Which is better: GPS, Map and Compass or Phone App
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- Опубликовано: 10 фев 2024
- Which is best when you go out walking a Map and compass, a GPS or a mobile phone app? This is a very common question and in this video I can only give my personal opinion, which some people may disagree with. I would say there is no best or worst, but rather it all comes down to what is the most appropriate at the time. In some cases a map and compass is best and assuming that your batteries are fine, at other times a GPS would be a good idea and depending on where you are a phone app may be ideal.
If you are competent with a Map and Compass there are hardly any circumstances when you’ll need to use a GPS, but I would suggest carrying one, as they do sometimes make relocation much faster and simpler - but you shouldn’t rely on them all the time.
In town or when following roads a mobile phone app, such as Google Maps, MapQuest, HereWeGo, etc. would be ideal.
I never tell anyone what they should go out and buy or use, so remember this is only my personal opinion, but if you’re comparing Map vs GPS vs App I hope you find it interesting and at least giving you a starting point.
Another great video, thank you. I've used a hiking app for years on my phone it uses Open Street Maps not Google and is very detailed. I've never got lost with it or lost GPS signal but I do carry map and compass as backup which is the main reason I watch your channel to keep those skills up to date.
I recall when they first lifted the errors built into the satellites. You went from over 100 meter error, down to 5. It was amazing!!!!
For navigating in my truck, GPS is king due to the real time instructions. When backpacking and hiking, using a map and compass makes me much more aware of where I am and my surroundings. I have had to help people lost on a trail who were using a phone app and had no idea where they were or what direction they were going in. Given I have a terrible sense of direction, knowing how to use a map and compass has given me a lot of confidence.
This was a great discussion! Thank you for making it. For me, maps and compass works better than GPS and phone apps. It's all about scale. With a good topo maps you can "see" 4+ miles. GPS and apps tell you what direction you need to go but you don't find out about the chasm or rapids or steep terrain until you are close (personal experience gained on a 5 mile hike that turned into 13 miles). Also, you are screwed if you are in a deep narrow valley and can't get a phone signal or a satellite bearing. Just saying....
In my personal experience, having come up in the military using a map encompass the GPS is even more appreciated. Once you learn those basics and it’s always good to have the basics since electronics fail. I would only rely on the phone in the city with a good cell signal.
@@stephencollishaw4969 It’s a perishable skill 😊
Nice video, one thing I would say, you can have an app with a topographic map on your phone and you can still use it as a map without using or relying on the GPS signal. This has the advantage that you can often zoom in to a much larger scale than a paper map, which can be very useful. You can also switch to satellite view, which can allow you to see features which aren't shown on maps. They also have the advantage that you can download an entire country and carry it with you all the time, so say you are driving and you stop by the side of the road and you want to walk up a hill you see, you have the map right there with you.
Having said all that, I personally carry a paper map, because I like getting away from technology.
GPS signal can be blocked, in white out conditions, cloud night , heavey rain map and compass are more problematic.
Wayne, #7 is the real deal. I want to take a moment and thank you for all of your time making these videos and sharing your vast amount of knowledge with me and others. Of late, I seem to watching for the history lessons (Waffling) and any other bits I might pick up. In return I would like to share some of my GPS experience with you although I'm pretty sure this will just be a refresher. On your Garmin 66S, make sure under the SETUP icon, in SYSTEM you select GPS + GLONASS or GPS + Galileo. While your on that page make sure you have WAAS/EGNOS on. While you're in SETUP, verify on the POSITION FORMAT icon you have the proper MAP DATUM and MAP SPHEROID selected. In my travels if these are set correctly you will achieve better accuracy from your 66S.
I've been using a phone topo app to verify myself while learning map and compass navigation. It's been very helpful in building confidence and figuring out what I'm doing wrong in some situations. Thanks for all the helpful videos.
In the early days of GPS I used it as a secondary navigation aid in aviation. Twice it went down! Once was equipment fault, the second was during the Gulf War, and the military apparently degraded the signal. Luckily we used paper and other aids as our primary source. Be aware of who controls the various GPS systems and why. Having said that, I am a big fan of the OS App, but carry paper and compass. Great videos, and I always enjoy the ‘waffle’, and together with your humour, a presentation style that AI would not be able to replicate!
actually during the gulf war the US temporarily turned off selective availability (SA), so any civilian GPS receiver that was used was short term greatly improved in terms of accuracy...
