[OSM-talk] Bringing OSM to walkers - countering negative attitudes

[OJW]

On Sunday 06 May 2007 19:45, Richard HARDWICK wrote:
> My experience of ordinary walkers is same as yours - they
>     prefer a good old map and compass; even when gps could
>     save their lives

As an example of why this is: The BMC "Mountain leader" course in the UK 
specifically teaches people not to use GPS.  Their reasoning is that you 
should be following your position on the map, rather than relying on a magic 
device to tell you where you are.

Ask any instructor and they will tell you about how the GPS's battery will die 
when you need it, how the US army will turn-off the satellites, or that it 
will only be accurate to 100m and won't correlate with your map.

http://www.thebmc.co.uk/safety/advice/articles/advice_3.htm


They also teach an awful lot of techniques based around OS's map design 
choices, such as the 1km grid squares, measuring angles to grid north, and 
the use of 5m contours (e.g. being able to spot a 5m dip in the ground, or 
rules for calculating the time of a walk based on the number of contours 
crossed), that we should consider when printing maps.