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Okay,
Lets talk gear. Gear makes or breaks you in Adventure Racing. We write reviews about the gear we use and
give you the info. If you are a
beginner we will do our best to let you know about it before you buy.
Because we can’t try all the gear we welcome you to submit a review or
send us an email about you and, if approved, you can submit regular
reviews.
*All prices are rounded
and are for general reference.
For
a list of Basic Adventure Racing Gear Click here.
We now archive our gear reviews.
You can access them by using the links at
the bottom of the page.
Click
here for the gear archives.
As I have been told many times, everyone has an
opinion. So, if yours is different drop us a line.
Email
Us Here
| In adventure racing you
are only as good as your navigation. With that we are now expanding on our
gear reviews with the UTM readers. The readers below are newly designed
readers. We did include a review of the standard GR2 reader, as this is the product
that we judge from. You
can see or get the GR2 designed by C-Thru below. There are
many different styles of readers out there, the ones below are a small
part of all of the innovative products available to Adventure Racers. |
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C-
Thru GR2 UTM
Grid Reader |
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Description:
The
GR2 UTM Reader is the standard by which most are judged. This reader
has plenty of features and accurate scales. It is also very user
friendly.
Features:
Transparent,
laminated scale with the following metric scales: 1:24,000,
1:62,500, 1:25,000 and 1:250,000, 1:50,000, 1:100,000, 1:150,000 and
1:63,360. Laminated for durability. The scale also incorporates a
full 360 protractor.
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.Price: $6.00
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Review:
This
is an excellent reader in which we judge all others. We have used
this reader's scales since we started adventure racing. It is an
accurate and easy reader to use with multiple scales on it. We have
now included it in this review to show what our reviews are based
on. We have used and in some cases even cut out the scales on the
reader to use them independently while racing.
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Where to find it:
REI.com
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Maptools.com
Corner
"Roamer" Reader |
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Description:
Five
corner rulers on a single card covering the most common map scales
used in adventure races. Each corner ruler allows you to plot a UTM
coordinate within a 1km map grid with 10m precision. Each corner has
a small hole to allow for placing a mark on the map.
Features:
Tool
is 4.5" by 4.5" (114mm X 114mm) Printed on sturdy 30 mil
plastic. Made in USA.
This tool can be used with the following map scales and grid sizes:
1:10,000
x 1km 1:25,000
x 1km
1:30,000
x 1km 1:100,000*
x 10km
1:15,000
x 1km 1:1,000,000* x 100km
1:150,000*
x 10km 1:24,000 x 1km
1:250,000*
x 10km 1:300,000* x 10km
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.Price: $5.00
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Review:
This
is an excellent, no frills UTM reader with plenty of the most
commonly used scales in adventure racing. The reader is accurate and
the plotting holes are drilled outside of the actual reader so you
can use the reader properly. The tool is of reasonable size, which
might be a little big to wear around your neck, but it is manageable.
This is a good reader for the money with all of the features you
need.
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Where to find it:
Maptools.com
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The
Basic Roamer AR |
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Description:
Although
it may look complicated, the design of the Basic Roamer© AR
has been carefully considered for US Adventure Racing
and has over 20 major features. Originally developed for
rallying in Europe this tool is now customized and available for the
US Adventure Racer.
Features:
Precision
engineered
Very clear for easy map reading
Based
on scale of 1:24,000 and 1:63,360
All information is parallel and easy to read
Magnetic
declination conversion chart
1:24,000 UTM Grid
Secondary 1:24,000 UTM Grid for 1st 200 meters of square
100 Meter radius cutout on 1:24,000 scale
1:63,360 UTM Grid for 1inch to 1 mile maps
1.5 mile scale at 1:24,000
1/10th mile distance measuring scale
Meters to feet/feet to meters conversion scale
Miles to kilometers/kilometers to miles conversion scale
1:63,360 distance measuring scale
1:24,000
distance measuring scale
Speed, time and distance calculations
Points of compass circle
Degrees of circle to 0 to 360
12 & 24 hour clock face
Hole for neck cord
Helpful Basic Roamer© AR logo as Longitude and Latitude hint
Complete instructions on major features
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.Price: $9.95
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Review:
The
Basic Roamer AR is a great little tool with many features. The most
useful features are the distance scales and degree circles along
with the plotting reminders which can help when you are tired. The
drawback is the tool only comes with two scales, a 1:24,000 and a
1:63,000. The 1:24,000 scale is most widely used but some races use
many different scales with multiple maps. The 1:24,000 scale is cut
out from 1 down. Although, the part of the scale which is missing is printed
on the top right corner. We found the splitting up of these parts
makes it difficult for quick accurate plotting. This tool may take
some more practice to get used to and understand, until then stay
tuned for updates.
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Where to find it:
Adventure
Racing Nav Supplies
Arequip.com
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ARequip.com
UTM Plotter |
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Description:
Adventure
Racing UTM Plotter
Features:
The
Adventure Racing UTM Plotter includes four commonly used map scales
(1:24K, 1:25K, 1:50K, 1:62.5K) on a credit-card sized piece of
translucent plastic. Pre-drilled holes make it
easy to mark your checkpoints. Made and designed by adventure
racers.
*
Lanyard hole for easy carry and quick access
*
1:24K, 1:25K, 1:50K, 1:62.5K scales
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.Price:
$5.00
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Review:
We
have reviewed this plotter and found it to be pretty well designed
with a few exceptions. The pros are that is is small and has lots of
scales on the tool. The cons are that the cutouts for each scale
takes up scale hash marks, making it difficult to plot coordinates
under 1. With a few refinements this plotter could be everything an
adventure racer needs, without anything they don't.
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Where to find it:
Arequip.com
Online
Retailers
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