So we are getting ready to leave, for a long family weekend, in the morning. I am 50 years old, and my twins will be 13 in a couple of weeks. Anyway, my kids think that I am nuts because I still use a road atlas as a back up to my GPS. Trying to explain to them that the map will still work when the GPS looses signal, the batteries die, the network crashes...... And they look at me like "Yea right right dad" I am sure that I was younger I gave my dad the same look.

So who else still uses a paper map? Is it just old farts like me?

I keep a selection in each vehicle. Use, no, but backup, yes.

In AZ recently, stopped by AAA and picked up some free maps and local tourist guide booklets.
Not so much because don't trust GPS as really wanted an overview of what was around us. Try that on your smartphone.

When I rode the GW cross country I had two GPS units on the bike.....and I carried in the trunk a paper map.

Twice the Garmin GPS tried to steer me onto a dirt road.

I love looking at a road atlas. It stimulates my imagination regarding places to see unlike any map app, etc.

quote:

Originally posted by Orguss:
Your twin is 37 years younger than you?

I was thinking the same thing when I first read the OP's statement!

But I also do not take any type of trip without maps/road atlas to give me an overview of our trip or possible scenic detours or side trips along the way. Last year my son (27 years old)and I spent 11 days traveling through Colorado. Each day we used our road atlas to augment & enhance our GPS on our truck & phones. We would not have had such an enjoyable Father/Son vacation without our road atlas.

Sorry, my twins, not my twin

I have a road atlas in my vehicle at all times. Haven't had to use it recently but it will be there if I need it.

Every 2 or 3 years in the Pacific Northwest a family will be found after the snow is gone. They followed GPS directions over a mountain pass that should not be traveled in the Winter, got caught in the snow, and died.

Always keep a road atlas or paper map in the Jeep as a backup.

Furthermore, I collect the National Geographic topographical trail maps and actually use them as my primary when hiking or off-roading and use the GPS as a backup.

When highway driving though or road trips, the GPS is the primary.

We have a local pass that's closed in the winter, but evidently the GPS units don't have any seasonal advisories. Every so often a deputy will come in with a story about he found someone at the closed gate demanding that it be opened so they could continue on through the snowdrifts.

I always have and use paper charts for navigating in addition to chart plotters. With the chartplotter you either get a small area with a lot of detail or a large area with little detail. With the paper chart you get both. But for the same reasons you stated I always carry a handheld gps, and paper charts......for the water not the road......Same with a road map.....

Guess I’m really old. I prefer paper maps. I pretty much memorize my route and will refer to the maps if I need a refresher.

I had maps a while back. Haven't used a GPS in a year or two. Don't use a phone either. Mostly I have been working over the road for 25+ years and feel like I have remembered every back road & shortcut within 100 miles.

xray 99 has the best point. You can't look at a GPS or phone and see what you miss. Was driving across a few states and saw that the Hellen Keller house was nearby and checked it out. That place was cool!

Found the Laurel & Hardy Museum the same way. Turns out, they were closed. On the way there, I found a machine shop nearby. Robert's Precision Tool & Repair in Harlem, Georgia is the best machine shop (out of about twenty) that I have ever worked with.

Yeah, they will all get you A->B but what are the odds of finding Moton Field or Augusta International Speedway and discovering history you never forgot.

Both paper and GPS, plus if it's a planned excursion I hand write directions like important turns, exit numbers and the like.

The GPS is there for quick reference to stay on track or to reroute in case of an accident or some such. The paper map/s are a backup in case of signal loss or something.

A clipboard with my handwritten directions is easy to use.


ARman

DeLorme is my friend. I have their Michigan atlas in my truck right now.

Just bought an atlas to keep in the car

I have several road atlas's because I do a lot of driving

a paper map gives you a much better sense of distance and whats around you than the little magenta line on the GPS

I've never lot the signal on a paper map

Recalculating...

Screw that. Gimmie paper.