What do you think of GPS units?

[bambodoggy]

The “Modernist” I like to think comes in between. He wants to learn and use the old ways but will use some new ones as well. He just tries to balance both. If we were all pure “Traditionalists” then we would still have flint knives rather than the North Star: we would have bear skins rather than Gore-Tex; we would wrap our kit in skins rather than the rucksack and worse still Imported Larger would not exist

Can't argue with that buddy...my thoughts are the same entirely :biggthump

To throw another log on the fire, my watch has a digital compass built in but I still carry two compasses and the GPS when I go out. Am I scared of getting last or what?? :Crazy_071

Lol....I do have to admit to liking new shiny kit...but I use it as a novelty when I first get it, like the gps and hooped bivvi bag etc but then find I almost always go back to my traditional kit i.e map/compass and basha etc.

I have one of those casio mountaineering watches, has a digital compass, altimeter, barometer and thermometer on it as well as plotting functions and all the other normal casio features, alarm stopwatch timer etc....

Haven't worn the thing for about 5 years... only bought it about 6 years ago! :rolmao: :rolmao: :rolmao:

 

[Stevie]

I have one of those casio mountaineering watches, has a digital compass, altimeter, barometer and thermometer on it as well as plotting functions and all the other normal casio features, alarm stopwatch timer etc....
:

:clap: Mine's not that bad, it only has the compass, time, alarm and stop watch. Yours must take up half your arm or did you have a separate ruck-sack for it :rolmao: :rolmao: :rolmao: :rolmao:

 

[arctic hobo]

I agree with what you have said for following a bearing in fog. I too have used the “shouting method” on glaciers. We called the lead person the sacrificial goat because if he disappeared you knew you had found the edge. ): But this answer appears to assume that you know what bearing you need to get to your destination. What if, as in the situation I described earlier, you do not know your current location and have no visual reference points with which to calculate it?

In Switzerland we still have National Service and navigation training is standard. Those of us who went in to the Air Force did so in greater detail. Although aircraft have inertial navigation systems basic ground navigation is also taught for what I think is called over here “Escape and Evade”. Although you have a rough idea where you are from you flight plan / target / egress course you don’t know exactly where you are until you fix your position. Until you are able to do so you do not rush around or head off on what was your old heading as it could lead you in to trouble rather than home. T:

Also Ordnance Survey Maps are a lot better than those you find abroad. :ekt: Like many of you, I have used maps with out any contour lines on and just show the very basic details such as towns, rivers and major roads. Here you have to rely upon your compass, your note book and your pedometer / step count but you do have the opportunity to triangulate your position and then choose an appropriate visual marker or way point as you call it for your bearing. Such is not possible in fog. :?:

:dedhorse: In my opinion, not knowing where you are is a scenario that should never arise. I accept that it could despite all efforts, but the chance of that happening coinciding with a fog that switched on like an electric light are about five million to one.
And if you've a very poor map, the answer is simple - don't go out. I accept that many foreign maps have much less detail; the great majority of my walking has been abroad.
That said, I'm not trying to get at you, I just think that traditional skills are and will always be the best.

 

[bambodoggy]

:dedhorse: In my opinion, not knowing where you are is a scenario that should never arise. I accept that it could despite all efforts, but the chance of that happening coinciding with a fog that switched on like an electric light are about five million to one.
And if you've a very poor map, the answer is simple - don't go out. I accept that many foreign maps have much less detail; the great majority of my walking has been abroad.
That said, I'm not trying to get at you, I just think that traditional skills are and will always be the best.

:rolmao: Dont't sit on the fence Chris....lol...you say what you think! :You_Rock_

 

[arctic hobo]

):

 

[nameless]

Hey
Well i dont have one but want one, i think your an idiot(no offence) to bring just a GPS due to electrical falures, the list is endless. Though i would like to get one which has a deatailled map of ireland! Can anyone point me towards a decent one? and what is the scale like though? sorry but i have never used one

 

[Greg]

If your map & compass skills are on the ball then generally there is no need for one, but they show there use in an emergency when you need to know your co-ordinates quickly for the emergency services or if your caught out in bad weather say a white out in winter.
I am perfectly happy with my map and compass skills but I do use mine every now and again to check my location as a reassuance basically when I do long distance walks, other than that it stays in my pocket ready and waiting until I really need it.
It will never replace my map & compass!

