new product: mapdana

[MedicineMan]

http://www.antigravitygear.com/products/AT1-0803.html

Was studying the latest from Brasslite and found out about the Mapdana market by antigravity gear (famous for their cozies), ordered and recieved one today. If you carry a bandanna and most think you should for too many uses to list here then consider the Mapdana.

The mapdana is a product of China if that matters to you, but is of good quality with the AT mapped out clearly and on a multicolor map. The information provided includes all things on a good map: cities, rivers,interstates, highways, secondary roads but also these important entries:
distance to water,distance off trail to shelter, mail drops, resupply, lodging, outfitters, hostels, and medical facilities including phone numbers.
Also listed in ascending order are distances from Springer.

[FatMan]

Also available at the ATC web site. I have one. It is quite large but a great idea. It has been washed several times and is holding up quite well.

[Pencil Pusher]

Good to know the colors are holding. I suppose one could leave the maps and such at home and just rely on their bandana. It's pretty informative and large (as was mentioned).

[tlbj6142]

Good to know the colors are holding. I suppose one could leave the maps and such at home and just rely on their bandana. It's pretty informative and large (as was mentioned).

My brother has been using them on his thru. The are about 50% larger than a "normal" bandana and the map and text held up much, much better than I would have ever thought.

They contain quite a bit of information about trail mileage and include some town info. Might be enough info to use as your only source.

[TogetherinParis]

Mapdana #1 Springer to Damascus VA was printed in 2003. The website's update page carries you back to the home page. They promise some means of keeping it updated.
It could be much better. The map could be bigger, printed to use the available bandana space by omiting the unnecessary advertizing. Increasing the size of the map even a little is not trivial. You could know which side of the trail the shelter was on, for instance, with a closer ken. That's important info in dusky twilight rain. Some shelters are easy to miss hiking the trail.

[TogetherinParis]

Mapdana printing is one-sided, too. Use of opaque cloth could, obviously, double resolution.