Gps or not?

Hi to you all,
Im fairly new to this forum and this is my first post!
Gps handhelds are being used more and more to find letterboxes. Yes i do have one and i use it well with my maps and compass to find letterboxes. So what do you think? Reading down through the forum i see alot of comments on gps, 10 digit clues being reduced to 8 digits, boxes being removed because of gps clues ect...ect...
Personally i like the clue book as it is. It offers more flexibilty for beginers up to more accomplished boxers to use it how best for them.If you want to place a box and add it to the clue book its up to that individual what information they give out about how to find it.
What do you think?

First of all - Welcome to the site
I must admit I have strong feelings about the subject you have mentioned up there.
With the introduction of GPS to letterboxing has definitely made looking for boxes far easier - even to the point where there are charity walks where obvious worn tracks between boxes without deviation from box to box are now appearing - to me this is destruction of the moor.
Don't get me wrong I love the GPS but it has also taken away an element of fun away from letterboxing. There is no need to work out now where on the ground where a box is as you have a machine that will guide you straight to that point.
GPS also has a down side to it as well - as you are walking straight to a boxm you are missing the others that may have been "just off the trail".

Using a compass require a skill which is dying out and the beauty of a compass is that it will never run out of batteries unlike the GPS.

Another down side to the GPS I think is that it will blinker you into missing a lot of the history that Dartmoor has to offer. But, having said all that I also believe it is one of the best safety devices that you can have on the moor. I hope others do this when they go on the moor and that is to set where they have left their car while they get ready to walk.

I dont like the 10 figure (or the 8 figure reference) as it is far too direct to get you to a box, a 1 square metre box, or a 10 square metre box respectively, is far too accurate for the Dartmoor letterbox theif and makes his/her job all that much easier.
If you are looking for a box on a six figure reference the chance of being seen lookinig for that box are much higher.

A couple of years ago I did a charity walk using a GPS which should have taken me 3-4 hours using a compass - I did it in 50 minutes and even then the letterbox thief had been there before me and I was officially the 3rd person to do the walk (after publication).

There are those out there who consider letterboxing a littering habit and they do their best to to disrupt the letterboxers enjoyment. An unmaintained box is litter - on that point I agree with them.

I have my reasons why some boxes should never be on the moor and I think they should be removed, but having said that I am not going to make people miserable by removing them. Only when a box is in seriously poor state of repair will I remove it and I will send it back to the owner (if I can)

Nik - KOTM wrote:

Another down side to the GPS I think is that it will blinker you into missing a lot of the history that Dartmoor has to offer. But, having said all that I also believe it is one of the best safety devices that you can have on the moor. I hope others do this when they go on the moor and that is to set where they have left their car while they get ready to walk.

I dont like the 10 figure (or the 8 figure reference) as it is far too direct to get you to a box, a 1 square metre box, or a 10 square metre box respectively, is far too accurate for the Dartmoor letterbox theif and makes his/her job all that much easier.
If you are looking for a box on a six figure reference the chance of being seen lookinig for that box are much higher.


I have my reasons why some boxes should never be on the moor and I think they should be removed, but having said that I am not going to make people miserable by removing them. Only when a box is in seriously poor state of repair will I remove it and I will send it back to the owner (if I can)

I am with you NIK I use the GPSr to confirm where I am, and would not use it to find a box. Map compass & clues are for us. I the clue has a 10/8 fif GR I will ignore it. We think that giving a 10/8 GR makes the boxes a much better target for the scrots that steal them.

we have all 3 ways sometimes we get the book out and work out clues and bearings.

then we have the gps and try to find them with this.

the favorite though is just walk from A to B then look at every hidey hole on the way...

love it
________
Meteor

well it depends on who im out with and the amount of clues and stamps i have in the area. but i like to atleast head in the right direction and then switch to the compass but if the weather looks grim or it is freezing cold then gps as i can then put my hands in my pocket.

Just as a matter of safety - it is worth pointing out that batteries do not like the cold weather and will last a lot less than they would normally do.

As I said before I do like the GPS as an aid for getting one out of difficulty - a couple of years back I was out wandering around when the cloud suddenly descended and visibility went to nothing - I turned on my GPS and to my horror I had wandered nearly three miles from the car.
Using my life saving machine it took me back to my car which I couldn't see until I walked into it - to say I was feeling nervous was a bit of an understatement when it told me I had less than 50 metres to go and I couldn't see the car.
I do believe GPS has a future on the moors - but things are about to change in the next few years as the satellites run out of power and we shall be left with a lot of potentially expensive paper weights.

Hi all,

Hope all had a good festive season

On the subject of GPS: I carry one on my runs as a back-up to the usual map+compass. I'm usually out alone and at night/poor vis and it's good to know it's in my pack. When I do get it out it's to switch it on, check my grid ref and switch it off. I wouldn't leave it on as mine munches the batteries!

It's probably been said before, but it's no substitute for nav skills. I will usually cover a bit of GPS work on my courses if requested, but to compliment the traditional methods, and anyway I only use the 'where am I?' option myself.

Take care all.

Foxy

We mainly use a GPS at the moment, largely because with a 6 year old in tow, who doesn't always share his Mum and Dad's love of letterboxing and has tendancies towards grumpiness!!! We like to know we're in the right area, also have you ever tried lining up your bearings with one eye on a kamaze rock climbing 6 year old and the other on that distance church!?!?!? and not easy especially when its just me and him.

So yes I do take the easy route at the moment, although I agree with others comments about noticable errosion on some walks and tors etc.

It's a difficult one really, although I wouldn't be to opposed to reducing it from 10 ref numbers especially for the catalogue clues. Afterall there will always be charity walks with 10 ref numbers to introduce new letterboxers to the hobby, and for people with grumpy 6 yr olds in tow (LOL).

Although we were out on New Years Day doing the Dartmoor rescue walk around Sourton Tors and we were grateful for it then...... Many a comment of where's the little chef again-----just over there through the fog, I can just see his hat - NOT!!!! Great fun!


Steph

Have you not tried bribery for your 6 year old - it worked with mine years ago - we used to pay them 10p for evey box found