This is such a great channel for anybody wandering around the countryside. Easy to understand with a common sense approach.. Brilliant
When I am in Europe (or major US city) I always have a compass in my pocket. When coming up from the underground or exiting a bus in an unfamiliar city, having noted the direction from my lodging to where we are heading, it's great to orient myself by checking the compass. We usually have a tablet and may or may not have a phone but always a compass. It's a quick we to find that you are heading off in the right direction.
I’ll only add that you can download Google maps for offline use. The GPS in your phone works perfectly fine without cell signal.
Paper and a GPs they compliment one another.
I think one of the advantages to dedicated gps map systems is the ability to set way points and route markings. You can do this on a paper map, but then you have marks and lines all over your map.
Your comments are all good and up to dat. I’m an old guy but not grumpy. Although, if my party gets lost on a backpacking trip I can get grumpy! I was introduced to orienteering with a map and compass when I was 12 years old and have relied on those skills ever since. When I took up recreational boating the compass and chart for coastal navigation and DR plotting was stressed since Loran was iffy and GPS was commercial or military only. So my preference is compass and a map when taking a hike in the woods. Navigation for any purpose and by different means is essential.
Love your videos and I don't mind your waffles 😃.
I am in Australia and do hunt and hike but more Hiking lately.
My main navigation tools are a baseplate compass and the local topo map. My back up is my old trusty Garmin 64s GPS which I use to sometimes confirm my location when dense terrain is present. My iphone has an app but I never use it.
I find that with using map and compass, my spatial awareness is much much better than using an electronic device.
So, for me and this is personal, I have the GPS as a backup and it is my insurance!
Your videos are fantastic. Thanks to you, I used a map and compass for the first time and didn't get lost. I'd definitely pick number 7.
Great video! Obviously, the more skill you have in navigation in general the more confidence you have in map and compass. Also, you have those awesome topo maps in the UK!
Sea Kayaker here. Away from shore in fog a GPS (Hand Held GPS Chart Plotter) is a wonderful piece of kit. I always take spare batteries just in case. A machine is devious enough to lose power at a critical moment.
Thanks, always enjoy your videos, including the waffle! On the Lake District fells, I primarily use the OS Maps app on my phone with the maps downloaded for offline use, which shows me where I am and which direction I'm facing, and can be zoomed, but I carry the physical OS OL map and a compass as a backup in case the phone packs up.
Another great, as usual, video. Thanks for the upload.
I've never used a GPS, I use map and compass plus on multi Day hikes I use outdoor active app as a backup so family can track me. Great videos by the way 👍
Excellent presentation. Thank you. I almost always have all four (4). I actually compare them when I am hiking to as a double/triple check. I generally prefer paper maps but having the others as a checksum has been very helpful.
I hunt and Tramp a lot in New Zealands State Forrest, National Parks and Alpine Areas and soley use my Garmin Rino GPS for Navigation in areas Im not familiar with, however I always carry a topographical Map and Compass in case of GPS failure.
Some areas I am so familiar with I can navigate as well as I can in my own back yard but still carry my GPS, Map and Compas just in case.
Very interesting 😂 I have been following your website for several months...its both very informative and entertaining. I'll add abit more another time. I would say, I have been using a map and compas for quite a while.
At 67 I suppose I qualify as a grumpy old man (though I don't feel grumpy!). The quality of GPS also depends on space weather conditions that most people don't even know about. Solar storms and flares can interfere with GPS. I was in a presentation by Dr. Tamitha Skov (Space Weather Woman on RUclips) and she gave the scenario of a delivery drone when GPS was iffy. She asked us "do you want a 400 lb. drone swinging back and forth between two points when GPS is giving it conflicting signals? It also depends on where you are in the world as to whether GPS is reliable or not. I'm told that in South America near the equator that GPS is not reliable.
I never hike without my Garmin InReach as I'm old and slow and hike solo, but I also always have a topo map and compass. I rarely need them, but would not be without them.
Another good video. I enjoyed it. Thanks
Unless I am navigating a mine field, 50 meters is good enough, I mostly can see what matters around me. With map and compass I will in a blink of an eye misread my position, confuse one river bend with another, one path with the next and so on.
I use GPS but never leave home for the mountains without map and compass. Tend to use both. Both have benefits and I find they can complement each other. Another great video. Thanks
One of the advantages of GPS on phones is that virtually anyone can use them, but a map and compass takes quite a lot of effort, training and practice to become an expert.
Four points:
1) When you were ca. 50m from that stream and both the GPS and phone were positioning you "wrong", i'm not sure you were being fair. It could just have been a matter of map scale and symbol size. I think if you zoomed in on both displays you might have found actually yourself displayed ca. 50m from the stream.
