I do a lot of walking and climbing in the mountains and regularly use my map and compass to navigate when the weather gets bad and apart from some slight mishaps over the years have never got lost. I will be the first to admit however that it is always nice for a second opinion and it was with this thought I came across the OS British Grid Reference App for Blackberry.
Now personally I hate GPS. In my opinion it makes people lazy and reliant on technology and when that technology doesn’t work they then get in trouble. If you know how to navigate by using a map and compass then you can’t go far wrong. I did think however I would give this app a try to see if it was any good. It is a simple app that gives you a grid reference of where you are and nothing more. You then check it against a map and go from there.
It got its first trial run last weekend when I went hiking in the mountains around Comrie with a friend. The forecast was pretty bad and the Scottish weather did not disappoint!! One minute we had good visibility the next 50m max. The app got used twice and both times it was nice to have that second opinion of where we thought we were. We were very impressed with how simple it was to use and how accurate it was (we checked it at the top of the first summit to check how accurate it was) and will definitely be taking it again when we go out next time.
So am I a convert to GPS? Not really. Yes it has its place but I will still be navigating using my map and compass.
About the Author
Hi I am Chris Wakefield the owner of ComTech IT Support. I provide Windows and Linux based IT Support, laptop repairs and computer repairs to both business and personal clients in and around Stirling.
For a list of what I can offer you why not visit my website www.comtech247.net where you will find a list of my services, testimonials, blog and much more.
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