What do you think about the idea of carrying a silk escape map in a survival kit? I'm talking about the ones carried by soldiers in WW11. you can buy them for around £15 from some surpluse sites on the internet. Just an idea

Topo maps are often useful in remote areas and don't often go obsolete (barring volcano's and asteroids) In populated areas the topo map is not so useful since buildings and chain-link fences don't show up and will often be a barrier. Road maps go obsolete quite quickly and therefore aren't much use unless you have a recent one. A silk map of a populated area that was printed in 1943 will not be very useful. You can get tyvek maps from the USGS for most of the remote areas of the US. These are not as multi-functional as a silk map but much more durable and just as lightweight.

Another problem in general with a map in the PSK is that the PSK or other kit carried for survival in unexpected situations, is that unexpected situations happen in unexpected places - you only carry maps for the places you expect to be. OTOH, it is not a bad idea to get a map for any area you are visiting or traveling through and carry it with you. If you drop from the sky in a jet-liner during a trans-continental flight and happen to live the likelyhood that you have the correct map in the overhead bin is very unlikely. In this situation, after praying your thanks to whatever god you believe in for the fact that you are alive you might find the compass much more useful as well as the general rules of walking out. - follow water down hill, signal for help don't stray far from the crash site - it will be most noticable from the air etc....

A lot of the silk maps available are very old. The accuracy of the information may be dubious. SASS in Preston have a wide range, but I think they sell them more as collectors pieces. On a more positive point, although it would be bulky I wonder if we could convince the people that do those laminated OS maps to offer the 1:625,000 (UK in 2 sheets) in waterproof style?

i wasn't sugesting carrying it in a PSK, I was sugesting a ........? I'm not sure, but just wondering if it might be useful

Pete:

I think these are a great idea. I wish someone would make an up to date line of them. As far as the dated ones, they could be misleading as previously pointed out.

A possible alternative is the Micro Map sold by TAD. It was developed on your side of the pond so it may be of more use to you. Perhaps you can leaave the viewer home and just bring a freznel lens.

Chris

I was always fascinated by my uncle's escape map ( P-61 black Widow pilot, crash landed in german held France .) Current survival bandannas are undersized cotton affairs. An updated silk version with information would be a great project.

Buy a clean map of your area of interest at a suitable scale.

Take it to your local t-shirt shop, (where they make photographic reproduction t-shirts) who should be able to tell you where you can get it transferred to material - silk or otherwise. Instant silk map, or instructional bandanna, or whatever.

Chris:

You may like the book "Aircraft Down!" by Philip Caine (ISBN 1-57488-234-1). Great book on similar escapes. Your uncle may be mentioned in there.

I'll check it out. My Uncle was of prussian ancestry and spoke 'high german' fluently. This actually became a problem, as the french underground in Alsace-Lorraine dressed him as a labourer. His german was from the wrong region <img src="images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" /> I asked how he crashed. It seems my uncle's squadron specialized in V1's before the invasion and made very fast, closing runs on the "doodlebugs". He was chasing a rare german nightfighter 'Owl' and shot off one engine ( he thought the opponent might be a distant relative). The engine collided with his ship. The family has his survival kit, including just such a silk map and button compass.