Canadian mapping App. BRMB...WORTH THE MONEY!

kojackJKU

Autism Family Travellers!
I have been trying out BRMB (backroad Mapbooks) app. I purchased the book while on a trip around western newfoundland last year. I found the book, and thought the topo mapping in the book was spot on since it has all the trails and routes that normal TOPO mapping does not have for newfoundland. I then found out that they have an app! I will be purchasing all "adventures" from them this year. It is great. diffrent waypoints for different activities.

Check em out. I am NOT affiliated with them, paid by them, sponsored by them, and employee of them. I am Just a Loyal user who thinks the mapping in my tablet being tied to my book invaluable!....

Canadians, Check em out. They have setups for every province!
 

OutOfBounds

Adventurer
I'm a huge fan of the BRMB series. I've been using them for years while exploring for new fly fishing spots in BC and Alberta. I didn't know they had an app. I'm looking into navigation options for a big trip my girlfriend and I are planning, and a BRMB app will certainly be on the possibility list. :)
 

kojackJKU

Autism Family Travellers!
I love the fact that they have EVERY trail. The TOPO maps from other places have about 1/10th the roads. I am going to try it out soon. Only issue I have is no landscape mode.
 

whitenoise

Adventurer
@kojackJKU , I found this when I was searching for maps of Newfoundland/Labrador. Doing the TLH and the island next month so bumping this thread for the latest.... Is the BRMB app still the one to get? I have an iPad or android phone for nav. I have used Gaia and HEMA in the past, any idea how this compares?
 

RigidYota

New member
@kojackJKU , I found this when I was searching for maps of Newfoundland/Labrador. Doing the TLH and the island next month so bumping this thread for the latest.... Is the BRMB app still the one to get? I have an iPad or android phone for nav. I have used Gaia and HEMA in the past, any idea how this compares?
Im curious about the same, BRMB also just released on Gaia and im working with that now. Its pretty solid but is missing labels for everything so I have to interlay another map over it.
 

Colin Hughes

Explorer
Gaia is just the maps, you need BRMB products for the extras. The Navigator is great because it allows you to download sections of maps for use when WIFI and cellular are not available, and it's quite reasonably priced. The best though are the maps on a chip for a Garmin GPS. Everything is on those little guys and it is updated fairly regularly and the upgrade pricing is quite reasonable.
 

whitenoise

Adventurer
@Colin Hughes , can you elaborate on what you mean by extras? I have Gaia and saw that BRMB is available as a premium map layer. What extras does the BRMB app offer in addition to this?

Sent from my ONEPLUS A3000 using Tapatalk
 

Colin Hughes

Explorer
Thought I had sent a reply to this while on vacation but it seems it didn't go through. the BRMB app gives a bit more info on the PIO's. For instance, Gaia may say XYZ trail is 18 km long, the BMRM app will dig down further, ie: XYZ trail has three loops 8k, 13k and 18k traveling through pine forest and past YYZ lake with an elevation gain of XXX m, etc. If you don't need this, the Gaia overlay is fine.
 

OutOfBounds

Adventurer
I ended up finding a good deal on BRMB Alberta/BC on SD cards. What would be the best way to use this for nav on a tablet? Do I need the app for that?

I'm really unfamiliar with tablet mapping programs etc. I always used standalone GPS units like a Garmin Rino 530.
 

PacificNorthWestJeeper

Blissfully Lost
Sure wish they worked in other GPS's...
I am planning an adventure through BC so I purchased their book set, I would have purchased the map software if I had a Garmin.
Been looking at the 7 inch gamin's but decided just to go with the books. Maybe buy the Garmin some day down the road.
 

OutOfBounds

Adventurer
Sure wish they worked in other GPS's...
I am planning an adventure through BC so I purchased their book set, I would have purchased the map software if I had a Garmin.
Been looking at the 7 inch gamin's but decided just to go with the books. Maybe buy the Garmin some day down the road.

I just tried sticking the BRMB sd card into my Samsung Tab A tablet. No joy. Not sure if I need an app or if they only work in Garmin devices
 

whitenoise

Adventurer
I have to go against the grain here and say BRMB did not work for me at all. I have successfully used mapping apps like Gaia, HEMA, Viewranger, Avenza, Delorme Earthmate and of course Google Maps/My Maps so I'm thinking it wasn't me, but I can't be certain because this app is so damn frustrating to use. The interface seems simple but it isn't, and neither is it responsive when you most need it.

My first gripe is the fact that it won't work in landscape mode on the iPad. I'm guessing, because it is designed to work only on a iPhone (which I don't have). Considering this a minor issue I still went ahead and paid not just for the app but also several premium layers for the provinces I was going to spend time in (NL, NB and QC). This is the most I've spent on any single mapping app so far as I can remember.

Second issue, download times for offline maps. This is even worse than the worst I've ever seen which is Gaia. Screen needs to be on the entire time, which for me was close to 10 hours. Still not a problem, I thought, it's just a one time thing.

When we got to the field, outside cell range, the map I had downloaded wouldn't load up. That's when I figured out you had to manually go in and switch layers from the provincial map to the specific downloaded one. Asinine, right? Still not the worst part.

At the end of the day, the map tiles I needed to find a campsite still did not load up correctly, nor did the underlying information. I could not tell if I had to go though additional steps to make it show up or not. I gave up after that on this app entirely. iOverlander and Google My Maps that I created before the trip were the tools I had to fall back on, and they both worked beautifully.

Sent from my Nokia 7.1 using Tapatalk
 

PacificNorthWestJeeper

Blissfully Lost
With Gaia on my iPad is there an external GPS antenna that I could get. My concern is the terrain of BC's West Coast and I have used the basic GPS on my app in the PNW and it fades in and out.
 
WN i had similar problems with topo usa really great selection of maps and great scales i down loaded most of CA OR WA Az at a detail level of 15 some of these took like 256,000 tiles and would take hours to load only to find out I had only like detail level 11 available when off line. Even though i down loaded detail level 15.
So i was looking at gaia and saw that the biggest file you can down load and access off line is 100,000 tiles !

i think what is happening is even though i down loaded an area that took 235600 tiles it will only open a map that is 100,000 tiles or less So when trying to access the map it only accsses a map that is 100,000 tiles or smaller regardless of what i down loaded any body have any idea on this ? Thus all get is what ever detail level that resizes my download to 100,000 tiles.

Another thing is if this is true and i restrict my map sizes to 100k tiles will any nav program automatically go from one saved selection to another when crossing boundaries ? Talking topo usa or bcn ? Although it might apply to any nav program.
 

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