[Scoobyd]

Originally Posted by Tengocity

If you like OS maps then just use the OS app and use your phone. It works brilliantly and is great for just waking. Not ideal for winter hillwalking up mountains as you can't rely on the battery, but it's by far and away the simplest option for general UK walking. You can save maps offline too, so real need to use data, amd the GPS tracking doesn't seem to drain the batter either.
It is just like having the OS map on you phone but automatically telling you exactly where on the map you are.

This is what I do too. I've been going for long country walks each weekend since this pandemic kicked off and the OS app on my phone has been great so a thumbs up from me.

[Sennen]

Originally Posted by Tengocity

If you like OS maps then just use the OS app and use your phone. It works brilliantly and is great for just waking. Not ideal for winter hillwalking up mountains as you can't rely on the battery, but it's by far and away the simplest option for general UK walking. You can save maps offline too, so real need to use data, amd the GPS tracking doesn't seem to drain the batter either.
It is just like having the OS map on you phone but automatically telling you exactly where on the map you are.

Thank you so much for this Tengocity.

I have just come off the phone to my son and he has talked me through this. I now have set up an Account with Google for Apps (i wondered how people downloaded Apps) and I have got the OS App and i have downloaded my first map!!

Bloody marvelous...... thank you

[Tengocity]

No worries, good to hear you got it sorted.

I think for what they charge per year for access to all the maps, it's an absolute bargain.

[Sennen]

Originally Posted by Tengocity

No worries, good to hear you got it sorted.

I think for what they charge per year for access to all the maps, it's an absolute bargain.

Yes £2.99 a month, i will sign up to that later

[Sennen]

Originally Posted by Tengocity

No worries, good to hear you got it sorted.

I think for what they charge per year for access to all the maps, it's an absolute bargain.

From what I can work out the OS maps can actually be downloaded onto the Fenix, might be a bit beyond me though

[Ennoch]

Originally Posted by Tengocity

I don't find any issue with it being power or memory impacting. I do have a 256gb phone though so would need to check. I would presume it depends on how many offline maps you save to your device. Previous apps that tracked GPS i did find to be a drain on battery but this one isn't.
I've only used it once on a winter walk, last December doing Bidean, which as you know can be tricky when you go North from the summit. It worked, but your phone struggles in those kinds of temps, so I'd never rely on it in that environment. So I always carry a map and compass, even if they don't come out of the rucksack these days. The other thing I doubt is a phone case with a lanyard so that I can physically attach my phone to my jacket. I've seen someone have to chase after a phone they dropped on an icy slope on Ben Cruachan!

But for more straightforward walks, and mostly I'm just countryside rambling with the dog it's perfect.

You don't need the paper maps, you can just pay an annual subscription of something like £20 and get access to all and every map they have- geographically and by scale

Looks like a totally different app to the one I've used from them previously. No bad thing, the old one wasn't really functional.

I've still not actually been to the summit of Bidean! Any time I've been up there it's having climbed something and usually either finished in a storm (both Crypt Route and Flake Route) or it's been dark (Un Poco Loco). The number of mountains I've climbed on but not got to the summit of is actually quite ridiculous given how many people focus solely on getting to the summit before running off to do the next one!

@Sennen, I don't think it's too bad to do (albeit that's me saying it having never done so)...one of my climbing partners managed to do it himself 'easily' and he is probably the biggest technophobe you're ever likely to meet (no TV, no smart tech and nothing but an old Nokia until last year!).

Originally Posted by Tengocity

There's also a very simple and lovely charm about an OS map! Whilst i use the app mostly, I still have and buy the paper map for areas I go to regularly. There's nothing better than opening a map out and exploring it on your dining table, mulling over where you could go and what paths will make up a good route when planning a ramble.
Or if going to the mountains, I get a frisson of excitement when I see the packed contour lines and imagine what the terrain is going to look like when I get there!
Shame it's taken a lockdown not to take it all so much for granted.

Totally agree there! I grew up with plotting routes on maps sprawled across the kitchen table with my dad while we made plans for places to see in the summer. It was always exciting seeing some bothy or building marked on a map and wondering whether it was habitable. There was much more adventure to be had from the unknown before google maps and instagram ruined it. The same can be said of climbs; no longer is there anything unexplored, everything is pre-known, with photographic topos and nice neat lines drawn along with all the beta you need down to which cams will be most useful.

[Sennen]

Well the watch arrived yesterday and it has basically taken me, with the help of my son, 24 hours to set it up and I still dont think I have even scratched the surface of its abilities.

An incredible piece of technology but i expect it will soon be relegated to just telling the time

Thanks to Tengocity though the OS maps for £2.99 a month that I now have on my phone is bloody fantastic and worth every penny, cant wait to get some proper usage out of it in The Lakes when Lockdown is over