Do you still carry an Atlas

I still do. Just maybe old fashion but also maybe habit.

 

I don't, I go to the same place every day at work, 557 miles round trip.
I know all the shortcuts if traffic gets backed up, and I usually run Waze just in case something up ahead does happen..

But this was my best friend for 9 years of package delivery from 1986 to 1994.
No cell phones, no GPS, none of that stuff.



Then we would use paper road maps for areas we didn't know..





Most people these days couldn't even read a map, my 59-year-old wife included..

 

We had binders full of paper maps in our ambulances. City maps, county maps, street maps, topo maps, everything to try and help us navigate to an emergency. I guarantee you that 90% of my employees now have never seen a paper maps forget about them even knowing how to read one!

 

I don't carry one for local area, because I know it from years of living here, plus jobs that required I know.

But I carry paper maps when I go off-roading-- often there's not good connectivity, plus it just seems safer to have a post-apocalyptic plan.

 

I keep a state map. Used to use the Thomas Guide when I was a driver before smart phones. Taught my wife to read a map and she’s a killer navigator. Even while using GPS I keep it muted. Just follow the map.

 

I'd bet not a young person now knows that house/business street addresses end in even numbers for one side of the street and odd numbers for the other side..
Nor do they know how to use a compass.

 

I got an engineers compass and a map of cali, AZ, Nevada and Oregon and I can actually use it haha

 

Yes. Ye ole Rand McNally.

 

I keep a Backroad Mapbook of my area in the truck, and add others when going to different regions. They not only have the main roads, but resource and forest service roads as well. Hiking trails too.

I also know how to navigate with a compass, can find the north star and can find north with the hands of my wristwatch. I've even dabbled in using a sextant.

 

OP- You must have read my mind. I was literally thinking about buying one a couple days ago. I’m going to buy one. I’d like to start traveling and don’t want to rely on gps. Wanna do it old-school.

 

Working in forestry all our department trucks always had road atlas’s in them. I also carried one in my personal truck. Now I have esri field maps with offline maps downloaded for the areas without cell service. Newer graduates I don’t think would be able to use the atlas well judging by what I’m seeing.

 

I bought one while I was evacuated from hurricane Katrina. I would have been completely lost trying to navigate back to SE Louisiana without it.

 

You betcha....GPS ROUTING IS FLAWED.....point A to B one direction...B to A usually different

 

Oh yeah, I am a huge fan of these gazetteer series state maps https://www.amazon.com/DeLorme®-Col...MIg8jNv4-FgwMVZ9TCBB1vfw0QEAYYASABEgJEB_D_BwE



I can spend hours dreaming up places to go check out. WAY more enjoyable than searching google maps digitally.

 

I have a set of maps for SC, NC, GA, and FL from AAA in my map pocket. Also some of the big cities like ATL. They’ve served me well for years but guess I should just toss them in the recycle bin. Used to have an Escort but tossed it and now use Waze to alert me of road hazards.

 

Oh that's definitely true! Nor do they know that each town has a "city center" where the compass direction on addresses begin and the further away from that point the bigger the number gets.

 

Mine knows, 'cause I taught 'im. "Weenee" is an easy lesson when boys are young.

 

Yes, still do

 

I still have a few, lots of city maps bought at gas stations. Don’t carry them anymore. Wife wants me to chuck em, won’t do it.

 

I used thomas guides for years before gps.
If I was going somewhere new I’d print from Mapquest
Now most cities are permanently etched in my brain from Everett WA to Albany OR along I5.
Needless to say I rarely use gps at this point

 

RM Motor Carrier's Road Atlas and Benchmark Maps Road and Recreation Atlas for many different states. The Benchmark Maps are fantastic and show nearly every single trail in existence. Never really use modern tech for transit.

 

Yes. DeLorme Maine atlas, for the glorious North Woods. Not very accurate, it happens way too often I scratch my truck for 3 miles only to find out the bridge was taken out of commission a decade ago. But it has some old school warmth when you sit by the camp fire in darkness, with coyotes ambient sounds, sip beer and plan tomorrow with the atlas in your hands.

 

Like back roads?

Then you want Mad Maps. >>> https://www.madmaps.com/

 

I started carrying one back in the late 80’s covering my territory in Kansas, used it for years. Prior to my first retirement in 2019, training a new rep, I advised him to get one for reference and he looked at me like I was crazy. He relied 100% on his phone navigation, he even uses it to get back to the office after lunch every day.

 

Yep, I do. Good insurance.

 

I can not even imagine how hard of a Job that was without gps navigation like we have today. I never really thought about it really but the more I do think about it the more impossible the job seems. Thank you for your due diligence and the lives you saved

 

I keep a few paper maps from AAA in my vehicles - one for the province and one for each big city I'm likely to go to semi regularly.

 

Early 90’s I did sears home deliveries on weekends in San Diego. As the helper, I was map reader. Thomas bros maps for the win. Paid by the stop, time was a factor. Usually done with about 22 deliveries by 2p.

 

Bought a new Atlas last year. Comes in handy thanks to Toyota's subscription based maps (assholes) and google isn't much help when you're out in the middle of no where Idaho, Montana, etc.. Off-line maps help, but no replacement for a good atlas.