My backcountry battery fail turned me into a map purist

I was all about using my phone for routes until it died miles from camp, so now I carry a compass and paper, but I'm torn on which is truly better for most hikers.

3 comments

3 Comments

wren_smith401d ago

Oof, that sounds rough. What's the hardest part about using the paper maps now, compared to the phone?

emery7361d ago

Ugh, just trying to fold the thing back up, @wren_smith40. You finally get it unfolded and then it's a battle you can't win. The real kicker is that paper ones are always out of date, so you follow a route right into some new road construction or a one-way street.

nancythomas1h ago

Actually, paper maps aren't always out of date if you bother to buy the new edition every few years. The real headache is that even a fresh map can't tell you about the accident blocking the highway right now. You just sit there in dead traffic with your perfect, silent map. My phone would have rerouted me ten minutes ago.