About using digital or paper maps for hiking
Last holiday we had, I know I’ve promised to write about all our holidays and I’ll do, was in the Dolomites.
It was a long time since I have been walking in the Dolomites and a lot of things have changed. Hiking is completely different now we can use GPS, mobile phones, GPX tracks and all that technology. I still remember putting a papar map, a compass, and a whistle in my backpack. I this time I’ve decided to run a few tests and here is what I found out.
- A paper map is still a must to have to plan and as a backup. I really like the idea of Tabacco to ask you if you have the paper map every time you open their app on the phone.
- A compass is not necessary if you have a dedicated GPS device but I’d still carry it as a backup. You can use your phone but it always worries me how much battery using GPS consumes on my iPhone.
- Where I was the coverage of my mobile was perfect so a whistle to call for help would not have been needed. The 112 application worked everywhere. I did not need to call any emergency service but I was checking it form time to time to see if it was up and running and can get my GPS coordinates.
- The Tabacco mapping app uses, surprisingly, a little battery even if it uses the GPS and it’s really accurate in getting your position. Once I was off the track a few metres, I can literally see the right track from where I was and it was highlighting that to me.
- Kompass maps are not good to orientate yourself but they are good for planning. They too frequently don show you the number of the track you have to follow and, as in Trentino - Alto Adige they do a lot of good work in maintaining a clear catalog of paths, it’s a shame.
- Kompass guides are amazing for planning as they report accurate distance, good timing information, and altitude profile of all the itinerary they suggest. The provide GPX tracks of all of them if you can use them. I haven’t found any usable application to make a good use of them.
- OpenStreetMap based OpenStreet 4 application for iOS by KicksApp GmbH is an amazing free alternative to the Tabacco application even if it consumes a little bit more energy
- Garmin explore did not impress me at all, it can import GPX but then using them is a little bit confusing.
What I did during my week at the Alpe di Siusi was:
- Use Kompass guide to discover good itineraries
- Plan on a Tabacco paper map, registering all path numbers and turns on my notebook
- Use the Tabacco map while hiking