, you used to be able to, who knows  that money could be going to teach Apefricans how to wash their junk for all I know... :nuts:


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## NaeKid (Oct 17, 2008)

I have a GPS embedded in my head. So far, it has never steer'd me wrong. :2thumb:

Actually, I have memorized hundreds of maps and I know my north from south just from looking at the sky (day or night). Compass - ya, I can work with that too, but, it usually stays put away. I don't wear a watch, so, I "guess" time by sun position and time of year. I have a 90% accuracy for I am within 15 minutes of actual time which I think is pretty darn good for lookin' at shadows.

Now, I do have a GPS and WildMist has one, but, like bczoom, if the GPS is turned on, it is positioned so that WildMist can see it and the sound is killed because I know the roads way better than what the GPS does ... one particular case of travelling, it wanted me to drive through downtown Calgary with a trailer attached during Friday afternoon rush-hour!! :gaah: I back-roaded the trip and probably got to the destination two hours faster than tryin' to jockey my way through the core :nuts:


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## ZoomZoom (Dec 18, 2009)

NaeKid said:


> I don't wear a watch, so, I "guess" time by sun position and time of year. I have a 90% accuracy for I am within 15 minutes of actual time which I think is pretty darn good for lookin' at shadows.


Are you familiar with the way to do that using your outstretched arm and counting fingers?

Extend your arm fully out in front of you and point your fingers inward.

Position the bottom of your pinky on the horizon. In the pic below, I used the grass but if I wanted to get sunset based on when it would set behind the trees, I would have put the bottom of my hand on the top of the trees.

For most people, you use the knuckle where the red line is for measurement.

Each finger is 15 minutes. Keeping this hand still, you stack your other hand on this one and keep going stacking your hands up the sky until you reach the bottom of the sun. Each full hand is 1 hour and each finger is 15 minutes.

If you know what time sunset is, you can compute current time. If you don't know, at least you know how many hours you have left before the sun sets...


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## NaeKid (Oct 17, 2008)

bczoom said:


> Are you familiar with the way to do that using your outstretched arm and counting fingers?


Noppers .. haven't ever heard of that system before. I have a real good internal clock that I can use to "time" the cooking of food, or to judge how long something has been happening and combining that with my judgement of time based on the sun, my guesstimates are close enough for most people.

I've been tested many times where someone asks what time it was, I'll respond quickly with my guess'd time and someone will pull out their phone or look at their watch and tell me that I was off by xx amount of minutes .. and most of the time it is within 15 minutes of "actual" time ... WildMist hasn't figured out how I can be "on time" for anything when she has never seen me with a time-keeper on me ...


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## ZoomZoom (Dec 18, 2009)

NaeKid said:


> Noppers .. haven't ever heard of that system before. I have a real good internal clock that I can use to "time" the cooking of food


You can use my technique for timing food. Just start counting hands above the stove, until it reaches where the sun would be. 

I believe it's an old Norwegian technique. I learned it in Scouts when I was a pup. I'll teach it to my Scouts this year.


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## The_Blob (Dec 24, 2008)

bczoom said:


> You can use my technique for timing food. Just start counting hands above the stove, until it reaches where the sun would be.
> 
> I believe it's an old Norwegian technique. I learned it in Scouts when I was a pup. I'll teach it to my Scouts this year.


good for you, glad to see Scouts are learning REAL skills somewhere... around here, it's a bunch of PC bullcrap


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## backlash (Nov 11, 2008)

I just rented a car on the Big Island of Hawaii.
Budget tried to get me to rent a GPS for $79.
There's only 2 major roads on the whole island. 
If the ocean is on the left you're going clockwise on the right counterclockwise.


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## HarleyRider (Mar 1, 2010)

They try that on me. My cellphone has a built-in GPS feature. They don't like that... they say their GPS is better. I got the funniest look from them when I told them we both use the same satellite and therefore get the same signal.


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## ZoomZoom (Dec 18, 2009)

That's where I was (Hawaii) when I tried to rip the GPS out of the car. I was in Honolulu and it tried to put me going the wrong direction on the interstate. BTW... Why does Hawaii have an "Interstate" road system?


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## NaeKid (Oct 17, 2008)

bczoom said:


> BTW... Why does Hawaii have an "Interstate" road system?


The road goes to a ferry to bring people back to the mainland??

:dunno: :dunno: :dunno:


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## HozayBuck (Jan 27, 2010)

*Me and my GPS*

I do use it, and with only one exception it seems to do ok...BUT..and please "LADIES" forgive me but if I ever get my hands on the BITC er female thing! that they used to yell "RE-CALCULATING" ever time I pull over for coffee or.........  I will shoot her!!!

