Does anyone navigate using watch??

[plentycoupe]

Hey all,

I’m wanting to know if there is a watch that works great with one of the mapping programs??

Specifically…I get tired of pulling my phone out to see if I’m headed the right direction.

Is there an ability to create a route on a mapping program and save that……then use a watch to keep yourself on track?

I’m very nieve about this yet do know a little about Gaia and CalTopo. Also the InReach mapping program.

I use OnX now.

I don’t know anything about navigation watches though and hope to hear from those that do.

Thanks!

 

[Whiskey_Fish]

I've had three watches with GPS but none of them had battery life for a extended use. I use the GPS on my Fenix when I'm just out messing around with the wife and kiddo but otherwise I'm using phone or standalone GPS. My apple watch and both Garmin's used a native app, not onx Gaia etc.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[ReaptheHeat]

I picked up a Fenix 7 solar as my first "smart" watch. I don't want to lug around a GPS, especially for backpacking, etc. It doubles as my everyday watch as well.

Its useful for quickly throwing down a location of interest and then transmitting that to a KML later to upload to OnX or whatever app you want.

Battery life sucks.

 

[P Carter]

Yes, watches are great for rudimentary navigating, either to points of interest that are preloaded or routes that are preloaded. But they most give you straight Iine directions (going to a poi) or are a pain if you get off route. I relied heavily on my watch at first, but the iPhone gps functions are way, way better for hunting applications because you can plan your navigation better. Ie, yeah the wallow is a mile that way, but instead of going straight up, straight down, and straight up again through reprod growth I’m going to curve along this ridgetop and sidehill down to it.

I still use my watch for backup, and I’ll use it at times to log new waypoints and for easy real-time checks to make sure I’m on track, but it’s much more useful in areas where I know the terrain well. For new areas, I use it for tracking and logging new waypoints, not strictly for navigation.

I have a suunto 9 baro. Battery life is great—24 hours in most accurate gps tracking mode, we’ll over that in decent gps tracking mode.

Edit: sorry, I got off track and didn’t answer your questions. The suunto has its own app, you can map routes and points of interest beforehand and upload to watch. Activities upload to the suunto app and Strava, and I then use the file and put it on google earth or caltopo.

 

[scattergun]

Ha, the first thing I thought of was the ol’ Boy Scouts method of using an analog watch as a compass.

 

[scosmi]

I have a fenix 5x and it works but is about as useable as you'd expect being a watch. I don't use it as primary nav but to/from type stuff, quick marks and things like that it definitely gets the job done.

 

[drewfoo]

I picked up a Fenix 7 solar as my first "smart" watch. I don't want to lug around a GPS, especially for backpacking, etc. It doubles as my everyday watch as well.

Its useful for quickly throwing down a location of interest and then transmitting that to a KML later to upload to OnX or whatever app you want.

Battery life sucks.

I’m surprised to hear the battery life sucks. I have a fenix 7 solar and the battery last like 30 days a charge.

 

[just.mark]

I often used a Garmin 401 in the military to keep moving in the right direction but it takes a bit of pre planning. The Sunto is also a good tool and I really liked the altimeter. The Garmin ran on AAA batteries and got used more because of it.

 

[ReaptheHeat]

I’m surprised to hear the battery life sucks. I have a fenix 7 solar and the battery last like 30 days a charge.

Are you using it in GPS mode?

 

[drewfoo]

Are you using it in GPS mode?

I have used it in gps on and off for the most about 4 days and still had tons of battery after the trip.

 

[Pikespeak]

Ive been using the Garmin watches with topo for a while now with the same original use case as you. Honestly, any navigating with them is a PITA. Zooming and Panning to get perspective is very laborious. It has come in handy occasionally when my phone died or a quick check to see if I was still headed in the right direction.

 

[drewfoo]

Ive been using the Garmin watches with topo for a while now with the same original use case as you. Honestly, any navigating with them is a PITA. Zooming and Panning to get perspective is very laborious. It has come in handy occasionally when my phone died or a quick check to see if I was still headed in the right direction.

I agree. It’s a PITA but I love it as a supplemental tool to quick check without having to take out my phone. Any detail is just to small to work with. It works fantastic for health/sport data after a long trek. Like for elevation gain/loss and mileage etc.

 

[Colterw]

I've got a fenix 6 standard, not solar. Using GPS kills the battery. If I am willing to charge it every night I could use it as a GPS but the battery only lasts about 22 hours with GPS enabled.

Additionally, it's a 2" round screen vs a smartphone screen.

I think it's an okay backup to get back to the camp or truck but it falls short as a primary navigation instrument. I'll drop a point at the beginning of the hike and turn GPS on the watch off, that way I do have a point to return to if my phone fails.