OnX or GPS

[CiK01]

How close is OnX from making the GPS go the way of the dodo bird? I have been using OnX on my phone and keep wondering if I need the GPS. Any strong reason why I need it?

 

[N2TRKYS]

I run the chip in my gps. I see no reason to not use my gps.

 

[1signguy]

No more GPS for me. Love the OnX- love it. Plus with the phone I can digiscope, take pictures, listen to some music at night... A couple of years and a GPS will be like a type writer...

 

[gelton]

I have noticed that the garmin gets a much better signal than the phone. In fact last time I checked the garmin was +/- 3 yards and the phone was +/- 50 yards. Insignificant unless its dark and you are trying to find your way back to camp or to your sweet spot which are both pretty significant to me.

 

[wapitibob]

I used onx this year and will continue to do so. Had Garmin continued development of their hand held gps units after the Montera, building on those advancements, there wouldn't be an OnX, but they stuck their heads in the sand. The market has left them in the dust and I suspect their hand GPS units will be a thing of the past shortly.
If you're computer saavy you can add any map/sat imagery to a garmin that can be put on the phone, but why go thru the hassle? OnX has a ways to go with their web map but they have a direction and are looking forward.

 

[gelton]

I used onx this year and will continue to do so. Had Garmin continued development of their hand held gps units after the Montera, building on those advancements, there wouldn't be an OnX, but they stuck their heads in the sand. The market has left them in the dust and I suspect their hand GPS units will be a thing of the past shortly.
If you're computer saavy you can add any map/sat imagery to a garmin that can be put on the phone, but why go thru the hassle? OnX has a ways to go with their web map but they have a direction and are looking forward.

Agreed but the shortfall here isnt the app technology its the fact that phones dont have an external antenna and chip set that is built purely for navigation. I tried to leave my gps behind and just use gia one year and until further improvements (to the hardware not so much the software) I will still carry both.

 

[Takem]

I used the GAIA app on my iPhone on a recent trip to Nevada and I don't think I'll ever use my gps again. The premium membership ($30 a year) has satellite,land ownership,GMU's and topo. It's simple to toggle between maps and overall very user friendly. Being able to drop and rename a waypoint with the phone touch screen is night and day from my Oregon.

 

[dotman]

I sold my gps, used only my phone with onx on my elk hunt this year and will do the same on my deer hunt. Biggest issue with the phone is that the topo can't be 24k, it just didn't compare to the onx chip topo on the gps and I was cliffed out a few times by small cliffs in very steep country. That said I'll keep giving it a shot and with time maybe it'll grow on me more.

My reason for giving it a try, less gadgets to charge and use. If you use an Inreach it is nice to have your phone be the main tool and no switching back and forth to check messages etc, the phone becomes an all in one unit. I would leave the Inreach on all day connected to my phone and both would use about 15% of their battery a day. My hunting buddy and I used it to communicate with each other and family. The adventure package on the Inreach is worth the unlimited messages.

 

[unclericco]

I had originally planned to buy a spendy new garmin until i tried Onxmaps. Just got back from a trip to an area I had never been to before and did hundreds of miles and never had any service but I loaded the maps before I left town and worked flawlessly and saved me tone of time and miles. So glad I never dropped the $700 on the Garmin.

 

[Greg Beck]

I used Onx for the first time in the field last Saturday. Have had onx for a while just always used my GPS. I was throughly impressed with saving the map to my phone and with the accuracy of the GPS on my phone! My older GPS would take forever to acquire satellites and wasn't as accurate. I will be using Onx the next few weekends to see if I will only use my phone in the future. Not sure I totally understand how to work all the functions though...

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

 

[Cant hit em]

I prefer gaia to Onx maybe just because Ive used it more. We used gaia to take us back to our hammocks on a pitch dark no moon night. I dont know the +\- yardage but it did a dam good job.

