Maps: Digital or Paper

The argument of digital or paper maps will most likely continue as long as the waxed cotton vs. gore-tex debate. Which means forever, unless Filson and Barbour stop selling coats.

I remember growing up in my fathers red Volkswagen Golf with a manual transmission, AC/DC or George Thorogood in the tape deck, and a Maryland road map in the seat-back pocket. I spent some of the best moments of my life in that little car, but I never really grew up appreciating a map. You see, the internet was just coming around, Windows 98 was the hottest thing on the market, and someone invented this thing called MapQuest.

It wasn’t until I was 19 and I found myself planning my first real road trip that I went to a bookstore and bought a road atlas. My now fiance and I took off on an epic adventure through New England hitting Acadia National Park in Maine. We plotted our whole trip using that map, and with our trusty road atlas by our side we called an audible and burned rubber all the way across the Canadian border to Quebec City.

Now you’re probably wondering why I’m taking you on this tangent, and you’re probably also thinking “why didn’t you use GPS in 2007.” The reason was that portable GPS units were still pretty expensive, but the real reason is because I’m an adventurer (couldn’t you tell by the Canada/USA/Mexico version of my atlas?).

Things have changed pretty substantially since then; so now when I’m out on the trail you can find Gaia GPS running on my iPad mini, and a Delorme Gazetteer in my seat-back pocket.

Digital Maps

Tablets and smartphones have been a game changer in the mapping world. Before you would have to carry a stand alone GPS system or laptop into the field, and now you can do it all from the little device in your pocket. With programs such as Gaia GPS, and Avenza, you can carry plenty of maps with your only limiting factor being hard drive space.

I’ve had nothing but great experiences with Gaia in the field, and my iPad has enough memory to cache USGS Topo maps for entire weekend trips. You need to make sure to cache your maps though because cell service can be spotty in the field. I also invested in a Lifeproof to protect it from the rigors of life and the trail; needless to say it’s already paid for itself multiple times.

Pros:

• GPS capabilities
• Unlimited amount of cached maps
• Adaptable for route planning or day to day driving

Cons:

• Requires a power source
• Relatively fragile compared to a road map
• Can require cell service

Paper Maps

I’ll always love a good paper map, and the one’s produced by Delorme are some of the best. I find them to be cheap insurance because it’ll never run out of batteries, and as long as I don’t get it wet or decide to use it as fire starter, it’ll always work.

The only big issues I’ve run into is that these maps are only updated once every few years which is both a good and a bad thing. The good thing is that you’ll find a lot of roads that you didn’t know existed, the bad is that you’ll spend some time trying to find roads that don’t exist anymore.

Pros:

• 100% reliable (as long as you don’t light it on fire)
• Doesn’t require batteries
• You look cool using one

Cons:

• Updated less frequently/out of date information
• Difficult to use while driving
• Multiple maps required for different areas

I don’t know if paper maps will die in my lifetime, but I can already see demand for them dropping pretty rapidly. In the past few years the map shelf at the local Barnes and Noble has shrunk considerably and the majority of the guys I meet on the trail wouldn’t even consider carrying one.

I’ll still continue to pack both, but I’d be lying to you if I told you that I opened up a paper map more than once or twice a year.