So, I've lost my GPS (magellan explorist 310), and I need to replace it. I had the old Explorist before that, and liked it. Extremely basic, but it got a fix fast and worked great. I completely wore it out and had to get a new one. I hated the 310, as the buttons weren't all that easy to use, and the operation wasn't very intuitive. I'm not very techy, but I am capable and that thing aggravated me more than anything else. 99% of the time I use a paper map from mytopo in tandem with the GPS (I have a stack of these things), and intend to continue to do so. I always have a backup compass and am reasonably proficient with it. The reason I use the GPS is to get relatively exact positions in situations where the terrain is not familiar or there aren't good features to navigate by. For example, I'll be navigating in the dark in flooded timber during the the winter while waterfowl hunting and I'll be using it to find a particular spot in the mountains in the dark when I'm elk hunting. I don't care so much about downloadable maps, or roads in some city, or cameras on my receiver, or geocaching, or whatever. I just want to reliably be able to tell where I'm at and where I want to go. I've considered combining the receiver with a watch (Suunto, Garmin for eg), or just the wrist mounted type like a foretrex (looks a little clunky?), and I've considered the standard handheld like a Garmin Oregon...I don't mind spending some money on it (</= 500), but I don't want to pay for a bunch of features I won't use. Really like the idea of the Garmin Fenix, but wonder about battery life when I'm away from power for several days. I suppose I can charge it with my Goal Zero stuff...
Anyway, anybody have any thoughts? Thanks in advance.
Anyway, anybody have any thoughts? Thanks in advance.