Navigational aids in the woods

Paul Cronin

Paul Cronin

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Hi all, not much of techie man and looking for any help. Does anyone know or use any GPS or navigation device or phone apps so as not to get lost in the woods? I always seem to get lost amongst the trees and easily lose my bearings. I'm looking for something that gets me back to my car :facepalm:

Appreciate any help please and hopefully posted in the correct place?
 
I use the view ranger app on my phone to record hikes in the mountains. it has some free maps that may be of use to you or you can buy and download ordnance survey maps for your area to use. Most phones have google maps installed, would that not work too?
 
GPS works poorly in woods, the trees block the system's view of the satellites. Google maps is free, very good, and may work well enough in your woods. A compass is a simple cheap device which provides you with bearings and works well in woods.
 
Buy a map and a compass! It doesn't need a signal or batteries! When it's cold and batteries die ! I use phone for back up or calling emergency services if in trouble

And if you can't read a map or understand navigation techniques you shouldn't be out alone anyway!
 
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Thanks for the replies. I'm only asking if people use any aids so know were they started from. Perhaps I worded it wrong but I can read a map etc just wanted a simple thing incase I go off the main paths.
 
Ah ok I'm sorry for that! It really gets my goat when people buy an app or GPS and then go fell walking on Skye and wonder why the weather changes it rains or snows and they wonder why they in trouble on a mountain in flip flops and shorts and they freeee cos the app didn't tell them to get dressed properly .... I was on Skye at the fairy pools the other week and people in jeans and trainers walked past us! We had walking boots and gators on and 4-5 layers on ...... all of a sudden we had horizontal rain and gale force winds! And people were surprised ...... my app didn't say that was gonna happen
 
I use a Satmap, it can be loaded with ordnance survey maps, you can pre load routes, yes in dense woodland you may loose the signal, but find a small open space and back it comes. Look on the website. Ideal for walkers, cyclists and adventurers, not reliant on mobile phone signal.
https://satmap.com/active-12.html
 
Mark twiglet said:
Ah ok I'm sorry for that! It really gets my goat when people buy an app or GPS and then go fell walking on Skye and wonder why the weather changes it rains or snows and they wonder why they in trouble on a mountain in flip flops and shorts and they freeee cos the app didn't tell them to get dressed properly .... I was on Skye at the fairy pools the other week and people in jeans and trainers walked past us! We had walking boots and gators on and 4-5 layers on ...... all of a sudden we had horizontal rain and gale force winds! And people were surprised ...... my app didn't say that was gonna happen
Click to expand...

Fully understand as I would be the same.
 
phil_b said:
I use the view ranger app on my phone to record hikes in the mountains. it has some free maps that may be of use to you or you can buy and download ordnance survey maps for your area to use. Most phones have google maps installed, would that not work too?
Click to expand...

I use view-ranger all the time and it works really well, you only pay for the tiles you need, signal permitting you can download them out and about or download them at home and view off-line. I use it on my smart phone and had no problems in heavy woodland with GPS Signal. And depending on the detail you are after you can download either 1:50,000 or 1:25,000 OS maps.

Saves carrying an extra piece of tech as I normally have my phone with me.
 
I use Viewranger and also the Ordnance Surveys 'Topo Maps' app for a little more detail.

With both just set them to track your route when you start off and then put it in your pocket for later. Can be a bit of an eye opener when you see how much you wander around taking the ideal photograph.
 
I use a combination, depending on where I am going. Topo maps are invaluable, but you need to be able to read them and have a compass with you. (Both are in my bag) I also carry a Garmin GPSr as well as the GPS in my fone, so if one doesn't work the other will.
 
chris malcolm said:
GPS works poorly in woods, the trees block the system's view of the satellites. Google maps is free, very good, and may work well enough in your woods. A compass is a simple cheap device which provides you with bearings and works well in woods.
Click to expand...


Google Maps still needs a GPS signal to establish your location on the Google map and given that phone GPS chips are generally less effective than those on standalone GPS receivers - Google Maps on your phone is less likely to work than a standalone device with suitable base map. In my experience GPS devices generally work ok in wooded areas providing that you get a lock before you go into the woods rather than turning it on in the woods and hoping to get a lock. I've used Viewranger a few times and of the various programs I've used it is probably the best however I still prefer to use a proper GPS for their ruggedness and redundancy.
 
Compass and proper detailed map, 1:25000 and you get wherever you want to be, cheaper than all those gadgets, and if your gps for any particular reason stops working, or runs out of battery, etc,etc then you will be really lost or in trouble.
 
and whatever you do keep your eyes open for the teddy bears picnic :exit::exit::exit:
 
I'm another fan of Viewranger on the phone (but like most I use it in conjunction with an actual map and compass). I find that maps alone can be a bit tricky in the woods, especially if you're wandering away from the paths - there can be too little information to easily work out where you are when all you can see is trees, trees and the yellow eyes of the wolves lurking in the undergrowth. That's where a GPS can come in handy - it can point you in the right direction of the path. Especially on grey days where you can't use the sun to get your bearings. That said a compass can have much the same effect if you pay attention to where you're leaving the path.
 
