Navigation Gear
Navigation is really important, not just for saving your life but also if you want a find all the cool places you are out to see. Any aspect where you life depends on it you want to build redundancies into your plan. Therefore it is important to have several methods for navigation and you need to know how to use them. Bushwalking clubs are great at helping teach navigation with map and compass. I always take the following items:
I have use an app called Memory Map it’s a GPS in the phone, why carry another bit of equipment? I'm all about multiple uses for the one piece of kit and saving weight. If navigation is especially difficult I’ll pack two phones, with maps loaded, as a back up. I love GPS features on my phone, several times I have been completely fogged in by clouds making navigation by topographic map really hard. I leave the phone on aeroplane mode and it works well, providing a GPS position and is relatively low on battery drain. Make sure you load all the maps you need before going out or range.
You can even use this app to print topographic maps of the area or I sometimes photo copy my topographic maps and just take the part I need. However, be careful to include relevant features and possible safety exist such as surrounding ridges so you can locate yourself or roads so you can get yourself out of trouble if needed. I always print an extra map with the route marked and give it to my safety number back home.
Despite my love of gadgets I always carry a map and compass just incase my phone gets wet or stops working for some other reason.
Navigation is really important, not just for saving your life but also if you want a find all the cool places you are out to see. Any aspect where you life depends on it you want to build redundancies into your plan. Therefore it is important to have several methods for navigation and you need to know how to use them. Bushwalking clubs are great at helping teach navigation with map and compass. I always take the following items:
- a map
- compass
- gps/iphone
- wrist watch - can help with navigation, finding north and keeping track of time
I have use an app called Memory Map it’s a GPS in the phone, why carry another bit of equipment? I'm all about multiple uses for the one piece of kit and saving weight. If navigation is especially difficult I’ll pack two phones, with maps loaded, as a back up. I love GPS features on my phone, several times I have been completely fogged in by clouds making navigation by topographic map really hard. I leave the phone on aeroplane mode and it works well, providing a GPS position and is relatively low on battery drain. Make sure you load all the maps you need before going out or range.
You can even use this app to print topographic maps of the area or I sometimes photo copy my topographic maps and just take the part I need. However, be careful to include relevant features and possible safety exist such as surrounding ridges so you can locate yourself or roads so you can get yourself out of trouble if needed. I always print an extra map with the route marked and give it to my safety number back home.
Despite my love of gadgets I always carry a map and compass just incase my phone gets wet or stops working for some other reason.