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I have been purchasing USGS quad maps and am considering getting them laminated so that I can take them on the trail and hopefully not damage them. How does this sound? Expensive? Not necessary?

Probably a good idea if you've already bought the maps. Dwight Sunwall introduced me to a cool trick in the Wind River Range when we used maps he printed from TOPO! on waterproof paper. They looked excellent and there was no need to worry about damage. I think he said it was about a dollar per sheet. You might want to PM him and ask for specifics.

Thanks for the information. Since I have Topo! that would not be a bad idea.

http://www.amazon.com/iGage-Weatherproo ... B00006687T

or here http://www.igage.com/mp/wpp/igage_weath ... _paper.htm
one of these days I'll learn the code here.

8x11 would be less than $0.50 per sheet. If you have access to a large format printer at work or maybe at Kinkos. 11X17 is a better size of course.

you can get a full quad on the front and back of a 11x17. at 7.5 minute scale, level 5 with Topo!, the same scale as a quad map.

prints on any regular printer, no coating required after printing.

wouldn't it be hard to fold a laminated quad map?

I was thinking that folding a laminated quad would be difficult but I have also seen varying thicknesses in laminates. I used the 8x11 TOPO! map last week and it worked great. I have my next several hikes already printed out and ready to go. Thanks for the tips!

Anyone ever use that waterproofing stuff you buy in a container that comes with an application brush? You wipe it all over your map, and then it dries and is then waterproof. Good for older maps or ones that are threadbare (fiberbare?) and not replaceable... Also makes them tear-resistant.