Map Mate Offers An Adjustable Scale

Product: Map Mate

Description: A hand-held electronic map measurement device weighing just under two ounces. The outer housing is high-impact ABS plastic and the LCD is UV-coated to minimize sunlight reflection. Powered by a lithium battery.

Pro: The map scale on Map Mate is adjustable so, no matter what scale of map you are using, you can, with the push of a button, program Map Mate to match the scale to the nearest one-thousandth. Since there are four memory positions on Map Mate, it is simple to program the four most commonly used map scales into the device for quick recall. Map Mate calculates distance in both kilometers and miles and also estimates the time required to travel that distance by using one of four selected speed references: jogging, walking, bicycling or driving.

Con: The measuring wheel is relatively large compared to other mechanical map-measuring devices I have used, making it more challenging to be absolutely precise in measuring your distances, especially when the trail or road features sharp curves and twists. Since there is no arrow or point of reference dictating where to place the wheel to begin your measurement on a trail and where to stop measuring once you have reached the end of the section you are trying to measure, the process is made doubly difficult.

Comments: Although the Map Mate is not a perfect device, it is a major improvement over the mechanical map-measuring systems which required you to peer at a needle resting over a variety of distance scales to determine, to the best of your ability, what the distance actually was.

Suggested Retail: $29.95

Company: Stapleford International, 757 Cayuga Street, Lewiston, NY 14092; (416) 322-7555.