If you cover many states and are ready to bug out regardless of where you are you might want a collection of those "State Atlas" type books, the ones that break the entire state down to a grid and show every tiny goat path.. you can head thru some back country on those roads... I have checked their accuracy in areas I know and they do seem to be pretty well on the mark.. might save your buns!!

And I agree, having a bunch of "current ?" maps is like having a Jack and lug wrench... handy tools..


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## backlash (Nov 11, 2008)

bczoom said:


> That's where I was (Hawaii) when I tried to rip the GPS out of the car. I was in Honolulu and it tried to put me going the wrong direction on the interstate. BTW... Why does Hawaii have an "Interstate" road system?


Had to look it up but here it is.
Any highway built under the auspices of the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956 and funded by the federal government is called an interstate highway, even if it doesn't cross state lines. In fact, there are many local routes that lie entirely within a single state funded by the Act.

Hawaii has three interstates - H1, H2, and H3 - which connect important military facilities on the island of Oahu.

I knew it had to do with the way it was paid for.

Ferry to the mainland? That would be one long ride.


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## ZoomZoom (Dec 18, 2009)

HozayBuck said:


> I do use it, and with only one exception it seems to do ok...BUT..and please "LADIES" forgive me but if I ever get my hands on the BITC er female thing! that they used to yell "RE-CALCULATING" ever time I pull over for coffee or.........  I will shoot her!!!


I don't know what kind of GPS you have but on Mrs. Zoom's Garmin, you can change the voice. She has it as some English Pirate guy. She also changed her marker (or whatever it is that shows your current position) into a pirate ship.
He does still says "Calculating"...


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## HozayBuck (Jan 27, 2010)

bczoom said:


> I don't know what kind of GPS you have but on Mrs. Zoom's Garmin, you can change the voice. She has it as some English Pirate guy. She also changed her marker (or whatever it is that shows your current position) into a pirate ship.
> He does still says "Calculating"...


I have a Garmin, but I hate that broad so much I stay awake yelling at her when I get tired... I think I'll keep her...:scratch


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## ZoomZoom (Dec 18, 2009)

Ahhh, a true love-hate relationship.


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## bassman (Jan 3, 2009)

I learned this method(called fat finger) years ago in a little book called The Green Beret's Compass Course by Pathfinder Publications 150 Hamakua Rd./Suite401 Kailua, Hawaii 96734
A great little book, I recommend to anyone!
Technology is great but it has it's limitations! We should all know how to navigate without it!


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## Bigdog57 (Oct 9, 2008)

My little Magellan eXplorist 200 is rock stupid and simple, with no annoying voice. Basic highway map (now about six years out of date), no data up or download, no vehicle power (gotta carry spare AA's) and a simple gray-scale display.
I use it more as a glorified 'roadmap', on the handlebar of my bike - it lets me see much quicker if I get turned around on the State Highways. It has been bounced off the road a couple times, keeps on ticking! Been through hard rain and even hail storms - never a hiccup.
No, it won't navigate me to the local Starbucks or motel, and it doesn't care if I get off track. It once showed me blasing a trail through the center of a large lake...... 

But I like it. I may upgrade to it's big brother, the eXplorist 400 - color display and up load/download ability. It's all I need. I still use compass and plasticized paper maps too. :2thumb:

My buddy has the Zumo with the ditzy broad inside - he calls her "Jeepus". Jeepus gets mifffed when Bob decides to go a different way than she wants......
I can hear her sigh in resignation by the third time she says, "Recalculating..." 
I call her "The Nagigator".


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## NaeKid (Oct 17, 2008)

I have the eXplorist as well (model 400) with a RamMount hardmounted in each of my vehicles. I use it more as a "speedometer" and as a "altimeter" than anything else, and, I also have a 12-volt to USB converter allowing me to run the GPS off of Jeep Power ... 

If I take it out of the Jeep, it has its own built-in battery to allow me to use it as an odometer when going for a hike, speedometer to find out how fast I walk, use it to "track-back" to where I parked ... or just use it as a paper-weight ...


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## TheShortBlonde (Feb 24, 2010)

*One thing I like about a GPS*

I do like that the GPS (Jill) can find us a restaurant, mini-mart, theater, etc, on the fly. Granted, sometimes her suggestions are outdated, but it's often helpful. My phone plan doesn't include fancy GPS options. On the expensive novelty toy side, my kids like to know what our coordinates are and to switch it between english and metric measurement and change it to different languages (recalculando). Also, my husband and I have a contest, where we take it off the stand and shake it as fast as we can to see how it registers as MPH.


