Anybody have a backup plan?

[Joe Nerve]

I don't rely on GPS since I've lost signal three times. Now, the day before the gig I'll go up to Google Maps and from the overview I'll choose what looks like the best route. Then I'll go down to street view and look at all the intersections where I have to turn. I'll write down the directions as well, but usually I can drive to the location without having to refer to the directions since I know what the drive looks like. I just make mental notes like: turn left at the Shell station, right just past the old silo after the school zone, and so on. It's an incredibly efficient way to find your way to a gig. I can drive to a new locations as though I've done it a hundred times before.

If I were traveling once or twice a month I'd probably do the same. Doing it 8 to 15X a month, plus working on 20 other things a week - I'd much rather use Waze and find a simple backup.

A $60 Garmin is seeming like my best bet still, but I always have an iPad on me for gigs. Downloading routes on that with WiFi might be the way to go that I hadn't thought of.

 

[JW56789]

Maps. I know it's horse and buggy. But then, I'm not lost two hours from my house. Whaddya gonna do, I'm a Neanderthal.

I gave up on cellphones leading me around when I lived in Florida and more than once, following those directions would have had my 'destination' a 1/4 mile . . . . . into the Gulf of Mexico. At least I could have waded back ashore . . . .

 

[Zooberwerx]

Find a source of water and follow it downstream...you will eventually stumble onto some type of civilization.

Riis

 

[PWRL]

Pull over, light the road flares and honk SOS.

Or the Rand McNally map.

 

[Stewie]

I use my on dash Germin all the time. It knows streets, but not businesses. If I ask for Dunkin Dogans, it will show me everywhere they used to be. I'm afraid to update it since the last time I tried with a TomTom, it erased it's own mind and twenty minutes later told me I didn't have enough memory to download the new map

 

[Stewie]

....Every time I tried to use Mapquest, the direction would take me halfway to my destination and then.........the mistake. Never worked right for me

 

[Salicete]

I'm not taking it personally. I know how to use a map, I drove with them for over 20 years. I'm more surprised at the people who still think maps are the way to go, as explained in the last part of my previous post.

I'd guess that waze saves me hundreds (probably 1000s) of hours of unnecessary traffic and work per year. And is LOT safer to use than trying to refigure out routes when I've made a wrong turn.

I'm not afraid of technology. I embrace it and I ask questions when I need help or suggestions. As I did here.

Some might laugh at those writing on computers, while sticking carbon paper in typewriters and using correct-it tape. I know how to do that, but I'm not going to. It makes no sense to me.

Oh, don't get me wrong, I use WAZE every day, not road maps, and ~obviously~ am on a computer now; I also write, almost exclusively, on a computer. I love technology, I just kind of shake my head at those who would be "lost" without it

Many kids can't read or write in cursive, manual transmissions, forget it, #2 pencils????

I guess I'm just old and sad to see the stuff I grew up with and know going by the roadside, but I'll be part of the past soon; it isn't my world anymore, so I just have to suck it up and fade-away gracefully.

 

[buldog5151bass]

Keep an old phone in the car (and keep it charged), so you can do it offline.

Or how about a map???

 

[Killed_by_Death]

I've got a huge road atlas in my trunk that used to belong to a trucker. It's bookmarked with tape for cities in the area.
I've used it once, got stuck in an area w/o cell-phone service.

 

[Herrick]

I'm pretty sure I have a map in my car somewhere. I should check. I haven't seen it in many years.

 

[TakeABreak]

I've been there, driving with a map on the steering wheel. Sure don't miss it.

Interesting side note: when you use a Petzl headlight on red mode to avoid blinding the driver, all the red print on the map turns invisible. Don't ask me how I know...

 

[Lobster11]

I'm 58. Know full well how to use a map, but doing that would add ridiculous amounts of time to my job. I play 2-3 shows a week, and 80% of my gigs are in places I've never been before. Waze makes travel a complete no-brainer for me, but I want backup. Using maps would also add many hours to my travel time because it's impossible to figure in traffic, road closures, construction, and best routes. Goin old school for me is like choosing a horse and buggy over a car.

You asked about a backup plan, not something better than Waze. Backup plans are maps and stopping to ask directions. Seems to me you're overthinking this.

 

[HubbardsFate]

I spent 15 years working in the forests of British Columbia.

One thing I learned on that job is that I will NEVER put my faith solely in electronics with regards to getting from A to B.

 

[Ross W. Lovell]

There used to be these things called maps.
Big sheets of paper with a picture of an area...


As for the phone, if I know I'm likely to be out for longer than a charge, I usually bring one of those powerblocks and a charging cable.

Maps........aaaaah lovely things. Try and find one. My GPS became useless in the valleys while in the mountains of Pennsylvania.

Sourced a WalMart and attempted to buy one, NOPE!

I honestly thought the current GPS I had might be the problem, it wasn't.

My second Garmin was purchased that day at WalMart, it also didn't function.

There are areas where the necessary number of satellites are not available leaving the GPS users in the lurch.

The gas stations laughed when I asked about maps.

We are becoming wussified.

 

[Magthegrate]

Phone crapped out because the battery died? or because the phone itself died?

If it's the battery, either just make sure that you have a car charger, or an external battery pack with the chord. I generally have both of those with me all of the time anyway.

if the phone itself died, well... better get yourself an old school map book.

edit: Also, if you lose cell service, Google gives you the option to download directions so that you can use them in offline mode. You just have to do it before you hit the road.

 

[DJ Bebop]

No batteries required...

You're Welcome!

 

[Tony In Philly]

Just get a Rand McNally road atlas and throw it in your trunk.

 

[Afc70]

I have a phone charger in my truck, I suppose that’s my main backup plan. I generally look at my map on my phone & get a good mental pic of where I’m headed & my return trip.

 

[DWBass]

The only time my standalone GPS stutters is when I'm going through a tunnel. Other than that, it always works. They use a satellite signal which is damn near everywhere?! Cell phones are different since they use cell data. I can see them losing signal the further away from a tower you get.

 

[Tony In Philly]

Have you thought about using Google maps (or something similar like Mapquest, etc.) directions on a home computer and then printing out the directions as a backup? I haven't read the whole thread so I'm not sure if somebody else mentioned the same thing.