2) On the other hand, the digital topo maps might have been in error. In my experience (in Canada) digital topo maps are very inaccurate regarding the correct course of streams and paths/trails, especially under forest cover. So, _your_ position could be correct but the stream's alignment could be wrong. (Maybe not in the UK where topo maps are so good.)
3) Despite what you say about 50m error being problematic, if i don't know where i am, in the vast majority of cases, i'd be more than happy with an 'error' of 50m. It's not like i'm using the navigator for every step i take.
4) If you are just using 1:50K topo map and compass, you're never going to get any better than 50m anyway. 50m on the ground is 1mm on the map. How often can you position yourself better than 1mm on a topo map, in the absence of sharp man-made objects?
PS: Love your videos. I started out in the scouts and high school geography loving maps and hiking. Went on to study, practice and teach surveying and cartography.
Great video, Cheers!
All three. Pinch zoom the phone as the dot at that scale probably covered 100 meters. The Garmin unit can zoom in as well and in very accurate in good conditions when locked on to numerous satellites (3 meters). But during daylight hours and good reference points, map and compass is the most accurate when atmospheric condition interrupt GPS signals like those you described in the video. Any good outdoors-mans has all three with them in the bush.
Just discovered the channel and it's fantastic. Subscribed as well. Keep it up.
Put satellite image image on google maps, get good image of where you are. All recent phones have built in app compass that gives gps coordinates.. one can download maps of areas to work off line. If one zoom in your location should be less than 12m
What a neat niche channel!!
If you want to try the phone and digital mapping I would recommend the Memory Map app with 1:25000 map. Making sure to download the map beforehand of course. But I always take a paper map as well. And having watched the channel a basic compass as well.
Google Maps can be useful on certain trails, with some conditions. Save a map to your device and use GPS to follow it, even without mobile signal. I've used it in Great Smoky Mountains National Park in the US and it was good even in rain and heavy canopy.
Thanks
I am by no means any kind of expert on this, I wouldn't even consider myself novice about the matter but there are a few things I would like to mention. As a person who likes to go to the woods and have a day or so camping, I find that open street map with the topology maps downloaded on my phone really useful for both using it with gps signal and without it. There is also another app I use called trail sense, which helps me create beacons and routes manually for areas that don't have clear paths and such. It can be used to backtrack your steps if you have a clear gps signal.
Apart from these I really appreciate that you mention the usefulness of each method in appropriate locations.
It is more about actually knowing how to use available tools. Many don't know how to use what they have. It's like trying to use a slide rule without knowing the scales or how logarithms work. It's like trying to use a magnetic compass very near one of Earth's poles. You have to understand the limitations and uses of tools. Your screw driver is not a hammer. But your hammer can be a paperweight.
Great video thanks
Excellent video.
I'll use the Map and compass first, with the GPS used as a secondary confirmation.
If both agree, then it's fine. if there's a big error, then we go back to the map and triangulate again.
I wouldn't want to be out with just a GPS, for me it's definitely an secondary navigation tool.
But in bad weather or night time they have become very useful.
T'other way round... I have OS maps on my mobile for the area I walk, load up a track and use GPS as the first port of call for location. There may be reasons for not pulling out my mobile (v cold, v wet, low battery...) and for a walk in unfamiliar territory I would always have a 1:25,000 map and compass (and from the old days, know how to use them!).
Despite the now excellent techno side of navigation kit, a map & compass never lose signal or get flat batteries - !
However, satnav is very useful for navigating round unfamiliar towns & cities. 😊
The thing I like about OS maps is I can actually zoom in on features. It's difficult when you get older and turn into a bat! But you need to be able to use a map and compass. Everything has its place
Most important is a Map and a compass, i ware it always by my walkings. Without map and compass there is no fun on walking. I really like it to play with map and compass. I always enjoy it really very much, a great pleasure. Secondary is take a GPS with me, but most of the time it is only in use to record te walked way. The problem with a GPS is that you don't have a overview over te Map, only by zooming out but than disappears the details. On a map all is clearly visible. And my Phone is just there for communication, not for navigation. I can use it with GoogleMaps, but what if there is no connection to the Cellphone network. Than you can do nothing with the Cellphone. Map and compass works always, GPS only when the batterys are not empty.
I use Strava on my phone for cycling and have sometimes recorded my walks back from SOTA on it and it has a good map to save my track back to my car. I use a 65s on the hike up.
