Oregon Hikers

Can anyone recommend a good paper for printing maps on an inkjet printer?
I was very happy with National Geographic Adventure paper, but it's no longer available, even on eBay. So I bought some Gage 8 mil waterproof paper. It's horrible - prints come out dim and faded looking on my little Canon inkjet printer.
Any suggestions?

if one has the floor space, one can buy on ebay outdated color laser printers, big office style ones. they go cheap because businesses dont want to pay freight on old tech. our cp5525 was $60, with all the (very expensive) toner cartridges more than 1/2 full, which will yield a life time supply of color maps.

Iams wrote:if one has the floor space, one can buy on ebay outdated color laser printers, big office style ones. they go cheap because businesses dont want to pay freight on old tech. our cp5525 was $60, with all the (very expensive) toner cartridges more than 1/2 full, which will yield a life time supply of color maps.

As someone who prints a lot of color maps... I promise it's not a lifetime supply

That said... If all you have is inkjet, I would say look into tyvek, the moisture barrier that they wrap buildings in, pretty damn durable. You can get pre-cut sheets, or I believe you can get some off the giant roll at home-depot and cut it yourself, but you may have to contend with other logos at that point. DO NOT print on tyvek in a laser printer, or you're going to melt it all over your fuser and have a real bad day..

If you do have access to a laser printer, I would highly recommend Relyco's REVLAR https://www.relyco.com/products/durable ... oof-paper/ This stuff is bombproof.. While I was 'testing' I printed a map, hole punched it, and ziptied it into the back of my pickup for a month, in the winter, and it had no problems. You can literally wash it off in the sink if it gets muddy, and damn near tearproof. It also doesn't have the oily feel that 'rite in the rain' paper has.

I gave up on my inkjet and got a laser. Actually, I think it's LED. (Things keep getting more complicated, my head's going to explode...).

Inkjet ink runs when wet. Laser ink does not. In the several examples I've tested.

Any paper will survive a lot of wetness. If you try to keep it dry but it gets a little wet sometime, no problem. If you use it continuously in the rain maybe not so good.

One thing I've used for printing maps for a very specific use was Mapbox Studio using their Mapbox Outdoor maps. You can strip out all the hillshading or any layer you like and print it stark black and white with whatever line weight you like. It's certainly not the easiest process but you can also use these custom maps in a GIS program after you style them or even in GaiaGPS on your phone.

For instance you can style trails red and roads blue or whatever. Make the letters larger if your eyesight isn't good, etc.

Hmmm... I may have to get a small non-inkjet printer if I can't find a decent paper. NG discontinued the Adventure paper when they discontinued their TOPO map series. It worked very well on my inkjet printer. Colors were well-saturated and the ink did not run when wet. It's hard to believe someone doesn't make a paper similar to the National Geographic Adventure paper as it's a great product.

have you tried the old Rite in the Rain stuff?

aiwetir wrote:have you tried the old Rite in the Rain stuff?

No, but I took your suggestion and just ordered some. I’ll post the results. Thank you.

Some sites still list it for sale, e.g. this one, but I don't know if they have stock. But the package clearly says TESLIN so if you need a replacement that's where you should start, probably the IJ-WP Grade; quoting Wikipedia:

The IJ-WP grade of Teslin is specifically made for use in both dye- and pigment-ink-based inkjet printers. It should not be used in any other print process. The only standard version of IJ-WP Teslin is IJ1000WP (10 mil thick). IJ-WP Teslin is coated on both sides to allow ink to set. Like all other grades of Teslin®, it is waterproof once the ink has set. This grade of Teslin is most popular for creating waterproof maps and signage.

Amazon has it: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01BIEPQSM/

If you're worried about toner/ink use (Green is a terrible color to print full pages of), might I suggest using the 2013 USFS topo maps if you're on FS land instead of USGS? They don't show the vegetation layer, but they're clean and a huge ink saver. Caltopo is probably the best source for them