“I kept a full plot of the first
game and was surprised when
I saw that I’d been round in
circles a couple of times without
realising it!”
would be very easy to use with gloved hands
either. At Catterick I switched the unit on,
put it into the supplied hard case, stuck it in a
jacket pocket and left it running for the whole
of the Saturday.
Looking at the recorded track later I don’t
think there was a single area of the site that I
hadn’t visited, and I’ve got to say it seemed to
be very accurate. You could even see places
where I had moved from building to building
by crawling through mouse-holes in adjoining
walls.
I was also glad of another feature of the
unit: it has an IPx7 waterproof rating, meaning
it can be immersed in water to a depth of 1
metre for up to 30 minutes. There were times
over the weekend I felt that this might be
sorely tested! Luckily, whoever was in charge
092
January 2012
of Weather Ops pulled whatever strings they
needed to pull and the rain stayed away for
the most part.
So the unit works well, it is simple to
use and only (for me) had a couple of what
amounted to really minor irritants – but the
whole point of this was to see whether it is a
useful tool for airsoft.
Unfortunately, I think the answer has to be
no.
Yes, I can see occasions where it would be
helpful, such as for finding your way around
at an event on a huge site. I can also see
a use for recording your team members’
movements – but as an everyday airsoft
accessory, I don t think so. To me this is a
real shame, as I really like the device and was
looking for a way to justify the £300-odd it
would take to buy one. All is not lost though!
Memory-Map Free is an app available for
iPhone/iPad that has many of the functions
found in its bigger brother. Maps are only
available via download from Memory-Map’s
Digital Map Shop but the app comes with a
free 90-day licensed Topo Sample Pack. This
allows you to download both Landranger
and Explorer maps and try the app without
any cost involved (apart from your mobile
fees of course).
All Memory-Map devices and software
can also be used with marine and aviation
charts and, if you buy the paid-for version of
the app, you can exchange V5 maps between
your PC and phone. ■
MEMORY-MAP
The full price for the Adventurer 3500
is £380. Memory-Map currently has a
special offer on its online shop, with the
unit priced at just £299, and you can get
an extra £50 cashback when you trade
in any old handheld GPS. Personally
speaking, I think £250 represents very
good value for money for a unit of this
quality, especially when you consider the
number of accessories supplied in the box!
Memory-Map: www.memory-map.co.uk