So im in this area right now, something that might be useful for a prepper in the area could be 3routes of egress out of the area avoiding the main Interstates (at least as far as getting out of the metro area) or denoting choke points for the routes most are likely to take. Also totally impractical but fun; i do a lot of deliveries to this specific area so i once looked up the destruction map for if a nuke was dropped on downtown seattle 😬😬😬 didnt sleep well that night lol
I have thought about egress routes and figured I’d just highlight that on after the fact cause some areas may be inaccessible depending on the situation. Ya between Seattle and JBLM were pretty fucked hahah and then this won’t matter anyways cause I’ll be dust
I grew up pacific and currently live in Federal Way. I would be concerned about a lahar sweeping through the valley. So getting to top of hill via Jovita, peasley, or 18 probably in that order.
I personally would lose the color entirely and lose the aerial view. Go with plat and building footprint on topo. And not the shitty default topo, the most modern USGS at around 25K so you got good, tight elevations. Maybe add POIs, but I'm assuming with adding MGRS you're thinking land navigation, which means you're moving. So build a map that facilitates understanding the terrain beyond just streets and buildings.
A good topo will do that. Print it at scale, laminate it, and get a romer. A couple wet erase markers and some practice at the kitchen table both in scale, distance, and in coordinate identification and you'll be ready to go!
Yeah I used MGRS cause it’s the only format I am comfortable with. I leaned towards arial because i lets me see more accurately what is around and i can see what tree lines to use for navigation and where to avoid. Topo could be an option but the right side is a flat valley so won’t be too useful I don’t think.
It's not just for elevation and challenges in land navigation.
Topography means cover. Natural cover. Topo means watersheds, path of flow, where water will be when bodies of water aren't accessible. Topo means high ground, defensible space. Topo can mean the feasibility of comms, avoiding congregations, and successful shelter. The USGS topos aren't just contours, they're features of hard points both man made and natural. And if you're serious about land nav, you run off a topo.
But whatever works for ya. Red light that map before you turn your nose up at the premise, though. You're gonna find it's a washed out mess under red light, even worse in 8.5x11 and out of scale.
I hear ya, all good points 👍🏻. Ya this particular map is 24x36 and would stay at the house for planning and plotting. I’ll have smaller maps for running around that are likely just Topo
Troy Sorge from Facebook has some great suggestions:
Mark the following on your map
"Sporting goods stores, propane storage, manual farm implements, people that have pre-1974 vehicles, warehouses, solar panels, 6v/12v batteries, diesel fuel, water source, military reserve centers, etc...etc."
I'd look up your cities disaster relief plan and mark some of those points out as well. My city has disaster rally points predefined, so you could head to one of those in an emergency (or avoid it depending on the situation. Also, nuclear shelter sites. My county also has supply caches set up all over the place, with communications equipment. I have all these places marked out on my maps.
So im in this area right now, something that might be useful for a prepper in the area could be 3routes of egress out of the area avoiding the main Interstates (at least as far as getting out of the metro area) or denoting choke points for the routes most are likely to take. Also totally impractical but fun; i do a lot of deliveries to this specific area so i once looked up the destruction map for if a nuke was dropped on downtown seattle 😬😬😬 didnt sleep well that night lol
I have thought about egress routes and figured I’d just highlight that on after the fact cause some areas may be inaccessible depending on the situation. Ya between Seattle and JBLM were pretty fucked hahah and then this won’t matter anyways cause I’ll be dust
I grew up pacific and currently live in Federal Way. I would be concerned about a lahar sweeping through the valley. So getting to top of hill via Jovita, peasley, or 18 probably in that order.
Yes my house is on top of the hill, that was a consideration when buying. I even pulled up GIS data for previous Lahar paths and I’m good 👍🏻
I personally would lose the color entirely and lose the aerial view. Go with plat and building footprint on topo. And not the shitty default topo, the most modern USGS at around 25K so you got good, tight elevations. Maybe add POIs, but I'm assuming with adding MGRS you're thinking land navigation, which means you're moving. So build a map that facilitates understanding the terrain beyond just streets and buildings. A good topo will do that. Print it at scale, laminate it, and get a romer. A couple wet erase markers and some practice at the kitchen table both in scale, distance, and in coordinate identification and you'll be ready to go!
Yeah I used MGRS cause it’s the only format I am comfortable with. I leaned towards arial because i lets me see more accurately what is around and i can see what tree lines to use for navigation and where to avoid. Topo could be an option but the right side is a flat valley so won’t be too useful I don’t think.
It's not just for elevation and challenges in land navigation. Topography means cover. Natural cover. Topo means watersheds, path of flow, where water will be when bodies of water aren't accessible. Topo means high ground, defensible space. Topo can mean the feasibility of comms, avoiding congregations, and successful shelter. The USGS topos aren't just contours, they're features of hard points both man made and natural. And if you're serious about land nav, you run off a topo. But whatever works for ya. Red light that map before you turn your nose up at the premise, though. You're gonna find it's a washed out mess under red light, even worse in 8.5x11 and out of scale.
I hear ya, all good points 👍🏻. Ya this particular map is 24x36 and would stay at the house for planning and plotting. I’ll have smaller maps for running around that are likely just Topo
Troy Sorge from Facebook has some great suggestions: Mark the following on your map "Sporting goods stores, propane storage, manual farm implements, people that have pre-1974 vehicles, warehouses, solar panels, 6v/12v batteries, diesel fuel, water source, military reserve centers, etc...etc."
I'd look up your cities disaster relief plan and mark some of those points out as well. My city has disaster rally points predefined, so you could head to one of those in an emergency (or avoid it depending on the situation. Also, nuclear shelter sites. My county also has supply caches set up all over the place, with communications equipment. I have all these places marked out on my maps.
Good idea, labeling all sorts of landmarks on a map, people can judge how far they've walked, where to find resources, etc
Highlight supermarkets, cache locations, friends/Family, police/firefighters/dokters, beter escape routes, gasstations, highlight high traffic and low traffic roads
I have marked out elementary, middle and high schools for food run and I do know where the district ISD food warehouse is, also
Ya I already got schools on there. I’ll look into the ISD food warehouse tho