What kind of GPS?

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Ida Noski

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A GPS has been on my list for a long time now.
There are so many choices. I'm not looking for top of the line.
What is the "best bang for the buck"?
Something that is reliable, works in rough conditions, good but not "fancy" would fit the bill just fine.
What do you all use?
Thanx,

Jim
 
I use a Rino 120 and my buddy has the 130. Be careful though, some states don't allow you to use radios when pursuing game.

The Rino also has internal memory (8mb for the 120 and 16mb for the 130) for topo maps and such.

The 120 is great cause if me and my buddy get seperated I can pinpoint his position by calling him and vice versa. He will show up on my GPS and it will give me course, direction and distance from him. A great thing to have in the climate and terrain we hunt.
 
I've been very happy with my Garmin. Had a basic eTrek and then upgraded to a Legend. It will hold topo and street maps up to a total of 8mb. When used with a PC you can pre-load waypoints, tracks and routes. Screen size is ok and battery life is good. Well made, simple and easy to use. I give it 2 thumbs up. Garmin now has 2 newer Legend models that include more MB, color screens and self routing functions.
 
I have a Magellan and am happy with it except for size, it is a little cumbersome, and the fact that it doesn't have a lock on the power button of any type. It is troublesome to dig it out power it back on (after something bumped it) and then wait for it to aquire. That above all is somehting I would change.
 
We use Rhino 130s.

My paintball team uses these, and they are really the best for use with a buddy. You'r buddies are on your screen, names and locations right in front of you. As a C2 measure for me, as the team leader, they are really impossible to replace. (until the next version comes out, with holographic imaging, and a screen saver of the death star.)
You'll like it. The Garmin is great for solo use, and I have one in my pack for Kayaking. Saved my bacon a few times in the Intercoastal Waterway, which is poorly marked, and easliy the most confusing place I've ever been.
 
I've got a Magellan and a Garmin and, frankly, I prefer the Garmin operating system/software. I now have an emap I've had quite a while now. It's not water resistant like the etrek, though. But, I use it a lot on the GoldWing and keep a plastic baggy handy for wet weather.
 
I have a Magellan and have used the Garmin as well. Either of them would serve you well. I prefer the Magellan, but it really is a Chevy vs Ford deal.
 
Garmin 120 here! Huntin partner has one too.

(Ford Powerstroke Diesel!)

Feature wise, The Garmin Rino 120 is middle of the road. But anything less, then I'd be putting it up for sale soon after hunting season. The 130 is nicer with it's uploadable maps. The included radio doesn't provide as good a reception or broadcast as a separate handheld Cobra GMRS, but it's nice to have the radio with the new feature of sending location to other 120's on GMRS instead of the limited FRS frequencies. When the GPS is on, I turn the radio off as that's the biggest power drain. I leave the GPS off most of the time to save battery life. When we're separated, we turn the GPS's on at the top of the hour. Otherwise occasionally to set waypoints. I like that the power button is hard to get to, so it doesn't turn on or off in the day pack. I wish my GMRS radio was like that. The Garmin is rugged and has a convenient belt clip like many cell phones. I still stoss it in the day pack in a protective padded bag to save the view screen.

As for having a radio when hunting, well, for safey sake, I don't think there's a game warden out there that'll write a citation for having it on, or on you/off. If you're busted communicating a game drive using electronics, which is illegal in most areas, then you deserve the ticket. (game drives of any sort are illegal in Wa.) Fisherman have used electronic location devices for years to mark fishing spots. The handheld GPS is just the tool for the hunter that likes to get off the the beaten path. A teriffic tool to help you find your way back to camp after dark when you can't see the land marks.

Learn how to use it before you go hunting though. Define your specific need, and still carry a compass and map. We learned the hard way that fidling with the GPS on a hunt is not the best way to spend time hunting. And we learned that very heavy cloud cover or dense fog can impede the satelite signal. I still carry a lensatic compass. Not that I don't trust the 'lectronics'... But I don't leave things to chance.

For conveinence, unless you see a used one somewhere, Ebay isn't the best deal on these. For new units, We found that Walmart on-line had the best price shipped to the door.

-Steve
 
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Garmin eTrex Legend is what I bought for my first one. I have not been in the least disappointed. I like the size, the ease of use, the flexibility, the battery life, the accuracy.

Not too expensive. You need to get into one for not TOO much money and use it a while to decide what you really need. Not the very low end, however, cause you will get dishartened with the thing. A good mid-range one like this is ideal I think for a starter and it MAY be all you will ever want.

Good luck. They are VERY useful and a lot of fun.
 
I'd say, if you can afford it, get one that has the radio combined, like the Rhino 130.

If you can't look for something on sale like I did. I found one that does everything I want it to do, and a few things that I don't YET feel the need for, but may at some point - it seems like a good value to me, price-to-features-wise, but it's a brand overlooked by many, a Lowrance. They originally made just fish-finders. I got one of the I-finders:

http://www.lowrance.com/outdoor/default.asp

You might want to spring for a little more for a water-resistant one so that it's not ruined if you fall in the creek.
 
I'm another big fan of the Garmin RINOs.

If you hunt with a group, you'll be amazed at how much these things can improve your hunting experience. Simply being able to look at your map display and see exactly where everyone else in your hunting party is located makes a huge difference. Last year, every time someone in our group killed a deer, other guys nearby could walk directly to his location to help him field dress it and drag it out.

Plus, it's a big bonus in safety, as far as I'm concerned. Most of the people I hunt with are in their late 50's or early 60's, and I've always been concerned one of them could get hurt or have heart problems in the woods or something, and I might not be able to find them quickly. With the RINOs, all I have to do is look at my map and I can go right to them.

