Live For The Outdoors - a review of a mapping service

This is a website I use a lot
Live for the outdoors

It's run by Country Walking, Trail and Trail Running magazines, but most of the content is accessible to everyone. 
  
 
There are gear views and latest news, plus videos ranging from instructional, through funny, to downright scary.

For instance,this picture is from a video to walks connected to Winnie the Pooh (click here to see it)

A cosy video, or this one (click here)

...jumping between Adam and Eve (rocks on Welsh mountain Tryfan!)


But the main reason I buy it is because it leads to a separate site called Trailzilla (click to view), a weirdly-named but useful mapping/routes service. Readers of the above magazines get free access to much of this, but it's available to others for a very small amount

What's on it?
Various routes from the magazines, plus others written by Joe Public
I've found it very useful for suggestions, particularly when going to different parts of the country. You can download the routes, plus all the mapping points if you want, to make a routecard. I just use the maps.

How easy is it to use?
Fairly easy. Plus if you email a question, you will usually get a reply within a day.
I also use it to browse areas of the country even where there are few trails, because you have easy access to Ordnance Survey 1:25000 scale maps (old 2.5 inches to the mile). I know you can access this elsewhere, but this one will fill your screen and you can quickly jump all over the country.

What else is good?
You can print what you want instantly.
You get access to maps from all over the country without having to buy them  - and without having to go out shopping, or order and wait for delivery

What are the disadvantages?
From time to time, I have printed out routes which come out at a very small scale ( I think this could be improved) and they are then difficult to read.
You have to have a fairly decent colour printer and use your own ink! But that's not a significant amount. Having had a map disintegrate in rainy conditions recently I could be biased about this, but Trailzilla gives fresh maps each time - if that's what you want.

How much?

I asked Trailzilla for their latest charges. This was part of their reply

We currently offer the following yearly subscriptions on TrailZilla:

Product	Standard Price	Special Price
365 day access, Ordnance Survey Landranger premium maps	£10	£8
365 day access, Ordnance Survey Explorer premium maps	£25	£20
365 day access to the AA Best Walks in Britain (1750+ walks)	£17.50	£14
365 day access to Cycling Weekly's Best Rides in Britain (50 rides)	£5	£4
365 day access to Country Walking Magazine walks (500+ walks)	£10	£8
365 day access to Trail Magazine walks (500+ walks)	£10	£8
365 day access to Trail Running Magazine routes	£5	£4

If I have read this right, and you wanted access to 1:25000 maps, it would cost £25 per year, assuming you also subscribe to Country Walking or Trail. Landranger Maps (1:25000) are £7.99 each in most places. So for the price of just over three maps, you can have access to them all.

Or just consider subscribing. Country Walking, for instance, has some great walk ideas if you prefer other people to help you decide!