Which Garmin Handheld??
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It is time to replace my 10 year old Garmin Oregon 450. I use my phone a lot but like a handheld dedicated GPS for a backup. I don't need top of the line but won't buy junk either. Any suggestions here?
Thank you!
My Oregon 450 died a few years ago and I just can't bring myself to replace it since I use phone all the time now. But for backpack hunting you need to plan for a backup power source and limiting battery usage (i.e. Airplane Mode, etc.)
I too have been looking also. I want one so I can use with gloves on. No touch screen. One with a sunlight screen. One with replaceable batteries or so I can get a extra battery pack that can be changed in field, for when I'm in the backcountry for a couple of weeks.
As I answered in another forum, use your smart phone. Mine is an Iphone 14. Much more capable than my gpsmap 64 or my old Oregon 450. Just run OnX or something similar and it's a whole new world.
Not interested in just using my phone. Hence my post
My backup is a Garmin Etrex with a DIY Hunting chip. Works great for that purpose, very compact.
What model of Etrex and where did you buy the DIY chip?
I replaced an aging Magellan with a Garmin GPSMAPS 64x. Simple and easy to use, and you can replace the batteries. I didn't want or need the bells and whistles. I also have an Inreach, which I can use with my phone. It does not have replaceable batteries, but a charge lasts me 3-4 12 hour days. I download the USGS maps to my phone. The Inreach connects to the phone via bluetooth so you can text and use the maps to navigate using your phone. I like the fact that the map I download is the same as the paper map I always have in my pack. For the smart phone users, your "smart" phone isn't very smart unless you have cell service. You don't have to get too far off of the beaten path to not have available service. Bigwoods, it seems that Garmin has cornered the market on handheld GPS.
Lawdog....an iPhone with the GAIA GPS app works anywhere in the world for navigation....polar bears out on the ice, back country BC where you are hundreds of miles from cell service. For detailed navigation its best to pre-download aerial photos and a map of the area you will be in while on WIFI or good cell coverage...but they will work as a basic GPS without the maps or aerials. You save points and can navigate to them just like the old yellow $90 Garmin eTrex.
I had issues with 5 different Garmin GPSs failing through the years. So far over 8 years with the iPhone and GAIA....zero issues. Just run the phone in airplane mode or better yet turned off in the back country to save power.
I bet Garmin's GPS market is 10% the volume of what it was a decade ago. Phones kick their butt with better screens and controls, etc.
Kurt, if you don't have cell service from a cell tower, how does your phone get its signal? I have been in places where there is zero cell service, particularly in mountainous areas. To my limited knowledge, cell phone GPS work off of towers and GPS work off of satellites.
Kurt I have been using Garmin handhelds for 25 years and have never had a failure. I can't say that about my phone.
Law dog you don’t need cell service to pick up the gps signals on the phone. Air plane mode and go. Conserves battery by not searching for signal but you still have the satellites for the gps to work
Old dog-something new. Thanks. I still prefer the handhelds over my phone for a variety of reasons-battery life being primary. I do have various GPS apps on my phone that I will use at times. But, I always thought you needed cell service for them to work.
Bigwoods, any of the hand held Garmins will do what you want. From the Etrex up to the 67 series. They are terrific. Pinpoint accuracy and great at acquiring satellite signal. That said, I haven't used mine in over 2 years since Iphone. The other forum you posted on a guy has 2 for sale asking $120 for the deuce.
As for chips, I know OnX is discontinuing, or already has. No market anymore. Years ago I found a website and downloaded a free topo of CO onto a mini SD and still have that. That was over 10 years ago, so I have no idea where I got that. I'd have to believe Garmin has somewhere you could download maps onto a chip.
I had ON-X,, I never saw where I could get a pointer to point me to where I want to go. Did I miss it?
Yes OnX has a headlight pointer that shines the way you are facing and a goto waypoint feature that shows a straight line from wherever you are to your chosen waypoint.
DIY Hunting Maps has the chips, but they may have discontinued them too since everyone has moved to apps. I like DIY the best because it shows old decommissioned jeep trails, etc.., that OnX does not.
But day in and day out, I use my phone with Gaia and OnX for navigating and recording waypoints and tracks.
I use my phone as others have mentioned and I actually use my Garmin watch as my backup. Works great and has preloaded topo maps. Both are subsequently tied to my InReach in case of emergency.
If you hunt with others, a Garmin Rino is a good option. Enables you to talk, monitor each other's location and send each other waypoints.
Hard to believe that this all got started for non native Americans with a Fedora and a plaid shirt.
What I mean is the pointer, just points to where ur going. If you ho off course it turns and aways keeps pointing to you way point. So if I turn off the gps and walk a half mile and turn it back on and I passed it by 200 yds. The pointer would point in the direction i must go to get to that way poit and say 200yd yds.
Teeton, with GAIA you'd have to restart the app and select the "route to" point again that you want to find and it will point at it. But it does not store your last command when you shut the app off as far as I know.
