Discussion: Any suggestions on techniques for using a magnifyer on a thumb compass?

Having past the age 50 mark, I am finally having to succomb to the fact that 1:15,000 detailed maps are no longer so legible, but not bad enough yet to need glasses. Having heard horror stories of those who wear glasses of fogging up etc. I opted for the swing magnifier for my thumb compass. My first event was at JWOC Tour in Denmark on an intricate contour map and while it made a difference reading the map, it focused on such a small area that it was harder to see the big picture or whole leg. Tried swinging it out of the way to read the big picture, then back for the detail, but hard to keep a flow. I noticed that the Swedish Juniors had the magnifier on their thumb compasses for the JWOC long race, so I am looking for advice on the approporiate technique for those whose eyes are not dependent on glasses in the first place. I realise it will take some getting used to, but hoping for some helpful tips.

I had an eye condition for years that prevented me from reading fine detail on maps, which meant I had to use a magnifier for most 1:15 000 maps and most urban sprints.
I think the key to make sure that the magnifier is the right tool for you is that you can see your map well enough to plan your leg WITHOUT the magnifier and only use it for the circle details. If that's not the case, then the thumb maginfier might not be right for you?

So what I'd do would be to look at the whole leg, plan my route choice and everything else I could do without the magnifier. Then once I got to study the circle area, if I needed more detail than I could see, then I'd swing the magnifier back onto the map. It certainly is a bit of a pain and you also have to get used to the scale that your magnifier provides! But it's way, WAY better than glasses on a rainy or muggy day!

If you do end up going to an area where the map is extremely detailed, you may not even be able to plan your leg route choice without the magnifier. In that case, you probably want to have a pair of glasses in your o-bag....

My 2 cents

I have given up on the swinging magnifier - it is way too hard to follow, and it makes an "invisible ring" between the magnified bit and the bit of the map you see just outside the magnifier.

My advice is to get a separate magnifier and carry it the opposite hand. Then you can move it to exactly the place you want, and you can pan over the map with it (eg: to follow a leg).

I think there are any number to get, but I use an old base-plate with a magnifier insert

After one horrendous experience using a map with a lot of detail in dark green areas I experimented with contact lenses. For a spell, I tried one reading contact lense and one distance. Only wore them for orienteering and never got the hang of them at all. Made my general vision worse than normal - couldn't see the middle distance clearly. On one particularly bad day I threw them away mid-race and haven't used them since. If I think the map may be particularly detailed I carry a thumb compass magnifyer on a string round my neck and bring it out to look at the detail in the control circle. Luckily I can manage everything else.

I have recently used a moscow magnifier, like Barbie said you can't cover the map but it is good for detail. It would work a lot better with an anti-reflection coating on it to cut the glair down. I have also ordered a set of old man glasses from 866gaiters.

http://home.comcast.net/~galeso/Vapro_Glasses_Larg...

Does anyone have any experience with them??

"...having heard horror stories..." Try them out for yourself, including all the variations. Glasses, low profile or ones with dished tops don't capture so much of the steamy air that your face produces. Loosen off the elastic and wear them down your nose. The swinging magnifier was a huge advance IMO, encouraging the rough/fine navigation distinction, or "first get to the attack point..." I've needed visual help for 10 years now and I take both.

PS Just looked at that Vapro link, I find those bifocals good for eye protection (MTBO, foot-o with spiky branches) but are more prone to fogging. Vapro also supply the lookover specs with a cutaway top.

Seems to be a common thread this one. Just to balance the ledger, I wear one contact lens and wish I had started doing so many years earlier. No fogging of glasses. Good vision of the map and the distance. Perhaps this is easy for me because in the rest of the week I wear glasses that also encourage one eye to do the close work and one to do the distance work. I suspect if you only train your eyes to work this way by wearing lens for an hour once a week, you may have the problems mentioned above.

Thanks for the input. I will use some local events just to get used to the technique Barbie was suggesting above which is what was my intent. I just obviously need more practice.
Seeing the Swedish Juniors at JWOC who did not wear glasses and i assume all did not have contacts using thumb compasses with magnifiers made me think there must be some smooth technique to transfer between the big picture without the magnifier and the detailed with it. I guess it is down to practice, practice ....

The head magnifiers look doofy, but they do the job.
I have never really had a problem with moisture, even then, it's better than nothing at all, and all external magnifiers will pick up water drops.

Also tried the Moscow swinging magnifier... Agree with all the downsides mentioned: e.g., losing the big picture/flow on longer legs. I've tried to integrate it into some sort of routine, but probably never practiced enough to give it a chance. If I know I'm going into terrain and 1:15k maps that are simply beyond my visual capabilities (I need trifocals, but get by with only bifocals), I put the magnifier on then try to use it as little as possible. But it can be extremely valuable in those few cases where I simply can not make out important detail otherwise.