I got the RINO 130 because I camp and kayak a lot and I wanted the integrated weather radio reciever, but for most purposes the 120 would be as much as anyone would need.
 
I have a Magellan Explorist XL. For the most part, it might be the 'Chevy Vs Ford' debate, yet the XL has a nice big screen ... Sure it is at times cumbersome, awkward ... etc. However, every time I use it to keep a record of my tracks, and mark my car as a POI (Point of Interest), I smile with that nice big, bright screen. The others could not match it, when I bought my unit. It might be different now. If it is, and if you have not the eye sight you had 50 years ago, you might take a look at the big screen, portable, hand held units. A real nice to have, if you go out shooting by yourself sometimes.
 
Garmin eTrex Vista. Get the Topo software and load the areas you're hunting in before you go. I don't like the small screen size (da*n, I hate having to wear reading glasses!), but if you want small, you get small! I also have a Garmin 176C, but that's waaaay too big to carry in the field. That's for the truck and boat.
 
I guess I'm the cheapest guy on the block...

I carry a Garmin Explorist- less than $100 and a topo sheet- less than $5. I just want to know where I am in an emergency and the best way to get out of it. I've tried other, more full-featured products and I come back to carrying the most basic, lightest, easiest to use. I mark way points and use for location and that's about it. When I'm hunting with others, we use the topo sheets as the primary guidance as to where we are/will be and we check on each other using radios at pre determined times. Low tech, and reliable.
 
I have an older Magellan and frankly it just sits on my shelf cause I've never been able to understand how to use it. I think its just way too complicated and have only really found it useful for judging my average speed and distance while in the car - that part is easy, but after 3 or 4 years I still haven't figured out how to set waypoints, etc.

Book ins't any help. I guess I should see about taking a class, but frankly I've done fine all my life with a map and a compass and except for the ease in which it would get me to wherever it was I wanted to hunt at night.

Are the newer models easier to use/figure out? Its not that I am a luddite, its just that I don't have enough time or patience anymore to figure every new technology out.
 
I have an older Garmin, older Lowrance and a newer Magellan color. The Lowrance and Magellan are mapping units. With the respective software packages, I can copy a topo or street map to a memory card and actually map my position. The Magellan is my favorite. I would advise a mapping unit as opposed to a unit which only gives your coordinates.
 
I guess I'm the cheapest guy on the block...
I carry a Garmin Explorist- less than $100 and a topo sheet- less than $5. I just want to know where I am in an emergency and the best way to get out of it. I've tried other, more full-featured products and I come back to carrying the most basic, lightest, easiest to use. I mark way points and use for location and that's about it. When I'm hunting with others, we use the topo sheets as the primary guidance as to where we are/will be and we check on each other using radios at pre determined times. Low tech, and reliable.
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I have the same thing but I use it when I ride my dirtbike on the trails. That way if I get seperated from my group I can always find my way back to the truck. It is easy to get turned around tearing azz through the woods. One time 3 of us couldn't find our trucks. Pulled out the GPS and it turned out we were 150ft away from them:eek:
 
I bought a Garmin eTrex Legend a few years back, and was happy with it until my employer issued me an eTrex Vista for a couple of months in NOLA. Bought one when I got back home, and love it. I use Topo USA and Topo Canada, and find it very helpful in the woods, on the lake, and on the road. But I still carry two compasses and a map, just in case. My only other experience was with a $10,000 Trimble unit that is a differential survey grade GPS, way too big to lug around. The eTrex is great as far as size goes.

My advise? Get a unit with a color screen if you plan to use the mapping software. It gets way too busy on a black and white screen.

RBH
 
After much reaserch I bought a Garmin 12 XL off ebay for cheep. I love it. My boyfriend recently bought a Magellan(don't remember the type other than its orange) new for $30 bucks. The Magellan was definatly cheeper and has more features and better graphics, but it lacks some of the things I love about my garmin. It is terrible at plotting a course, has no port for interfacing or downloading info from a computer, cannot buy attachment because there is no place to plug it in, and it is less user friendly or idiot proof. I'm constantly messing up with and cursing his magellan;) We usually bring both on expeditions but use the Magellan just for back up. My Garmin has and does all the things I just listed the Magellan cannot. But neither one is perfect, my Garmin sometimes gets "confused" if I do an "abrubt face" and start walking the other way. It is also big and heavy but... impressive looking.

"The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten"
 
Legend

I've used the Garmin etrex legend in the Middle East and the US and have
been quite happy with it. It's far cheaper than the Rinos. I recently bought
a pair of rinos have been a little disappointed with the range of the radios.
There was also a long hike I did where my tracks did NOT match up with the
map CD/DVD that came with them and that I had installed for more detail.
Still they are far easier to use than a paper map and a compass. If you
really don't need the radio/peer-beaming feature, don't spend the extra
money on a pair.

Be advised that extremely hilly/thick canopied areas will kill both your
satellite and radio signals.
 
hey guys is it a given, that all gps units come with waypoint capability, and digital compas, or is that something u have to look for?
 
I have the Garmin Etrex Vista. It's the older monochrome version. I don't use it much. It's more of a toy than anything. The newer version has a color screen.

Be sure to get the data cable for it so you can upgrade the firmware whenever new ones come out.
 
i was looking at the magellan explorist units and i like them, they state that they come ready to use no sign up fee required, what is that all about? do the garmin units have any extra fees, on top of the purchase price?? What does Magellan mean by no service fees?
 
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