Pathfinder Maps

[Elen Sentier]

Back in the pre-Ark days I used to use the Pathfinder maps, then produced by the OS. They no longer do them and have subsumed them into the 1:25,000 series of "bedsheets-cum-sails" that generally help to blow me off the tops when I'm out with them! So I writ to OS and said what about the Pathfinder series, they writted back and put me onto this company, Crimson Publishing. Does anyone already know them? Sure there must someone out there who does. Are the maps good? They certainly look quite the biz from a quick recce on the website.

Edit: Ummmm ... had a bit more of a look and they seem to be books of walks. They say they contain large-scale OS maps but ... ???

 

[EdS]

you can aslo buy small location centred maps directly form OS.

 

[Teepee]

I like the Harvey Superwalker maps Elen. The colours are a little better than OS and the size is smaller. They have a kind of waxed feel to them and don't seem to be designed to rip when you fold them.

Coverage in the UK is a limited to the well known peak areas though.


The books you linked to look incredibly similar to the Jarrold publishing Pathfinder guides from a few years ago. They have small sections of Pathfinder maps printed next to the walk description. To be fair, they are quite good but I like a proper map

 

[Elen Sentier]

I like the Harvey Superwalker maps Elen. The colours are a little better than OS and the size is smaller. They have a kind of waxed feel to them and don't seem to be designed to rip when you fold them.

Coverage in the UK is a limited to the well known peak areas though.


The books you linked to look incredibly similar to the Jarrold publishing Pathfinder guides from a few years ago. They have small sections of Pathfinder maps printed next to the walk description. To be fair, they are quite good but I like a proper map

@Teepee - Will go look at the Harvey maps but really anted my own area of Welsh Marches/Brecons/Monmouth. I too like real maps and the Amazon reveiws of those books are not too good, apparently the destructions for the walks can easily lead to destruction! And, as I said, I prefer real maps!

@EdS - have done that, got an area-centred map. They're not the same as the old Pathfinders though

 

[udamiano]

If your after specific routes, I usually create a set of A5 route maps these are basically sections of map (any scale you want really) along my desired route. they are numbered in sequence of the route then laminated and if you have a staples or someplace similar I also get them ring bound along the top edge.
they are large enough to read like any other map, small enough to be manageable even in high winds, and show you about (depending on the size you choose) about 3KM of your route per page, and about 1KM either side of your path. I personally get the map data using the 'get-a-map' service from the OS (subscription based) so I know the data is up to date. although similar free services are also available online.

hope this helps

Da

 

[bivouac]

The Map Centre in Hereford will do you an A1/A2/A3 or A4 sized 1:25000 custom map to your requirements. It's up the lane near the Cathedral. http://www.themapcentre.com/125000-explorer-style-base-maps-3-c.asp

The second-hand bookshop in Tewkesbury high street has a couple of rooms full of maps, with boxes full of the old Pathfinder ones - i shall be in there on saturday morning. pm me if you want me to check & let you know what's there. There's also a map shop in Upton-on-Severn that has a load of specialist maps including the Harvey ones if you want to see one in the flesh, as it were. It's just up from the river.

 

[oldtimer]

I photocopy relevant map sections onto A4 sheets and put these inside plastic bags. Saves carrying and unfolding big maps in the wet and wind.

 

[Goatboy]

Hi Elen,

Have you ever thought about Memory Map? LINK They do 1:50K & 1:25K maps. I have it (though only on my nearly dead laptop at the moment) and used to use it a lot as I like going for virtual wanders as well as real one. Maps are printable (just don't make it of too small an area as you'll know yourself sometimes you need to help orientate yourself with something that's relatively distant. (You can also have them on various handheld electronic devices but always have a hard copy.)
Have fun,
GB.

 

[shaung75]

Another thumbs-up from me for OS Get-a-Map. Granted it's £20ish a year, but print them off and put them in a map holder

 

[Elen Sentier]

I know the map shop in Hereford, ta. the Tewkesbury and Upton sh. ops sound good and the sort of thing I want, what sort of prices do the maps come in at? Pathfinder maps are the things I want. Realised I have a Harvey of Dartmoor and it's useless for the sorts of things I want.

I hpe to be going through both Tewkesbury and Upton early in Aug so will try to arrange to stop in both and have a look. Ta muchley for the tips

 

[Elen Sentier]

Get-a-map is excellent, I use it a lot and have done what you say.

 

[bearbait]

I use OS 1:25K maps in the UK. I remove the covers as soon as I purchase them and label each corner on both sides of the map with the map number with felt pen. I then refold them 1/2, 1/4/, 1/8, 1/16 and file them in my (cardboard) map box so one of the numbers is visible. (I do the same with my 1:50K maps).

When I'm preparing for a hike I refold the map, making new folds where necessary, so that the whole of my route and key landmarks can be seen without me having to unfold the map during the hike. The map then goes in the map case for protection from the wind, rain and chafe, and the map case is clipped to my pack so it can't blow away or get lost. It sits in the gap between my hip and the shoulder strap so it doesn't blow around in the wind like a neck-worn map case will.

I can recall rarely having to refold a map during a day hike. Even if you have to refold it on a day hike the map is only exposed to the weather once and for a short time. You can also mark the mapcase with chinagraph pencil if you need to mark key points on the map for your hike; this works fine assuming the map doesn't move around in the case! If you're using a GPS as well as the map, you can mark on the map (pencil or ink) the relevant KM square eastings and northings if they're not visible after you've refolded the map for your hike.

The advantage I see with having the whole map with you is that if you have to go "off piste" for some reason (bale out, medical assistance) you still have a map and a means of orienting yourself; this may not always apply if you just print out A4 sheets centred on your route.

I use one of these map cases. I highly recommend them: the last one I had lasted me over 20 years and has only been retired as the plastic has fogged a little.

You may be interested to take a look at this technique to cut and fold a map for special use.

 

[bivouac]

what sort of prices do the maps come in at? Pathfinder maps are the things I want.

The ones in Tewk'y seem to be mostly around £2.50. At a rough count there were around 1000 Pathfinders, although some were duplicate copies of the same maps. Have a look for the index in one of the boxes and check out what number you are looking for and search for it by number - it's a lot quicker that way. That's not including the first edition 1:25000 ones - the square ones with the blue cover. He's got a few hundred of those in separate boxes. There's plenty of the Explorer and Landranger ones too and a few Harveys, although they were mostly of the Lake District and Scotland. Most of his maps look pretty much like new and have probably never been used. If you go there, check out the maps lying flat on the table in the back room. They're 1 inch to 208 feet from the 1920's. That's 1:2500 if my maths is correct and show fascinating detail, although they are mostly of Glos and the surrounding area. The shop in Upton, as far as i know, only sells new maps so you would be paying full whack for them. They've got a website you can Google if you are interested. Cheers.