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## bountyhunter26 (Feb 2, 2010)

*maps*

If you live in rural counties like I do in Ga roads change often. For the counties and towns that I drive most in I always go to the Chamber Of Commerce and get the latest and greatest updated "BLUE" maps. That because they are blue in color at least most of them are. I have one for my area that has been modified for the shortest and quickest route to my BOL. Also it has places of interest if SHTF. Every intersection is marked for likely roadblocks and bottlenecks. That one I keep secure then I keep a generic one just for perview if needed.


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## bunkerbob (Sep 29, 2009)

I have a GPS in all of my vehilcles, Garmin and Magellen, and one handheld with loadable topo maps for crosscountry travel.
This upcoming backpack trip will be sans GPS for me, map and compass, stars at night, that's the way I learned how to navagate and find my way. I'm sure my boys will bring their latest GPS marvels with 3D and all the bells and whistles, maybe I should liberate them while they aren't paying attention and hide them, see what they do then.


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## pdx210 (Jan 8, 2010)

my experience with GPS units is that they all eventually are wrong and send you one down a dead end road

GPS Strands Nevada Couple in Snow for 3 Days - ABC News


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## bassman (Jan 3, 2009)

And then there's the story of the woman who was following a gps course on her cell phone and walked onto a highway, I don't recall the whole story or the outcome but what it boils down to it this. You DO need some sort of "BRAIN FUNCTION" to operate one of these units safetly and efficiently! They WILL NOT think for you!
I had my batteries die on mine out on a hike and didn't take a compass reading going in but was still able to make it out somewhere near my truck by looking at the lay of the land and observing where I was! Lesson learned!
Even getting directions on Mapquest I sometimes don't like the route it gives me and I change it to my liking. Print it out and go!


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## big rick (Oct 10, 2008)

HozayBuck said:


> If you cover many states and are ready to bug out regardless of where you are you might want a collection of those "State Atlas" type books, the ones that break the entire state down to a grid and show every tiny goat path.. you can head thru some back country on those roads... I have checked their accuracy in areas I know and they do seem to be pretty well on the mark.. might save your buns!!


Gazetteers...they're awesome.

Atlas & Gazetteers, by State - DeLorme

We always used to use them to plan hiking/camping trips...the topo lines are clutch in those situations.


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## James30154 (Aug 10, 2010)

GPS is great for getting from Point A to Point B. However, don't turn your brain off -compare the GPS to the road and landmarks shown. A current road atlas allows for seeing he big picture and alternative routes. Sadly not enough people try to read road maps.


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## sailaway (Mar 12, 2009)

We went over state road map with the scouts at our navigation camporee. They seemed to learn alot about a very practicle skill.


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## tommu56 (Sep 19, 2010)

When I went to philmont as a leader all the training in the 2 years before we went we had a lot of the "boys" labeled navaguesser's by the time we went they weren't guessing any more.
We very rarely corrected them on those training hikes they learned a lot by their mistakes.

tom


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## backlash (Nov 11, 2008)

Just for fun I used my iPhone as a GPS last weekend.
It took me the long way and got me lost twice.
Finally turned it off and just drove to where i was going.
Should have used a map.
At least my brother got a laugh out of it.


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## oraltool (Feb 19, 2009)

This has been taught by the Boy Scouts for 100 years now. You ought to pick up a BSA handbook for great info like this. The information is easy enough for a 
12 year old to comprehend and use. THIS is good stuff. I have been in scouting for a few decades and use this type of scout craft all the time.


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## efbjr (Oct 20, 2008)

*Good buy...*



sailaway said:


> I think it is a good idea to have an assortment of current maps as back up for a BO situation.


Get the DeLorme road map book for the area(s) you are interested in traveling. They incorporate topographic features which will e extremely useful if it is necessary to go off the beaten track, or off-road, if necessary. The AAA will give you free maps of just about everywhere if you are a member. They also sell discounted road atlases that are very good.


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## efbjr (Oct 20, 2008)

*Tin foil hat time?...*



NaeKid said:


> I use it more as a "speedometer" ...


Time: Near future....

Where: Any highway...any state...any country...

Scenario: Big Brother's highway monitoring HQ...

"We are tracking NaeKid's GPS with the secretly installed enhanced 2-way feedback circuitry. The GPS unit reports that his vehicle is traveling above the posted speed limit. A citation with appropriate fine will be sent to the miscreant. If not paid within 10 days of receipt, his vehicle will be confiscated, his paycheck will be garnished and his bank accounts will be frozen."


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## GatorDude (Apr 23, 2009)

In Atlanta, GPS stands for Gosh Please Steal. The GS mounts attracted thieves and vandals like new shoes attract dog poo. One night some of the locals came through and busted the windows of 20 cars in our complex. They hit people who were dumb enough to leave GPS mounts, CD players, or cellphones visible in their cars. Fortunately, we drove a Chevy Crapolier at the time and. were deemed to have nothing of value.