I find the GPS capabilities of the Iphone very good even in the woods. I use the Memory Map app in conjunction with 1:25000 OS digital maps I bought from them years ago.
I've got a lousy sense of direction and I was using that combination in an arboretum yesterday. The canopy was very dense and although satellite acquisition wasn't lightening fast it got me back to the car!
 
Mark twiglet said:
Ah ok I'm sorry for that! It really gets my goat when people buy an app or GPS and then go fell walking on Skye and wonder why the weather changes it rains or snows and they wonder why they in trouble on a mountain in flip flops and shorts and they freeee cos the app didn't tell them to get dressed properly .... I was on Skye at the fairy pools the other week and people in jeans and trainers walked past us! We had walking boots and gators on and 4-5 layers on ...... all of a sudden we had horizontal rain and gale force winds! And people were surprised ...... my app didn't say that was gonna happen
Click to expand...

What do GPS have to do with the weather? My maps have never told me about the weather either.

The OP is walking in the woods, not the fells of Skye. What gets my goat are condocending replies that have nothing to do with the original question.
 
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You know, in the woods you don't even need a compas, you can use a tree ;-)

I think that the 'issue' here s knowing/remembering where you parked the car......

Thing IS, with GPS* is that its great for telling you where you are... but not much else. Sat-Nav*, which uses digital map software to tell you where you want to get to from where you are, which it gets from GPS... doesn't necessarily know where you left the ruddy car!

GARMIN.... bought one of these little widgets for the O/H a few years back. Sort you stick in the car widscreen to boss you about and make you paranoid! HORRIBLE bludy invention for the most part, and yet another victory of technology over common ruddy sense in so many instances! HOWEVER. She was learning to ride a motorbike, so out on her own to practice and explore 'new' roads for practce, and worried about finding her way 'home'.

Gizmo is quite good in that respect, PROVIDED you have programmed it with where 'Home' is!

Ergo... whilst you might lift it from the windscreen and take it with you whilst you walk about.... UNLESS you have programmed it with the location of the car when you parked it.... it wont have a clue where your car is either!

It does 'Snail-Trail' your journey, if you have it switched on, but, that still wont tell you where you left the car..... just how to back=track until you find it! Ad on the one the O/H had, you could only review the snail-trail on down load to a PC.

To wit; you can throw a shed load of technology at this problem... BUT, it's the WRONG problem. You don't need something to tell you how to get back to your car... YOU need to know where you left the ruddy thing! If you can't tell the widget that, then doesn't matter how wonderful its positioning system may be, or astounding its routing system, it's NOT really going to be able to help you very much!

I will say that the little Garmin was a useful little tool occasionally, BUT, it's forte was its routing system; designed predominantly for use 'in car', it assumes you are IN a car, and in the middle of woods, would likely direct you to the nearest main road; round the houses, up the high-street and back to the car-park.. IF you had remembered to way-point the car-park to start with.... other wise likely offer you a route all the way home, and you could be in for a long walk!

I don't think that this is a question about devices but in using them. Garmin did have a 'Pedestrian' mode; which would calculate routes down foot-paths and pedestrian accesses, it would't offer in 'car' mode, but mapping data of them s not particularly comprehensive. O/H found using it to do her home-care rounds it frequently took her the long way about, and on at least one occasion up road where the foot-path ran out at a bridge!

Whatever 'device' you bought for the job, on ts own it wont solve the fundamental problem of remembering where you left the car; and to be of any use, it would require you employ the know-how ad discipline to log the car's position before you walked away from it, and then some more to switch 'modes' to avoid erroneous routing back, and even then, you still have plenty of opportunity for effupp!

Which begs a question.... IF you cant remember where you went since you left the car... are you REALLY going to remember to way-point the cars position and re-program the widget every time you leave it.... A-N-D if you do... is that really very much easier than not being so absent minded and watching where you are going?!?

* Sat-Nav is NOT GPS, GPS is most decidedly NOT 'Sat-Nav'. GPS is Global Positioning System, it JUST tells you where you are by triangulation of satellites; Sat-Nav is a satalite linked navigational system. Uses the sats to tell the 'widget' where you is, and then a digital map to work out where you need to go from there.
 
Moss tends to grow mainly on the North side of a tree and Spider's webs are spun mainly on the South side of a tree. The Sun, if shining or giving enough light to show a shadow, rises in the East and sets in the West so will be roughly South at midday.
As you go into the wood then break the odd twig and lay it in the direction that you want to retrace, or, at least, I get my butler to do it;)
 
Teflon-Mike said:
You know, in the woods you don't even need a compas, you can use a tree ;-)

I think that the 'issue' here s knowing/remembering where you parked the car......