#7 no doubt
I would choose 7and yes use all three .👍
In the hills etc…Generally take a map and compass , then my phone with os maps with the area im in downloaded plus normally also track myself on Strava . Used to use the map but now stays in bag as back up and i refer to the phone its a lot easier, Done that for full days out and it lasts never had problems but take Battery juice pack too with 4 full charges. If i was going well out into wilderness id take gps / satellite /garmin , belt and braces ! Works for me
What a nice chap. Bet he's British Army.
I have an old Garmin eTrex Vista H with a monochrome screen. It still works, but it's always around 10m off due to something about the calendar cut off if I remember correctly, like a 32-bit OS error or something like that involving the global map. Your viewers with GPS devices that are older than ten years should make sure their devices are still able to keep modern accuracy.
GPS rarely work well in a snow or thunderstorm up here, basically the more I need it the less reliable it will be in my experience (I live roughly 65 degrees North latitude, so both are common) I have actually had to dig to find a cabin under drift of snow that had turned it into a bump in the nearly feature less snow desert.
Don't rely on technology is my advice..using the stars,maps and compass is the best or even nature can give clues of direction
For me, a paper map is indispensable for planning a hike at home. Might be digital, there are good ones e.g. from OSM, but staring on a screen is not up my street. Staring on a 5"-display neither, when I am out. Sometimes, I use a GPS. A very primitive one with a tiny, pixelated b/w screen, which I can carry on my wrist. Mostly for scanning my track and locating the pictures I take or an interesting detail. It is sometimes also useful, when negotiating a meeting point with others. But following the blue or red track on a high-tech device instead of exploring the nature is like spending money for a remote control for me - for me :-).
I have heard on the radio, many years ago, that the Mountain Rescue service went to rescue people who had given the Longitude and Latitude, but the GPS was six miles out. The Mountain Rescue team were looking in the wrong mountain range. The Mountain Rescue Service were saying that because of incidents like this, you should only rely on map and compass if you are in the mountain, woodland areas.
I recently found your channel, very interesting. I have spent the last 25 years of my life as a volunteer in search and rescue in British Columbia, specifically Vancouver Island, reaching the giddy heights of Search Manager. We have nothing like the OS maps available in the UK, generally we, in the past, worked off 1:50,000 topo maps, if you got within 100m of the target you were doing good and if you hit 50m that was spectacular, we now rely in digital maps and print off specific search maps at better scales. I spent 15 years of that 25 teaching navigation to newbies concentrating on map and compass, although in the field we generally rely on GPS. However, unless you can read and use a map GPS won't help you when the battery dies. I have found that the nature of the antenna on your GPS affects the accuracy of your position, helical antenna are best as they don't require the GPS to be held in a certain orientation. Really appreciate your channel and the information provided, Waffle on!!
Google maps might not be good for the mountains. But OS app is extremely good on the phone. I always use my os app on my iPhone in the Scottish mountains or hiking around south east England. I have never had a problem.
But in my back pack I do carry a paper map and compass as a back up, just in case.
I was trained in the Army so very knowledgeable with navigation the old fashion way.
Amongst GNSS constellations, only GLONASS goes beyond 56 degrees of latitude, so at higher latitudes there is more chance of a degradation of GNSS due to terrain or forestation. Small movements near steep terrain can then result in large shifts in calculated position when the set of available satellites changes suddenly and devices can report huge speeds (apparently, Garmin thinks I can walk at 1600km/h!). To ensure accurate position reporting by your device, it is always helpful to aim to show it the maximum amount of sky.
So the actual question is, "Which is most appropriate for your situation?"
I’ve got an idea for a new tv program…
I’m a Robot, get me out of here! 👍
Better still, leave me here!
Long live pencil and paper. 😂
i use my maps on my watch garmin and a gps but always carry a paper map and compass but they rarely if ever come out of my pack anymore i still enjoy using them
Google Maps can work ok if you have signal and are able to get the satellite view. For wayfinding, I tend to take a risk-management approach. Where I live in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, I'm typically comfortable with my phone and a couple of mapping apps that I like to use that will cache their data for when I'm outside of signal. I do carry a compass for backup, because GPS use drains phone batteries fast. I also study the lay of the land ahead of time for where I'm hiking. Were I heading into serious wilderness such as out west or in northern Canada, I would have a full-on GPS device with paper maps and compass to back it up.
I think some parts are misleading: a GPS grade is not solving the Google Map problem. To use GPS in nature we must use topographic maps or just use them very indicatively (e.g. I'm between the second and third stream? With a lot of rain or very dry periods it may not be easily recognizable on ground). Note: Swiss here, so map and app (not navigation) are done by same federal office, same maps, just one tell me also we're GPS unit thing I'm).
