User Friendly GPS

[trophyhill]

What are Y'all using? My current GPS is the Garmin 60 CSX. And it's still a good unit, however the screen is scratched up making it difficult to see at times. And it takes a minute to navigate and input information.

Recommendations are appreciated.

 

[luckydraw2014]

All the new GPS's require an Doctorate in Computer Engineering.... I use the Garmin 64ST.

I have been using Gaia for over landing and its been growing on me, not bad for a backup nav on the phone

 

[ChrisAU]

OnX on your phone. Doesn't get more user friendly.

 

[Roughwater]

I like the garmin Oregon. Fairly big screen, has a camera though not as good as a cell phone camera. It's cheaper than the garmin Montana. Memory card enabled. I have onx on my Iphone but isn't that reliable as it craps out (battery dies) in cold weather and no cell service many places I hunt. I really, really like having the onx private land info on my gps so I buy the chip too. Though as long as your GPS shows public land boundary you could get by without a chip so long as your mapping info is good. But there is a lot of use full info on the chip like forest fire burn locations, logging info etc that generally isn't on a topo map. Nice thing about onx too is that you can view the same map info on your computer and print a physical map out with your own waypoints etc on it and have it with you on the hunt. Sometimes it's just easier to look at a physical map and see the BIG picture to help you adjust your hunt more quickly.

 

[Matt79]

I have 64ST and consider it extremely user friendly

 

[ChrisAU]

I like the garmin Oregon. Fairly big screen, has a camera though not as good as a cell phone camera. It's cheaper than the garmin Montana. Memory card enabled. I have onx on my Iphone but isn't that reliable as it craps out (battery dies) in cold weather and no cell service many places I hunt. I really, really like having the onx private land info on my gps so I buy the chip too. Though as long as your GPS shows public land boundary you could get by without a chip so long as your mapping info is good. But there is a lot of use full info on the chip like forest fire burn locations, logging info etc that generally isn't on a topo map. Nice thing about onx too is that you can view the same map info on your computer and print a physical map out with your own waypoints etc on it and have it with you on the hunt. Sometimes it's just easier to look at a physical map and see the BIG picture to help you adjust your hunt more quickly.

But, you don't need cell service to use OnX.

 

[N2TRKYS]

Garmin 64st with an Onx chip. It's way convenient than using my phone for me.

 

[trophyhill]

OnX on your phone. Doesn't get more user friendly.

I have OnX on my phone's. When hunting without cell service, you have to have the areas you plan to hunt pre-loaded or it won't do you any good. The one thing I hate about having to rely on the phone is battery life. Especially on my IPhone. Even on airplane mode. If truck camping it's a non issue. Backcountry is a different story.

 

[wapitibob]

Put a new battery in the phone and get an Anker 20,000+ mah battery pack.

 

[wapitibob]

And put a screen saver on the gps.

 

[Beendare]

Sold all of my Garmin GPS units a few years ago....GAIA on my phone has multiple advantages over a GPS unit. I've used it now in remote areas all over the world- works great, from checking Bullet train speeds in Japan to remote fly in drop camps in Alaska...to wilderness in the lower 48- works perfect.

Yeah, you have to download areas while still having cell service.....and you do have to have a backup battery....but I have that anyway. Having multiple devices is a waste of economy.

Personally, I prefer a couple of the smaller backup batteries vs one big brick- again for many reasons. I can be charging one while using the other. The smaller lighter batteries typically give me 2 full charges and a 10,000er will last me 10 days...so having a couple is no big deal.

These Anker batteries and the GAIA is so cheap its a no brainer.


_____

 

[trophyhill]

And put a screen saver on the gps.

Yeah the new GPS will definitely have one.

 

[Calbuck]

Has anyone tried out the new Garmin 66i satellite communicator? I think you can use Onx chips in them and also get the iridium service.

 

[tanker]

Another vote for OnX on the IPhone. I use an Anker battery charger when needed. In my experience if u r not laying down a trail but just dropping the occasional waypoint, a battery charge goes a long way when the phone is in airplane mode. Also turning the phone off at night and storing in sleeping bag where it stays warm helps with battery life.

 

[Brooks]

I’m in the same boat. I have Gaia gps on my phone and I hunt all over NM sometimes I don’t have an area downloaded and don’t have service to download right then so I carry a Garmin Oregon 650 T.......It’s a touch screen easy to use good unit ! Especially when calling predators, we might start in a unit in the morning and end up in another by the end of the day.

 

[davsco]

i bought a couple of gps from cabelas last year to try and took them all back and stuck with my phone and gaia. couldn't be more intuitive and easy. screen size is like 2x the gps units. public/private property lines easily showed. bread crumbs on the map made it super easy to bushwack back to the truck.

 

[camping1601]

Phone for me. Once I got used to the screen size I couldn't go back to my reg gps.

 

[5MilesBack]

I like my 60 CSX so much that I have two of them.

 

[BigPrince]

Has anyone tried out the new Garmin 66i satellite communicator? I think you can use Onx chips in them and also get the iridium service.

Been looking at a 66i also as I want to add sat capability to the kit. Have OnX on the phone and works great but drains the phone really quickly even with cellular/wifi off. Have spare batteries but would be good to have a separate unit as well.

 

[Indian Summer]

Put a new battery in the phone and get an Anker 20,000+ mah battery pack.

Tell me more about the battery pack. I have a cheap version. Actually it’s no bad at all. But I’m interested in better.