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Good article for newbies: choosing a hiking GPS


Plank

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Boy do I feel left out. My Garmin GPS III Pilot wasn't even mentioned. And it has so many "Hiker-friendly" features like:

  • An Emergency buttion to tell you where the 8 nearest airports (that have the criteria you set) are.

24 Megs of data from the Jepson Data Base. (That tells you who has jet fuel, rent-a-cars, resturants, etc. on field.

A horizonal situation indicator.

A "time-to-glide" screen that helps yo plan your decent.

And many more features like "lapse rate", "fuel burn", "range" and other E6-B functions"

 

So, I guess I'd better stop using it for hiking.

 

I would really rather NOT believe!

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quote:
Originally posted by Plank:

Good article for newbies: choosing a hiking GPS

http://joe.mehaffey.com/gpshiking.htm

 

Really, though, must they dis the yellow eTrex? When I was shopping around before I began geocaching, I didn't see anything substantially better that was "just slightly more expensive" than $99, and it finds us geocaches just as well as any other model. The differences aren't in accuracy, but bells and whistles, the lack of which has never caused us difficulty or rendered us unable to locate a cache.

 

If I could've afforded something with maps right off the bat, that might have been nice, but I'm still a bit baffled about what a $350 GPSr *does* exactly. The merits of WAAS are debatable, we've never had much trouble keeping a lock in varied terrain, and I didn't want it to cook dinner anyway. A fancy model is probably nice, but as far as I can tell the extra features are largely luxuries and I think a lot of newbies are being turned off from a simple, basic model because they're getting the impression that it won't do the job adequately. It's not just a cute, non-"competitive" toy. Personally, I think the higher-end eTrexes are prettier, with those sexy translucent cases, but the yellow eTrex is a regular little workhorse.

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Originally posted by Kite & Hawkeye:

 

Really, though, must they dis the yellow eTrex?

 

Remember that the article was about hiking not Geocaching. Maps are very important when hiking in unknown locations. I use topo maps in my GPS v and Legend. These show elevations, and wetlands etc. Nice to know what you are up against around the corner in case you need to alter your course. I know this can all be done with paper maps but why carry a handfull of paper maps that can get wet or lost when you can do everything right from the GPS unit. IMHO.

icon_wink.gif

 

ENJOY THE OUTDOORS

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quote:
Originally posted by BrownMule:
Originally posted by Kite & Hawkeye:

 

Really, though, must they dis the yellow eTrex?

 

Remember that the article was about hiking not Geocaching. Maps are very important when hiking in unknown locations. I use topo maps in my GPS v and Legend.


 

Man, I didn't realize they had TOPO maps. I was just thinking of street maps. Now I want one!

 

Just kidding. Sort of.

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I am hooked on my Magellan Meridian Platinum. True, I am not a newbie, but months ago when I was, I made the newbie mistake and bought a yellow eTrex. BAD IDEA, imho. The mapping features that units like the Meridian Platinum have are crucial. For me, being able to see where I am on a map is so much cooler and more useful than just seeing my coordinates. True, you can get the yellow eTrex for $99, but why waste that money when you're gonna want a better one soon anyway? Check out TigerGPS.com, you can get a great Magellan Sportrak Map unit for only $170!

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I thought his info seemed pretty good overall, though some of his choices were a bit bulky or heavy. I bought my venture for backpacking and discovered caching later. I really wouldn't want to ever lug around anything heavier or bulkier then an etrex or a mag 315 in the backcountry. Then again whenever I'm cashing I wish I had a garmin V or a mag meridian plat. I really don't think built in maps are all that necessary either, your much better off taking along a compass, waterproof topo map, and knowing how to use them in conjunction with your gps.

 

"...Not all those who wander are lost..."

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