How do I waterproof my maps?
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How do I waterproof a map?
One big problem that many campers and hikers run into is getting their maps soaked. You usually have to buy a map of the local area at a local sporting or outdoors store, and generally they are made from pretty flimsy paper. Many hikers have found themselves lost in unfamiliar territory after a sudden rain or a slip into a body of water caused their map to turn to a soaked wad of paper.
There are a couple of ways to deal with this problem and waterproof your map in advance. First is the easiest way: getting a commercial map waterproofing spray:
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Nikwax Map Proof - This is going to be the simplest way to do it. It's basically a spray that you coat both sides of the map on. It stays flexible and you can still write on it, and the coat is see-through. It costs around $8 and you can get it here online. |
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Waterproof Map Case - This is the next easiest option: a little case that you can put the map inside of. It takes less work at first than spraying a coat on there, but the downside is that you may have to take the map out to use it if you're traveling over a larger area. For people on a kayak / canoe trip, this means you have to risk getting it wet when you want to open it up. It's probably a better option if you're only using a portion of the map at a time, though, because you can see a pretty big chunk of it through the plastic. It costs about $10 and is available online here. |
Option three, the hard way, is for the do-it-yourself types, or for people who can't find either of the easy ways at their local sports store. You'll need duct tape and one of those big, heavy-duty ziploc bags. Now take three strips of tape, one for each side of the bag that doesn't open. Make them the full length of each side. Place the strips on each edge, with half of the strip hanging off. At this point you should have a ziploc bag with the bottom and the two sides each having a strip of tape on one side.
Now, do the same thing to the other side - so the new strips of duct tape cover up the sticky part of the tape on the other side. They should close onto each other, forming a good seal. It's not perfect - you're more likely to get water in there than with a case, and it can rip a lot easier. But it's a good, cheap way to make your map waterproof.
This is roughly what it will look like. The black is the tape, a piece on either side, sticky sides facing inwards.
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