Walking Distance

[Tharina]

Is it possible to measure distance walked in kilometers without using and "online" device?

 

[VNwalking]

Of course. The old-fashioned way.
Use a good paper map (not Brierley's because they're schematic and not to scale), measuring the route you walked against the scale provided. (There are gizmos with little wheels that can do this but a piece of string or the edge of a piece of paper work fine.)
This is probably more accurate than the electronic versions that measure footsteps.

 

[stratophile]

Hi @Tharina - I'm assuming by not using an "online" device, you mean something not using Internet / data.

There are lots of apps that will measure distance (in km / mi, as you prefer) without requiring online access. Your smartphone does not need online access to determine your position -- the GPS antenna can do that and GPS does not use data. An app can record your positions and then use simple calculations to sum up the distance between the points.

There are many apps you could use, including ones that will let you export a GPS track of your walk, send daily announcements to social media, and so on. One thing to be cautious about, though, is that the GPS antenna uses a lot of battery, especially if it is running continuously (as would be the case when recording a long-distance walk). Well-designed apps try to minimize this by reducing the frequency that they check your position, but it can still be an issue when you're walking 4 - 8 hours per day.

Another possible issue is accuracy. GPS has an inherent margin of error. Your device also makes a big difference. The GPS receiver in a smartphone is not as accurate as a dedicated GPS. If you really want to know if that section of the walk was 6.2 km or if it was 6.3 km, then a dedicated GPS receiver would be best. Of course, if you want to know whether your walk was 6.216184 km, then the suggestion by @Viranani that you use one of those gizmos with little wheels to physically measure the distance is your next step (or a really long measuring tape).

 

[Tharina]

Thank you !

Hi @Tharina - I'm assuming by not using an "online" device, you mean something not using Internet / data.

There are lots of apps that will measure distance (in km / mi, as you prefer) without requiring online access. Your smartphone does not need online access to determine your position -- the GPS antenna can do that and GPS does not use data. An app can record your positions and then use simple calculations to sum up the distance between the points.

There are many apps you could use, including ones that will let you export a GPS track of your walk, send daily announcements to social media, and so on. One thing to be cautious about, though, is that the GPS antenna uses a lot of battery, especially if it is running continuously (as would be the case when recording a long-distance walk). Well-designed apps try to minimize this by reducing the frequency that they check your position, but it can still be an issue when you're walking 4 - 8 hours per day.

Another possible issue is accuracy. GPS has an inherent margin of error. Your device also makes a big difference. The GPS receiver in a smartphone is not as accurate as a dedicated GPS. If you really want to know if that section of the walk was 6.2 km or if it was 6.3 km, then a dedicated GPS receiver would be best. Of course, if you want to know whether your walk was 6.216184 km, then the suggestion by @Viranani that you use one of those gizmos with little wheels to physically measure the distance is your next step (or a really long measuring tape).

Thank you so much - this will help

 

[Peter Fransiscus]

Is it possible to measure distance walked in kilometers without using and "online" device?

Yes , I use a watch from Tomtom with GPS, very accurate.
Measure's my steps , distance, heartbeat and burnd callories.
Works great for me .

Wish you well,Peter.

 

[MKalcolm M]

My daughter and I recently walked the Portuguese camino, and she was very keen to know our distances, so we both downloaded the "pedometer" app onto our phones. This quickly demonstrated its unreliability, in that we walked side by side, but the same app would often vary by several kilometers on our respective phones by the end of a days walking. We found the easiest way was to look it up in a reliable guide book. Not all guide books quoted the same distance however, but they came close enough to let us know what to expect. Within a few days we got pretty good at gauging our distances and estimating how far we had come and how far there was still to go. Most hospitaleros have a good knowledge of the route before and after there albergue and can tell you accurately both how far you have walked that day, and what you can expect to walk the next day.

 

[KinkyOne]

If you will use GPS tracker/recorder within your smart phone then switch the phone to airplane mode while walking because that's all the GPS receiver really needs and uses much less juice. I have used Endomondo and Wikiloc to record my way but found later much more accurate.