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GPS needed, but which one?

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attack

Member
Joined
May 23, 2002
Gonna buy my dad a GPS for Christmas, but I'm not sure which to get there's a ton. Here is my criteria:
Hopefully under 200
Easy to use is a must, he's not a technology freak
accurate to within 5 meters

Thanks
 
Most GPS now days are accuret to within 5 meters. Unless you happen to be in a spot that the military is scrampling the single.... but then you have other issues.... I also suggest getting one with buttons OVER the screen. they are much easser to hold and opperate as you can do it one handed. As for ease of use I suggest going to a camping/hunting store and looking at the models they have on display and ask if you could hold it and use it. Also if you get him a GPS get him a compass at the EXACT same time. one like this:

http://www.rei.com/online/store/Pro...00&productId=80825&parent_category_rn=4500598

Its cheap and it works, great I have a compass just like it.


TRUE STORY:

Me and my Dad go out on a deer scouting trip. I forgot my compass but my dad brings his brand new GPS a gramin 315.

So we head out and are looking around. Now its time to head back to the car. So we pull out the gps and are gona use that to get back. We start walking in the dirtrcion that arrow says to go. Since we are in the woods its not getting real correct info plus there is a time laps to when it is displayed on the screen. Needless to say we were lost. We evenutly found a road but we were a good 2 miles from where we were supposed to be.

This also happened to a friend of mine on opening day when they were heading to there stands. It turned them around so bad. What should have been a half hour trek to the stands took them a good hour and a half. and my friend is close to forty and he has been hiking and hunting since he was 10. So he knows the woods pretty well.

Now GPS are great I like them, they are perfect for marking spots to come back to or mark a trail.... Just don't use them for a compass.

For navigating through the woods this is what me and my dad do: I am point man and have the compass. My dad operates the GPS and says what bering to take. I put that on the compass and folow the arrow on the compass. After about 5 miniutes of walking I ask for the bearing, if I am off I correct my self and continue.


Sorry about the long post but hope this helps.
 
When I do use a GPS I have a Garmin eTrex Legend that has served me very well and has some very nice features, however as a word of caution i must agree with eab, never go out into unmarked wilderness with just a GPS because they are so prone to fail/give misinformation. My search and rescue team just got a brand new set of (very) expensive GPS units donated to us, and after trying them out on a few trainings we concluded that although they made things simpler, the margin of error for them was just too great. We use them now mostly for determing distances to waypoints (to eliminate having to tally footsteps) and estimating ETA, but for directional navigation nothing can beat a compass and some topomaps. :)
 
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