I love my magnifier, but it did take practice. I've heard of people getting annoyed and losing their place as they swung it out and in, but with practice this will become basically a non issue. Every once in awhile I lose my place... but I used to do that anyway! You just have to have the patience to stick it out and learn it. Nothing is ever easy the first time! And, as Barbie said, I typically only use it at the end of a leg in the control circle.

Sam, Thanks for the input, very helpful. Practice sounds like the answer. Question: I am trying to understand better your flow. Do you plan the leg and beyond without the magnifier to the attackpoint or control and when do you typically move into the magnified role, as you approach the attackpoint? Appreciate your words of wisdom.

Taking advice about using a magnifier from a under-30 year old? I'm not sure, but isn't the problem that your eyes aren't working as good as 30 year old eyes? ;-) The under-30 crowd have different requirements/issues I'd suspect.

The advantage of the 'magnifier in the other hand' approach is that it is possible to plan the entire leg using the magnifier at any required spot on the leg (for example, it is surprisingly often used to detect tiny passages on ISSOM maps half-way along a leg). I'm not sure how that would be done with the swing-out magnifier without moving your thumb.

I now use the short-range and long-range contacts which work OK. I had a couple of swinging magnifiers. I never use them for planning legs. They're OK for pockets of illegibility, but I suspect their main advantage is forcing you to slow down when they're needed. I smash them about one event in five, so that's about $2 per control magnified. I'll need a new magnifier soon, could have done with one at USOC and NAOC, so keep the ideas coming.

Taking advice from Under 30 year old? This is true as I do not wear glasses, can read 1:10,000 maps clearly, but detailed 1:15,000 maps are hard to read the detail - this is a problem for my 18year old daughter as much as me and she has 20/20 vision. The fact that the Swedish Juniors at JWOC were using magnifiers on their thumb compasses for the long event suggests to me that they considered this worthwhile.
At 53, I realise I am on borrowed time for decent eyesight without needing glasses, long may it remain. Having said that I am getting good advice for when that dreaded moment happens.

I typically plan the leg without the magnifier and then move it in when I am coming from my attackpoint. As soon as I need to be careful about how I move around small hills and through small reentrants, I'll move it in. I've also used it for entire legs when they are short and in detailed areas, although that's not good when trying to simplify! At times I have to swing it in earlier to see the end of the leg to make the plan. I also use it often on city sprints to see if a passageway is really open. Then I have to use it to read ahead, and I'm trying to think about how I do that and still keep track of where I am. Somehow it just works :) I think that I just wait until I have a moment where I'm running along a trail, hillside or other feature and I can read ahead without losing track of where I am - which is what I would typically do when reading ahead in any case. I'll try to be more conscious of my actions the next few days and let you know.

"Taking advice from Under 30 year old?"
what can you say - the man has good taste ;-)

One contact lens plus the swing magnifier works for me (H50 and short-sighted). Middle distance is a little fuzzy, but fine for navigating and seeing the terrain. I do every training run with the one contact lens just to get used to it. Having tried all the other techniques here (glasses, bifocals, thumb magnifier, base plate magnifier), this is the one that works best for me in all weather.

PS Can't remember the last time I ran on a 1:15,000 map!

I ran into the Moscompass guy in Austria (he attends all the major European events). The magnifiers are 15 Euros, and there are different models to fit Silva or Moscompass thumbies. They are very well made. His email is nemiga@tut.by

I bought mine from Scarborough Orienteering and I've found it easy to use and well made.

I use both reading glasses and a magnifier. Here's my magnifier set-up:

http://okansas.blogspot.com/2002/10/my-magnifier.h...

I move the magnifier out of the way for long legs. After a bit of practice, it became automatic.

I use a magnifier even when it isn't strictly necessary. I think it lets me get more out of the map with a shorter glance. That makes it easier to look at the map more often.

I like to see that it isn't just us older orienteers who use mangifiers. I remember reading that Jorgen Rostrup's first use of a magnifier was the long WOC in 2001 (which he won). Bjornar Valstad said that he wouldn't have won a WOC in 2004 without his magnifier. And Thierry Guergiou has written about running with a magnifier:

http://tero1.free.fr/news/php/example1.php?subacti...

I've been using a magnifier since I was 25! but again, I had an eye condition so maybe it was "acceptable" for a younger orienteer to use one at the time ;-)
As a matter of fact, I think Valstad started using one after he saw me with one ;-)