Map scale question

Wacm

FNG
Joined
Mar 7, 2017
Messages
45
Location
Edgewood texas
Hey guys I picked up a couple maps of the units I will hunt this year, they are 1:70,000 scale.
I can't seem to find a ruler or protractor scaled to 1:70,000. I found some that was 1:69,500 is that close enough?
Or do I need to stick with 1:70,000? I'm new to maps so any info you want to share would be appreciated.
Thanks.
 
Joined
Oct 4, 2013
Messages
567
Location
VA
It depends upon your need for detail and definition of "close enough" I suppose.
It should be close enough for determining general location and measuring distances to put you "in the area" of a feature or spot. Also likely good enough for planning travel times by vehicle and on foot if terrain is not too challenging. Likely not close enough if you are trying to plan or navigate to precise locations in the dark and need to end up within sight of a waterhole in the timber when the sun rises.
To put it in perspective, one inch on the 1:70000 map is 5833 feet on the ground, the 65000 ruler indicates 5791 feet on the ground for an inch on the ruler. So your "error" is approximately 42 ground feet per measured inch. If you were to use a ball point pen to put a dot on that map to mark a spot that dot would actually cover about a 200 foot radius "on the ground". So your map is not too detailed to begin with.
If used with that perspective then the measuring difference probably won't cause problems. A simple solution would be to use a conveniently small, but finely graduated scale with units that are easy for you to calculate with and then do the math to minimize your "on the ground" difference.
 

Tberg

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Apr 26, 2016
Messages
151
Location
Arizona
The scale is a relative scale. Which means 1 unit on the map is = 70,000 on the ground.
So 1"=70,000"
1'=70,000'
1cm=70,000cm

The scale 1:63360 is the equivalent of 1"=1 mile.
 
Top