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Garmin 12XL- Is this still a viable GPS?

I have an older (10+yrs) GPS, Garmin 12XL. I just want something that will get me back to camp (just in case).

Will this still work for a SW Colorado drop camp elk hunt?

I pulled my out last year for my daughter to have in her backpack as she went with me for a few days. It was a disaster. After the second morning, I threw it away. It was constantly lost. Do yourself a favor and invest in a new one or at least Gaia for your phone. If you have a way to recharge your phone at night, Gaia is a great option. You download the maps into your phone while you have service or even better yet wifi and then it uses the gps in your phone regardless of cell coverage. Gaia is much better than your Garmin 12XL and I loved my Garmin 12 back in the day.

If you just want to find your way back to camp or your truck....the old style units work exactly the same way and use the same sattelites.....I have magellen 300 and 310 old units and they gather and display just fine.

Joe

I have an old Garmin 12 and it works just fine. I currently use it for a backup in my plane.

Just to comment on wyliecoyote's statement above, some/most of the newer receivers also utilize GLONASS satellites which are the Russian version of the U.S. GPS satellite constellation. The older GPS receivers do not receive the GLONASS signal and therefore they do not use all of the same satellites as newer receivers and this will affect/limit performance.

when I upgraded from my 12xl to dakota10, I gave my 12 to my daughter. she uses it to geocache when her phone wont lock in to the mark. it's slower to lock in and the most trouble I had was under heavy canopy. otherwise it still works. newer style models go on clearance all the time. i suggest looking at a newer model, if nothing else the battery life would be better.

I have two and they work just fine.

Cheesehead Mike, I stand corrected..thanks

Joe

As stated above they will work for what you want.. Go try them !! You don't have to be in the wilderness to try them.

They will take longer to lock on, will lose the lock more. Compass will be very slow. And may tell you you are at ur local, but you really 25/100 ft away.

I see guys selling some of the 2 or 3 year olds for $50.00.

Ed

I'm guessing there was something wrong with mine. It was constantly showing us a mile or more away from where I knew we were at. I loved the 12 back in the day and thought it would be a great backup. However, I didn't check it until we were at camp. If you are going to use it, be sure and give it a test run or two.

I too pulled out my 12 a couple of years ago to fire it up to see how well it worked "these days". It too was a disaster...batteries had leaked and internals were a corroded mess. Trash can.

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