Originally Posted by
staehpj1
I am kind of surprised to hear the "laminate them" recommendation. I figured that maps are heavy enough without laminating them and on a long-ish US tour there will likely be a 10 more state maps to carry. Also laminated maps don't fold well with the lamination materials that I have seen and I have to wonder how you laminate a large map like the Texas state map.
So I am curious. Do you just laminate smaller map sections? Do you have some thinner, lighter, more flexible stuff to laminate with? Probably kind of moot for me since I've never had a map not last long enough to cross a state, but I am curious.
this is the first time i've heard a paper map referred to as heavy. i mean, they weigh what, 20 grams or so?
anyway for starters, texas is by far larger than iowa, and since i rarely leave iowa for my rides, multiple maps aren't an issue. as for smaller sections, yeah, that's the gist of it. i use this lamination material that's basically a slightly larger (1/2" or so) than printer paper clear sticker, apply to both sides of each section and then sections are joined by clear box tape, allowing the sections to be folded.
the reason for the lamination is two-fold. first it keeps it dry, and second, it allows me to mark out a route to follow with the ability to remove it later for other trips. it was mostly for the second reason that i originally did this. hope that helps with the noddle scrathing staehpj1.