Thing IS, with GPS* is that its great for telling you where you are... but not much else. Sat-Nav*, which uses digital map software to tell you where you want to get to from where you are, which it gets from GPS... doesn't necessarily know where you left the ruddy car!

GARMIN.... bought one of these little widgets for the O/H a few years back. Sort you stick in the car widscreen to boss you about and make you paranoid! HORRIBLE bludy invention for the most part, and yet another victory of technology over common ruddy sense in so many instances! HOWEVER. She was learning to ride a motorbike, so out on her own to practice and explore 'new' roads for practce, and worried about finding her way 'home'.

Gizmo is quite good in that respect, PROVIDED you have programmed it with where 'Home' is!

Ergo... whilst you might lift it from the windscreen and take it with you whilst you walk about.... UNLESS you have programmed it with the location of the car when you parked it.... it wont have a clue where your car is either!

It does 'Snail-Trail' your journey, if you have it switched on, but, that still wont tell you where you left the car..... just how to back=track until you find it! Ad on the one the O/H had, you could only review the snail-trail on down load to a PC.

To wit; you can throw a shed load of technology at this problem... BUT, it's the WRONG problem. You don't need something to tell you how to get back to your car... YOU need to know where you left the ruddy thing! If you can't tell the widget that, then doesn't matter how wonderful its positioning system may be, or astounding its routing system, it's NOT really going to be able to help you very much!

I will say that the little Garmin was a useful little tool occasionally, BUT, it's forte was its routing system; designed predominantly for use 'in car', it assumes you are IN a car, and in the middle of woods, would likely direct you to the nearest main road; round the houses, up the high-street and back to the car-park.. IF you had remembered to way-point the car-park to start with.... other wise likely offer you a route all the way home, and you could be in for a long walk!

I don't think that this is a question about devices but in using them. Garmin did have a 'Pedestrian' mode; which would calculate routes down foot-paths and pedestrian accesses, it would't offer in 'car' mode, but mapping data of them s not particularly comprehensive. O/H found using it to do her home-care rounds it frequently took her the long way about, and on at least one occasion up road where the foot-path ran out at a bridge!

Whatever 'device' you bought for the job, on ts own it wont solve the fundamental problem of remembering where you left the car; and to be of any use, it would require you employ the know-how ad discipline to log the car's position before you walked away from it, and then some more to switch 'modes' to avoid erroneous routing back, and even then, you still have plenty of opportunity for effupp!

Which begs a question.... IF you cant remember where you went since you left the car... are you REALLY going to remember to way-point the cars position and re-program the widget every time you leave it.... A-N-D if you do... is that really very much easier than not being so absent minded and watching where you are going?!?

* Sat-Nav is NOT GPS, GPS is most decidedly NOT 'Sat-Nav'. GPS is Global Positioning System, it JUST tells you where you are by triangulation of satellites; Sat-Nav is a satalite linked navigational system. Uses the sats to tell the 'widget' where you is, and then a digital map to work out where you need to go from there.
Click to expand...


To summarise, a GPS will do what the OP wants. Just turn on track logging.
 
How can you get lost in Suffolk? :eek:
 
Teflon-Mike said:
which it gets from GPS... doesn't necessarily know where you left the ruddy car!
Click to expand...
Not true, as soon as you park your car, your sat nav can give you the cordinates where you stoped or parked the car, thats all you need to get back to the car not matter how far you walked away from it.
 
wegi said:
Not true, as soon as you park your car, your sat nav can give you the cordinates where you stoped or parked the car, thats all you need to get back to the car not matter how far you walked away from it.
Click to expand...
GPS can calculate co-ords for any loction the reciever is set to calculate them. It may even record those co-ordinates.... it does not 'know' whether the reciever is, was or may be in a car, or if it has been removed from the car! To wit, 'it' will NEVER know where you left the car unless you tell it!
 
The point being that knowing the coordiantes where you parked the car, you put them on google maps or any other map app, and you will get to it, simple
 
Point was... if some-one is somewhat absent minded, and easily distracted, to the point that they 'forget' where they parked the car...... do you think they will miraculously acquire a better memory with a 'widget' and suddenly become so mindful that they remember to log the co-ordinates of the car whenever they park it, to be able to plug them into google maps, or a garmin, or Memory Map or heaven forbid, go in the house and up the stairs on an OS-Map!?

OR do you think, MAYBE, just maybe, they might just forget to do that too.... And instead of finding themselves lost in the woods looking aimlessly at the trees wondering "How do I get back to the car?", instead, find themselves lost on the woods, staring bewildered at a widget, wondering "WHY wont this thing TELL me how to get back to the car?"
 
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