 

[rbljack]

I signed up for the Onx app this season, and will be using it on an upcoming mule deer hunt in the mountains. My phone and GPS will both be along for this initial run. I have noticed that the Garmin Montana 600 series is going on sale at cabelas for half the price they used to be. I think that may be a sign of things to come....and those GPS units may be on the way out over time. The one thing I wish the ONX maps could do is go into a 3d view like google earth. So far during online scouting at the computer, I find myself jumping between the ONX and the google earth views.

 

[MtnOyster]

I use a hand held gps with an onX map card and I never have to worry about battery life on my phone.

 

[danarnold]

I prefer gaia to Onx maybe just because Ive used it more. We used gaia to take us back to our hammocks on a pitch dark no moon night. I dont know the +\- yardage but it did a dam good job.

^^^^^^^ this
I've been using GAIA GPS or several years, it's the shit

 

[muddydogs]

For me I run Garmin Earthmate app on my phone as its $40 a year for all 50 states with land ownership and GMU's. Earthmate is way cheaper then ONX with almost all the same features. Only thing that Earthmate is lacking is the program doesn't have as many landowner names as the ONX app does and Earthmate doesn't list as many state walk in units but I hear tell this is approving. With Earthmate there is no chip required, it can be used on multiple platforms at the same time and to see maps on the phone or tablet you have to download them first so there's no wondering if the maps were made available off line, if you are seeing them on your device then they are ready for offline use.

If you want to spend some money forget the GPS and purchase an InReach so you have two way back country communication, if you want to be extra safe purchase the InReach Explorer which also has GPS function that way you have a backup GPS to your phone.

 

[spaniel]

I have Gaia on my phone and made the mistake of trusting myself to just the phone one time. I was under full tree cover with terrain and my phone would NOT lock a GPS signal. I got luck and got out by dead reckoning, it's an area people regularly get turned around and lost. I had used my handheld GPS in there for years with zero issues.

In open country, I've used Gaia and liked it.

The second issue for me is battery life. Phones with GPS active burn battery very quickly, but I can run my handheld GPS constantly for a full day. Not optimal if the truck isn't handy to constantly charge it.

 

[PF_JM]

I use the phone primarily with a gamin401 for emergency backup. I'm probably going to upgrade to the Garmin601 after this season but the 401 is does everything you need for emergency navigation as long as you take some time and keep your waypoints updated. FWIW, I have found packs in the night with OnX and they was no variation between the app position and their actual location but I briefly have had those times when it was way off. Just closing the app and opening it back up again has always got me back on track.

 

[mvmnts]

Standalone GPSs have been out the door for years, if you're a backpacker it's likely you've been using the phone for a while now. Glad ya'll are finally coming around. There will always be guys who swear that their big clunky garmin is somehow better than a phone, so you'll see a long tail of products being offered for that market. They'll be right next to the big dedicated car GPS units you see being sold at best buy lol. If you need a GPS to get around the woods and it's life or death then maybe you need a tough unit like the garmin, but I only check my phone occasionally through the day, and I have a gps watch and my garmin inreach for checking as backup, so mostly I'm just on a map. The phone is perfect since it's already with me, and works as a camera. I've never owned a dedicated unit and never will.

 

[Rich M]

I'm not that tech savy so I got the GPS chip and it works great - also show my track on where I went. That could come in handy if someone makes an accusation...

The chip also works really well in your big clunky car GPS - that was great when driving the roads instead of the driver trying to drive and watch his phone at the same time - he did that plenty and the GPS was safer and easier.

Anyway, guys I was with had the phone downloads and it was nice seeing everything on an aerial.

Both have their uses.

 

[Whisky]

Before I left for 2 weeks in MT I bought a new GPS and downloaded Birdseye maps to it. I have a chip similar to OnX in it. My intent was to use the GPS. At the last minute I got OnX on my phone and tablet and downloaded a bunch of offline maps. As it turns out the GPS never left the tent and only saw use as an alarm clock. I'm a fan of OnX and the phone. Only problem with the phone would be keeping it charged on a back country hunt. If I was spiking in for a while, I would still pack the GPS as backup. We were in a position to keep phones charged so that wasn't a concern for us.