Cell phones without a signal can use a GPS signal? How does the app work without responding to a tower to engage/launch? I've worked in telecommunications all my life, 43+ years and don't know how that works... To receive a signal from a GPS would be like a SAT phone...
Pat may know how that works, maybe he'll chime in...
Cell phones work as a GPS without cell service....but not as a phone.
Hmmm... Back when started with the phone company in 1980, we used to call it POTS & PANS... Plan Old Telephone Sh!t & Pretty Amazing New Sh!t...8^)))
I just got a new cell phone with new provider the other day... It's the new Google Pixel 7a, its Android... So Kurt, you are saying I can download a GPS app, be atop a mountain in Colorado without a cell signal and the GPS app will work? If so, what GPS app do you recomend? Thanks...
My backup gps is a Garmin 64st. Not a touch screen. Had it for years.
It came in real handy a couple years when OnX had the brilliant idea to do an update in September and I lost some current stuff on my phone
Zbone, An iPhone with GAIA GPS app works anywhere I have a view of the sky, just like a Garmin GPS in my experience. Very heavy tree cover or in some buildings, not as well...very slow if at all as the satellite signals are shielded. No difference with my hand held GPS's or my iPhone with the GAIA app that I ever noticed as per where or how fast it works.
As per on the CO Mt top....there should be excellent GPS signals for your phone or GPS.
I have zero experience with your Google phone but assume it would work fine but you will have to research that. My old iPhone 7 from 2016 works, and Apple is up to iPhone 14.
Gave up on handheld GPS years ago...with my last one being the Garmin Oregon 450. Been using my cell phone with OnX for several years now and love it. I do have a Garmin Inreach Mini...which allows me to text home (using my cell phone) when there is no cell service. If battery life is your big concern, pick up an Anker portable charger and go!
I do the same as pav and also have a great little solar charger.
Thanks everyone for your responses. Learning alot here on phone GPS's.
Bigwoods, sorry for jumping in on your thread. Just that u posted right when I was researching Gps's. Ed
I wish OnX would get rid of the popup advertising
Man this thread just makes me realize how much things have changed in 30 plus years. Any of ya still holding onto your paper maps. I’ve got all mine still. I use the Garmin as well and haven’t upgraded to Onx yet. Heck so many people hunting now days I can’t even draw a tag. Next tag I get out west I do think I’ll go to Onx though. Should help me with the corner crossing.
Just for laughs guys don’t reck this thread.
I had onx a few years back. Don't remember popups. So it i understand this right. If you buy onx now, you get popup's??
I’m a premium user. I get the Popup to switch to Elite membership all the time.
If I wanted the Elite membership, I’d buy the Elite membership
I second the 64s with the topo map chip as a backup option.
I use OnX some but I want a backup GPS as well. I just ordered the 64S on sale at Cabelas for $229.
Thanks for info Kurt but I do not have an iPhone and not planning on getting one...
Does anybody know an app for Androids that'll work as Kurt's iPhone without connect to a cell tower?
Zbone, what Kurt is telling you is not iPhone specific. Smartphones don’t need cell service for the gps to function.
OnX, Gaia, Basemap, Gohunt. They all work without cell service.
Thank you Jethro, just what I needed to know... Much obliged!!!
Bigwoods Similar to others. Etrex backup. iPhone and Gaia for day to day. Only hitch is zoom in on your areas at home (cache) otherwise you won’t have the clarity when in airplane mode. Love it.
You’re welcome. I have OnX and Gaia and an iPhone. I would suggest OnX if you are going to choose one. I find it more user friendly and completely geared towards hunting. Gaia has tons of options, but most I never use.
eTrex-just needs two AA batteries. Works, unless it's in really heavy cover or deep rock washout, etc. Cell phone is just too unreliable. I always have a whistle or two with me for signaling.
I use OnX on an Android Motorola in airplane mode all the time without cell service. I also have a Garmin 64ST for backup and precise navigation in the dark like to a tree stand or remote spike camp up on the mountain. I hate the little pointer bug on OnX that always jumps around when you're moving slowly. I much prefer the Garmin gps which gives me a precise heading and distance to my destination and then I can pull out my handheld compass and walk the correct heading. I also have a large collection of paper maps that I prefer for seeing the big picture and that will never change. Between my phone with OnX, Garmin gps, paper map, compass and navigation knowledge I have my bases covered.
" Any of ya still holding onto your paper maps."
ABSOLUTELY! Keep paper maps and a good compass in my pack just in case...
Two things I like about GAIA vs. OnX - GAIA has USGS Topos, which I've used for over 50 years. GAIA downloaded maps are much smaller in the phone memory but still have great resolution for the satellite view.
That said, I use both for different applications.
Can ya use "huntstand" without cell service only GPS? They somehow got on my email list...
Agree with Cheesehead Mike that the Garmin GOTO function is far superior to the OnX version. The OnX topo maps are nearly worthless as well as they lack detail. I like OnX overall though for landowner boundaries. I can't believe they can't offer better topos than the garbage they provide.
For an android phone, the GPS will work just fine without a cell tower. Try the Avenza Map App. You can download any USGS topo for free and open it with the Avenza app.