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Post by vicioustom on Jan 29, 2017 9:19:20 GMT -8
vicioustom Are you printing on the acetate, or sticking blank acetate over printed paper as weatherproofing? I just want to make sure I understand your suggestion. If you're laser printing you can print directly to the acetate, otherwise, and what I would typically do is sandwich the map. Depending on the scale and how much map you need the weight is negligible. One thing I like about this approach is that it makes the map semi rigid and easier for me to work with. I've found heat laminations fail more often than the self adhesive acetate, but it takes some patience and finesse to get it just right. |
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mrarrowhead
Trail Wise!
Gear Man at Arrowhead-Equipment.com
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Post by mrarrowhead on Feb 2, 2017 16:31:14 GMT -8
I have been doing my own maps at home for years. National Geographic makes some really good quality waterproof paper in a few sizes for inkjet printers. For our business we have a printer that will do the larger 8.5x14 size. I start off using GPS File Depot to find the topo maps for the area I am heading, load those into Garmin Basecamp and then select the actual map view I want with the zoom level and any details I want to add...like waypoints, trace the trail, label lakes with the type of fish, mark camp sites and so on. Then I print out the view I want. Often I pick two different zoom levels and print an overview of the entire trail on one side and then close in zoom of specific areas of interest....or elevation profiles of the trail...or notes that I might want to keep track of on the hike. |
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Post by joevogel on Nov 7, 2017 13:08:34 GMT -8
Caltopo.com is your best friend. Lets you plan out your hikes and put way markers. You can even look at what other hikers have put in their maps. I print mine on waterproof paper like many others have said. Works out very well. You can also import geo-spacial PDFs to a lot of apps and use your phone along with your phone's GPS to pinpoint your location on the PDF. |
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davesenesac
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Our precious life is short within eternity, don't waste it!
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Post by davesenesac on Aug 23, 2018 10:56:53 GMT -8
I bought one of the custom MyTopo online configured maps a couple years ago. Has been holding up well.
For years have been using Photoshop CS6 to print out my own maps, especially if I don't happen to have a USGS 7.5' map or the areas of interest are at a map boundary or worse a map corner. I used to use the libremap dot com site as the online topo map source but that has been closed and their archive is not accessible. So now use caltopo. And I prefer the standard USGS 7.5' scale that is about 2.63 inches per mile because that is what am used to looking at. For larger areas, an online map won't fit on a screen so I perform multiple screen copies to my desktop clipboard and open a new CS6 image for each one. Then after some cropping to get rid of the non-map screen areas like window borders, tools, menus, etc, I join them by simply carefully moving and aligning the pasted sections. After a full map is created, instead of printing at whatever full map size, I slice a map up into chunks that can be printed on ordinary 8.5x11 paper. The printing area is always within the paper borders so some careful cutting board work follows with a sharp utility knife. Later may tape the sections together or use the sheets separately. Some of my taped together maps are several feet in each dimension. Just need to be careful aligning sections.
On my recent 9 day backpack, I carried both the MyTopo map and a half dozen 8.5x11 printouts that were overlapping with one scaled for the whole region. When rambling about and exploring areas I would only used the printouts while the MyTopo map remained down in my day pack. One of a few items I choose to have redundant items of as maps are easy to lose from pockets and constant use.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Sept 8, 2018 14:03:08 GMT -8
I've had great success with waterproof inkjet paper. Legal size 8-1/2 x 14. Still looking for a new source for that size, but it's tough to find in small quantities.
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Post by greymouse on Nov 20, 2018 18:52:39 GMT -8
Personally if I need a map I'll save it to a pdf file and load it on to an external thumb drive. The local UPS store can thus print it. laminate it, and bind it for me.
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rebeccad
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Writing like a maniac
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Post by rebeccad on Feb 12, 2020 14:14:49 GMT -8
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zeke
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Post by zeke on Feb 12, 2020 14:46:00 GMT -8
rebeccad I looked into those for my Yellowstone trip, but they only have the Quads, and what I really needed was on 3 different maps. I ended up going to My Topo and getting a custom map for what I wanted. I ended up with a bigger sized map, so I wish they could print on both sides of the page, thereby reducing the weight of the map I need to carry.
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rebeccad
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Writing like a maniac
Posts: 12,666
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Post by rebeccad on Feb 12, 2020 14:49:45 GMT -8
rebeccad I looked into those for my Yellowstone trip, but they only have the Quads, and what I really needed was on 3 different maps. I ended up going to My Topo and getting a custom map for what I wanted. I ended up with a bigger sized map, so I wish they could print on both sides of the page, thereby reducing the weight of the map I need to carry. Dang. I used MyTopo 18 months ago for our Kaweah Basin trip. I was disappointed to find that most of their maps were 15”, not 7 1/2” maps; if you ask for a higher resolution, they just print the 15” topo larger. I find it hard to believe there are sections of the Sierra where no 7 1/2 minute maps were made. If NG has them, I’ll carry more maps to have the better map. |
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Post by bobcat on May 7, 2021 19:44:56 GMT -8
The NG linked above has each 7.5’ quad, formatted to fit on 4 sheets of 8.5x11” paper, so you can just print and carry the sheets that cover your route. The scaling is usually off the standard once printed, so map overlay tools and UTM grids don’t work with my printouts. I’ve been using them exclusively for several years for hiking and canoe routes. Next fall semester, I am taking a geography course “Intro to GIS and Mapping”, so maybe I’ll get proficient with the modern digital maps files and make my own maps from the USGS source files! One of my benefits as a university employee is free tuition for any classes I want, and my boss has allowed one class per semester on “company” time which has been great!
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