I use also subway grade GPS (so centimeter precision) but I don't think it add help for navigation.
My use case: botanical surveys (so we are using compass also as inclinometer and exposure direction). But so we may need to reconfirm locations on mountain (precise location): in such case GPS is very useful. To reach the target zone, paths and good maps are enough (but a compass and basic navigation skills help).
Note: because I use GPS since long time, I learned many tricks (two phones, battery pack, extra cables (weakest part in a rucksack, download maps (do not expect internet connection), prepare tour on a map at home, and catching features (and regular time check), etc.). I think we should always prepare for failure of equipment)
Number 7 always
The amount of errors I've found in OS digital mapping is shocking. You can be standing on a path with your GPS error at 2ft so less than the width of the path and the OS maps will be miles out. Click over to the Garmin Topo and it shows you bang on the path. If you zoom in it'll even show which side of the path you're on. Open street maps gives OS a run for its money on a handheld GPS and it's free.
Very much like a map and compass knowing how to use the maps and tools available in a GPS can completely transform it.
Brilliant, I don’t know if the comment about you being AI in your videos or human was an insult or joke but no AI bot could replace you.
the best tool is the one that you have in your pocket when you really need it
PLEASE.... Just be YOU...... AI is ARTIFICIAL.... We love you as you are!!!!!!!!!!!1
I think a map and compass are just basic gear you should have. But for sheer conveniencea phone or gps would be handy
I like #7...
👍
This is not only an excellent channel but funny too. Playing hypotheticals off into the wilderness, you open the rucksack and find you took the wrong map and no compass and now it's dark. Next step?
#7 works best for me. Thank you.
I’ll take photo #7 as my guide, Thank You. The AI generated “guide” images may look a little more outdoorsy, but I prefer the real thing.
Voight-Kampff test, just to be sure 😁
9 seconds in I have the answer: map and compass all the way!
I've got the answer... but I'll stay for the waffle 😎
What makes this even more hilarious for me is that somehow there are time stamps from a different video…
Begins with “ Introduction to Tony Levin’s bass line in Sledgehammer “ - which makes no sense to me at all
In my opinion, the best thing is using them in combination.
No 8
I use the one with the least amount of waffle in the instructions. 😎
Good video! About the AI... picture no 7 🙂👍
Os map app with a downloaded map is v good.If you buy the paper copy you get the digital copy free.
Seriously? An AI? You should have told them, very politely of course, to 'get lost.' That is the direction the world seems to be headed, doesn't it? Artificial landscapes, artificial guides, artificial food, artificial lives.
So glad you are a human.
From my personal exp here in Algeria, relying on google maps blindly is stupid, it's helpful specially in densely populated areas, when stuck in traffic, but it sometimes lead you in restricted roads, wrong directions ..etc
I had better experience with open street maps, because they put their trust into the users editing unlike google.
also my old phone's gps stopped wroking once during a trip in the sahara desert to tamanrasset, imagine you rely on your gps or phone during a mission critical trip and it fails yo, luckily i didn't had to and i was just on taking the main road and using common sense.
open flat swaths of lands without any landmarks or terrain are certainly terrfing because you can get easily lost in them and you can miss your target even if it;s just a hundred metters away if its low on the ground like a water well.
🙂
Gaia gps is outstanding try it
1, 2, 3 and 5 look 100% legit. 👍
No 6 please.
And there are also situations where you cannot determine your position with map and compass due to lack of features (like a desert)😂
Redundancy. That's what i do. Use all three to verify each other, with your brain to mediate the three. Be situation aware.
Cell service is too sketchy alone . Sat service has its problems . Compasses have drawbacks . Use all three tools in conjunction if Ya can . 3 is one and 1 is none. 20 years ago my gps fell out of my pocket while hunting 5 locations deep in Louisiana swamps . the following day I retraced and found the gps on pure instinct. Go figure .
There is no better than Gaia GPS app. You ever get contour lines!😂
Don't get me wrong, your great, but I'd have no problem watching Scarlett Johansson presenting your videos.
No offence. 😅
The selfie is AI generated as well
no AI, they all look fake except Mabe #2. so keep #7 thank you very much. only use a map and compass, but have a GPS for backup. the more you use a map and compass the less you need GPS.
Trying to prove you’re not AI is exactly what an AI would do.
Ai generated? No AI is smart enough to make someone as clever as you!
Number Seven is the only human. The others all come from Hollywood.
AI = astratto Italiano !