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## The_Blob (Dec 24, 2008)

GatorDude said:


> In Atlanta, GPS stands for Gosh Please Steal. The GS mounts attracted thieves and vandals like new shoes attract dog poo. One night some of the locals came through and busted the windows of 20 cars in our complex. They hit people who were dumb enough to leave GPS mounts, CD players, or cellphones visible in their cars. Fortunately, we drove a Chevy Crapolier at the time and. were deemed to have nothing of value.


I never quite got the mentality of people that would place all their gadgets (GPS, HD radio receiver, cellphone) in the "glove box" yet leave all the mounts right where they were...


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## BillM (Dec 29, 2010)

*Don't forget*



The_Blob said:


> I never quite got the mentality of people that would place all their gadgets (GPS, HD radio receiver, cellphone) in the "glove box" yet leave all the mounts right where they were...


Don't forget the round circle the suction cup leaves on the windshield.

It says to a thief, "I have a GPS here somewhere, you just have to break in and look "!

:gaah:


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## ryeder (Apr 15, 2011)

Ignorance is fixable, stupidity is not....


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## GoldenBoys (Oct 8, 2010)

Besides a GPS, I also carry the free maps of every state I travel in, plus the DeLorme Gazateers, plus my state puts out a big atlas with a page for each county that shows all roads, right down to the gravels and dirt roads. I also carry a couple of different compass'.


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## BillM (Dec 29, 2010)

*Grandad*



NaeKid said:


> Noppers .. haven't ever heard of that system before. I have a real good internal clock that I can use to "time" the cooking of food, or to judge how long something has been happening and combining that with my judgement of time based on the sun, my guesstimates are close enough for most people.
> 
> I've been tested many times where someone asks what time it was, I'll respond quickly with my guess'd time and someone will pull out their phone or look at their watch and tell me that I was off by xx amount of minutes .. and most of the time it is within 15 minutes of "actual" time ... WildMist hasn't figured out how I can be "on time" for anything when she has never seen me with a time-keeper on me ...


Granddad tells a story about an old man he worked for when he was about sixteen.

He said the old man hired him and another kid to help him fence in a farm. The deal involved a small amount of money but paid room and board which included meals, ( a good deal during the depression).

This farm was way out in the country and there was no radio , or electricity available.

Late in the morning the other hired hand would get hungry and start asking the old man what time it was and how long to lunch time.

The old man would stop what he was doing and remove his gloves , retrieve his pocket watch and tell him the time.

One day in paticular, this got real repetitive , (about ever fifteen miniuts ).

The third time this kid asked the old man the time, the old man glanced at the sun and said about ten twenty five and kept right on working.

About ten miniuts later the kid asked again and the old man glanced at the sun and said it's ten thirty five.

Frusterated, the kid asked , "is that Railroad time or Sun time?"

The old man replied , " Son just take your pick, you are about as close to one as the other !"


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## Clarice (Aug 19, 2010)

I sometimes wonder if all these electronic gadgets rob us of brain cells. In an emergency when maybe the electric and satelites are down, are we going to be able to function?? I see this with my grandchildren, who are allowed to use calculators in school, they have a difficult time doing math without one. Maybe we should retrain ourselves.


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## ArfinGreebly (Oct 13, 2008)

*DeLorme Gear*

I have a Garmin on the dash (beanbag mount). It's fine for most normal driving.

When I "hit the road," however, I also have a laptop (or notebook or netbook) with Delorme's Street Atlas and/or DeLorme's TopoUSA installed, along with their USB GPS receiver (I have both an LT20 and an LT40) as a backup system. (I also have their Gazaeteers for the region in quesiton.)

DeLorme has a number of advantages to offset the "not terribly compact" thing. For one thing, if you know you're going into an unfamiliar area and you want some hard copy, you can print out as detailed a paper map set as you want. I navigated like that (without GPS) for years. DeLorme also has your elevation as part of its display when you hook up the GPS puck. Yes, it also talks, if you want it to.

Sometimes there is just no substitute for a 12-inch display when you're trying to get oriented. DeLorme also has much more detailed databases of points of interest than your typical handheld GPS.

And finally, if the GPS constellation goes down, the DeLorme maps do not depend on satellites for their usefulness. I used their maps for years without the GPS gizmo, hard copies as needed, but often just flipping open the screen and reviewing the display was enough to keep me going for a few hours on the road.

I also have an older smart phone (Treo 755) that has Google Maps, but no GPS feature. I've managed to make that work for navigating, too.

But, no matter how sophisticated the gadgets get, I will be keeping an updated DeLorme system (and Gazeteers) as well.


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