Westcott C-Thru Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) Grid Reader
Precisely plot your location (or destination) on a map with the transparent and easy to read Westcott C-Thru Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) Grid Reader.
- Displays the following metric scales: 1:24,000, 1:62,500, 1:25,000 and 1:250,000, 1:50,000, 1:100,000, 1:150,000 and 1:63,360
- The scale also incorporates a full 360° protractor
Made in USA.
View all Westcott Map Measuring Tools| Best Use | Hiking |
|---|---|
| Dimensions | 6.5 x 5 inches |
Review this Product
Adding a review will require a valid email for verification
Most Helpful Favorable Review
Most Helpful Critical Review
Tries to do everything....and doesn't succeed
Great concept, but excessively complicated. After a 20 year career in the Infantry I have done a fair amount of land navigation and quite familiar with map protractors and how to use them. Picked up this product to try and teach a friend some land navigation. The protractor is too cluttered and easy to get lost as to which scale you're using. The amount of clutter on the protractor interferes with seeing detail on the map as well as making the marking of defined points difficult. If you have nothing else, it's useable, but something less cluttered makes life a lot easier. 8 different scales is overkill.
Fantastic if you know how to use
I don't know why people are complaining about it not being printed correctly, there are smaller numbers if you want to use the "correct" clockwise degrees. The big numbers are for back azimuths which, if you know how to use this properly, is what you'll be shooting the majority of the time. This is a fantastic tool. If you have an interest in a form of land navigation that doesn't rely on batteries then pick this up, watch some youtube videos or attend a basic orienteering course and after a little practice, you'll be set.
Plot EXACT positions on a map
I first learned how to use one of these UTM grid readers back in 2001. It took less than 5 minutes to master and ever since, I've avoided lat/lon like the plague. Think about it... lat/lon is the system Columbus used. But now it's the 21st century. Assumng you understand what the term "datum" means, the UTM system is EASY, FAST, and ACCURATE. Learn to use this; you won't regret it.
It's a good plotter, an essential navigation tool.
The Grid Reader actually has the degrees correctly printed. It’s a matter of knowing how to use a plotter. Example: 1. Lay your (UTM) Grid Reader on a chart. 2. Align the cross-hair where the north-south and west-east lines meet to be on top of a longitude line (probably blue, running north-south). 3. Adjust the reader (which is a plotter) so the north-south line and the east-west line match those on the map. (The North on the plotter should point north just as on the map.) 4. While keeping the cross-hairs on the longitude line, rotate the reader/plotter clockwise about 10 degrees. 5. Now, read up the longitude line from the cross-hats to see the number on the reader. That would be the true heading to move along the “direction of travel” arrow printed on the reader. About 10 degrees. 6. Move the reader around so the starting point and destination are on the “direction of travel” line but keep the cross-hairs on the longitude line. Again, read the true course by reading the number on the reader just over the longitude line. Try it, the explanation is longer than really learning to do it.
excellent piece of kit
An excellent, inexpensive plotting tool. With this simple piece of plastic, a compass, and either some good deductive reckoning or a GPS, you should never get lost, and should always be able to find your way. It is so good that I am getting a second one so I'll never be without.
Great UTM Grid Reader
This is a great UTM grid reader, but does come with a little bit of a learning curve. Once you learn how to use it, the GR2 Grid Reader is quite handy. I’ve bought two and both are spot on. It will take your land navigation capabilities to another level beyond terrain association.
Critical piece but better options.
Unless your map is one of the oddball scales you're better off with a military grid reader. Less clutter, easier to read. Smaller, and more durable.
Traditional, perhaps a bit out of date
This is a standard tool for working with paper maps, but the US is centering on 24k UTM topos, so several of the grid tools here are just clutter. The main draw for me is the compass, which is nice and clear. I'm building my own version of this for personal use, and the changes I'm making are: rounded corners, 24k only measurements, and holes at the center of the compass and other marking spots. If you've got a range of maps, or may be in a situation where you don't know what you're going to work with until you're in the field, this is a must have tool. It's light, easy to use, and has nearly everything you need. It's also one of the few you'll find in stock at REI across the US, so it's clearly still popular.
Probably very useful. TERRIBLE manual.
A simple one page of info provides minimal info, and provides a physical address, to which you can send snail mail, to request "The Universal Transverse Mercator Grid, a USGS fact sheet". I found that document online, in PDF format. But the point is that the company should provide a URL that will provide that PDF, and other useful information. The included basic sheet states that this reader will work with eight different map scales...yet it doesn't even clarify which eight scales those are. To provide a list of those scales on that sheet, or online, seems like common sense to me. It seems very simple, and I'm sure I'll learn how to use this product very quickly. But, in this age of Internet, it surprises me that they don't have a detailed PDF and a how-to video on YouTube. Laziness, is what it comes down to.
good tool almost
This is a useful product for most maps, unfortunately it doesn't work with the popular Green Trail maps sold at REI.