Storing and Transporting Printed Maps

[wdmartin]

First up, storage!

At the moment, my solution for storing printed gaming maps looks something like this:

map-storage.jpg

On the left of the chair, are a bunch of artist's binders I got from an art supply store, containing a ton of loose laminated paper maps. On the right is a hamper from target, minus the lid, containing a bunch of rolled up vinyl maps I had printed out.

The binders are awkward to work with, bulky, I have no good place to put them, and it's awkward trying to shuffle through them to find any particular map I happen to need.

The hamper is slightly better, but the effects of gravity means that often the vinyl winds up developing kinks down in the basket where the roll slumps under its own weight.

Neither of these is satisfactory, particularly given that today I acquired these:

new-maps.jpg

Yes, that's 47 distinct vinyl battlemaps ranging in size from 5x8 inches up to 50x30 inches. I might be able to get all of them in the hamper, but the smaller ones would get lost at the bottom and it would rapidly get hard to actually find anything.

Next up, transportation!

I'm going to be running some games at NorWesCon and GenCon this year, and I will need to haul maps along with me. I have to fly to both of those destinations. How should I go about transporting my maps? I'd rather not just fold them up and cram them in my suitcase and hope for the best.

Any suggestions for either of these two things would be welcome!

[Falconius]

Portfolio cases don't work for transport? So long as you stuff some clothes in there to stop 'em moving around you may be able to check them. Personally I hate rolled up things because it takes a long time for the roll to come out flat later on, but you could definitely tube them for transport, it is a safe and effective manner to transport large pages.

As for general storage that is a more difficult task depending on room and resources. If I had to store flat large things I'd use the gaming table I built and never use for anything, but since you may not have one, and even if you did you'd be using it for games that is not an option. If I couldn't have a map drawer then I'd think the next option would be to have some contraption for stacking them like a book with leafs, or like one of those store displays where you can flip through large flat things.

It wouldn't be hard to make something like this:
Illustrationfor map thing.png
And then use sheets of cardboard to separate things. Put it on the wall so it opens down to waist level and it'd be easy to peruse.

But all that is only if you want to keep things flat. If you are rolling things you could put things like bottles in a wine rack. Just get some cubby hole like box thing with no back.

[wdmartin]

I looked into tubes and finally settled on getting one of these. I hope that'll do. I looked at 21 different models; there were only a few that met my criteria (screw top, not friction alone; must go up to 48"). Out of those, almost all of them had highly mixed reviews, with some people loving them and other people reporting problems with broken straps, telescoping tubes that wouldn't stay locked in position, or both. None of the models I looked at really jumped out compared to the others.

As for longer term storage, I'm an apartment dweller, so I'm not really in a position to start attaching things to walls. It's a downside.

I've been looking at storage devices designed for use by architectural firms -- they're clever. I like the ones that have swinging arms to mount each blueprint so you can leaf through them to find the one you want. Unfortunately they tend to be far too expensive, require drilling holes in the wall, and don't have anywhere near the capacity I'd need. There are some other options; a search on Amazon for "rolled document storage" yielded some useful and reasonably priced solutions that would do rolled documents better than a random hamper.

EDIT: Oh, and I totally hear you about rolled maps and getting them to lie flat. I find it's a bigger issue with laminated paper than it is with vinyl, and these days almost everything I print goes on vinyl.

[Falconius]

You can use gaffer tape at the joint to stop the tube from moving. If you do use tape though be sure to use a solvent when removing it if needed, so there is no glue residue which could get inside the tube.

[GSEC]

Deleted by user.

[LordEntrails]

Though those tubes aren't airline carry on sized, I've carried such things on planes before. At least one of them, two or more you might get resistance from the gate crew. Note, try to put them in the overhead last, don't expect the next person to come along to not try to cram their carry on in and damage your tube.

As for storage, I stopped collecting printed maps because of this issue. I like to keep them flat. Depending upon what you might have, you might be able to make a simple shelf from thin plywood to hang under your dining table or coffee table or such. (Some simple cup hooks or eye hooks and light chain would be pretty easy to put together). You might also be able to do something with just putting them on a table and then putting a protective or false top over them on the table. Something as simple as plexi-sheet or as attractive as a faux wood overlay.

[wdmartin]

I've continued thinking about this -- at least the long-term storage aspect -- and came across these:

Safco Flat Files

They're basically gigantic flat drawers designed for storing architectural drawings. I came across them in a back corner of the library where I work; they're full of old USGS maps. Storing maps is pretty much exactly what they were designed for.

The only problem? The price. These are not cheap. The best prices I could find for the 42" x 30" model was about $780 USD for the drawer unit itself, plus a few hundred more for a base to put the drawers on. And that's if the bland grey one is okay -- if you want it in a different color, add several hundred.

[ladiestorm]

as for storage... what about 'portable drawers' for under the bed? Some of those are plenty big enough, and you can get them in different sizes. And I've lived in apartments also... as long as you don't go overboard, putting things up on walls isn't really an issue. I mean, you can't put fist sized holes in the walls... but there is a certain expectation of putting up things like pictures, wall clocks, mirrors and such. With a little ingenuity you could MAKE a wall hanging accordion type folder for your larger maps.

Going back to the under the bed idea, you could also probably make a flat box or two on castors that you can roll out when you need them. A flat bottom, three walled sides, and sliding shelves would allow you to lay your maps flat, they would be protected. You roll it under your bed when you aren't using them. When you need them, you pull it out, and then pull out the shelf that has the maps you need. Because the maps are flat, you don't need more than 3 or 4 inches between each shelf... it's not like making book shelves where the books stand up right.

Hope that helps!

[Falconius]

You could probably find the architectural equipment used I'd think.