North up or Track up?

[Von Castor]

Maybe this thread has been done before so if it has I apologize in advance.
A good friend that I chase with on occasions uses a Lowrance GPS very similar to mine but refuses to let me set it to "north up" when we are in his vehicle. I on the other hand cannot operate it in the "track up" setting. It totally confuses me when it is not in the "north up" setting. I have my theory of why this is but would like others opinions and preferences.

 

[Darren Stephens]

North up is totally confusing to me. I have mine set to track up so that when you are looking at your GPS and you need to make a turn then it is a no brainer. You don't have to decipher NSEW and then decide is it a left or right that I need to make. There are to many other things that I need to be worrying about and if I can eliminate one I will do so.

 

[JF Massicotte]

I'm the North up type. When chasing I want to take decision more in advance than only the 'next turn'... I find it easier this way when more than one move is planned... Easier to find NESW directions and interception/escape planning becomes easier...

 

[John Erwin]

People have thier navigation preferences; if a particular way works for you then go with it! Luckily many devices/software packages will allow you to present the information either way.

I personally prefer "North Up". Having used paper maps for navigation purposes for many years I find it more natural and seems to mesh with how my brain interprets my current position.

 

[Cris Schroeder]

I prefer track up on the GPS, but I still use North up when dealing with paper maps.

I picked up the preference for "track up" flying airplanes. I want the picture out the windows to agree with the picture on the map.

 

[CraigFisher]

I am a north up type of guy. Was in the military for 6 years, ground combat, and north up is second nature to me. I know some fellow employees that are track up or always need to orientate a map to the direction they are facing, that is kinda funny to me. To each their own and what works for you.

 

[Tony Perkins]

I'm north up for everything. My girlfriend is track up when it comes to paper maps. Neither of us does well with the other method which can make looking at a map together frustrating. Maybe it's a right hand, left hand, roll your tongue kind of thing.

 

[Jason Foster]

North Up...but how about both.

I'm such a geek....as I use to play with maps, and draw my own highways on old maps. I also drew my own maps and cities and more. This all started when I was around 5 years old. I enjoyed this with my best friend, who lived next door...and eventually he became a cartographer. So over all those years of playing with maps, I always noticed they were North Up. So I grew into that mode.

I've always used my computer navigation in that mode. However, at times, when holding a paper map, I have found myself doing the navigator's shuffle, and spin. I also admit that using the North Up mode has confused me a few times, and I ended making a right turn instead of a left (or vice-versa).

I think, if I end up with a laptop of navigation and have one of those little LCD screens I'll keep the DeLorme in North Up, but I might make the little device in the Track Up mode...just for confirmation on turn directions. Plus, it's a back up if one or the other fails...two is better than one.

 

[Jason Boggs]

As most have said, I like north up also.

 

[Dan Robinson]

With track up, you can lose your sense of direction if you're not on a Plains-style road grid. Using it anywhere else would mess me up pretty quickly.

 

[Paul Knightley]

North up for me - makes the most sense as that's how all standard maps are produced.

 

[Clarence Bennett]

Track up for me...I am the "mappiest guy" out there; go through a rand mcnally every year; degree in geography as well. I just find it more realistic to go "track up". If I need to turn left, then it is laid out to the left on the gps. It makes it real quick and simple and I am not trying to do the reverse direction in my head. If I am looking at my gps and see Baker Road coming up to the right, I just look to the right. Just easier for me in my head...

 

[Jayson Prentice]

I have to go north up... It seems so much easier to me to just look at the track to see where I'm going and see if it has to be a right/left turn. I'm a man of directions though, I can be sitting in a building and still pick out which direction is which, must be something about living in rural Iowa...

 

[Ben Prusia]

Definitely track up for me. The arrow always has to be pointing up on my GPS. But, north up on paper maps.

 

[Von Castor]

Ok, my theory has crumbled! I figured that all past paper users as myself would be North up and all young GPSers,(those who have never used a paper map) would be Track up. Maybe it is a role your tongue kind of thing just like Tony said.