 

[Shewie]

You can`t beat digging up an old thread and kicking it off again .....


I personally have never used a gps although I`ve considered getting one a few times. I don`t think I could really justify the cost of one as it would hardly ever get used. I can see the advantages of them over traditional methods, but you don`t need to change the batteries in a map and compass and they will never go wrong either. I like using a map and compass now as it took me long enough to learn how to use them properly.



Rich

 

[BOD]

Better to input the data into your head where it shouldn't get lost!

I see lots of people look at their GPS screens and not their surroundings.

GPS has it uses but not as a replacement for for proper navigation.

Don't let dependable old skills die.

 

[nzgunnie]

They are a useful tool, but like any tool you need to know how to use it, and most importantly to understand it's limitations.

you cant expect it to be a magic bullet for solving all you navigation problems, and need to know how to assess the accuracy of the information you are getting from it.

 

[SimonM]

I use a GPS as an intro to navigation - Before you all shout, I work with Special Needs kids, and they need a confidence boost from time to time.

I download waypoints from "Country Walking" and let the kids take turns at "leading" the walk. It really is fool proof - the arrow points and that is where you go!

Obviously, I carry all the usual stuff (map, compass, FAK etc) and during the walk introduce them to the map. I advocate looking at the map, see what features are coming up in say the next 500m, then put the map away (low level walking in good conditions). This allows the young people to actually focus on what is around them.

The combination of technology and old skills usually grips the young people and leaves them wanting more. They are particularly impressed that I always know exactly where we are, despite not using the GPS (could it be that I pre-walk every route and have used some routes for several years? No that would be cheating!)

To sum up, GPS useful tool but must still know how to use more traditional nav techniques.

Simon

 

[Wayland]

They have a place and the place for mine is the bottom of my rucksack.

I do use one, they can be useful for finding a location in the middle of trackless moorland for example. For me these are usually things like archaeological features that can be hard to see even when you are standing on top of them.

I rarely use a compass when out and about, preferring to navigate by map and eye, but in my bergan a compass and gps with spare batteries are always there for bad conditions or emergencies.

 

[John Fenna]

The only time I have used GPS was on exped in Ghana, where the maps were about as much use as a photo of the dark side of Jupiter......
We made our own map so that other teams could find locations of rescources we located.
With decent maps and knowledge of how to use them GPS is an expensive luxury.
Without a basic knowledge of nav then GPS can lure you into places you cannot cope with - and then run out of battery/die on you, leaving you in trouble.
Carry (spend) less by knowing more?
Ain't got one, don't want one!
But then I am a paid up Luddite!

 

[irishlostboy]

i have never used a gps. to some they may be attractive, but to me, i want to go up a mountain to get away from gadgets. i spend all day, every day sitting in front of thousands of quids worth of a pc, frying my brain. thats enough for me. i know how to use a map and compass, and have had complete success using it for full on night navs in the lashing rain where all you can see is the glowy bits of your compass, and in instant white-outs (yes, it can come in in seconds. it is truly scary when that happens)
my uncle is a skipper, and loves gps. its kinda important when you are in charge of a ferry-load of people in the atlantic ocean it seems.

it seems the consensus here is, its a handy tool. take it or leave it, and it does not negate your actual navigation ability. sound advice if you ask me.

 

[Bogman10]

I find I use mine most in my truck, when I'm scouting new hunting areas ( marking Cut lines , Clearcuts Etc.) . After I decide where to hunt, I put it in my pocket as a back up to my Suunto compas and maps.
Also they show sunrise /sunset times, which is important when hunting.( Legal hunting time here in Alberta, Canada is 1/2 hr before sunrise to 1/2 hr after sunset.)

 

[h2o]

i dont have one but it seems to me in some locations deserts and featureless terrain they would be very handy to have.and as simon m said he uses them for people with special needs who maybe would struggle with tradition map and compass. plus its an extra fail safe if the compass is lost broken and if you are looking after a gruop of people you should be able to tell emergency services etc where you are in case of emergency i know this can be done from a map but having another opinion is always help ful being human or gps.Iwould probably use one myself if i could justify the finantial outlay but i dont think id get my moneys worth out of it.and ill always carry a map of the area im walking/canoeing in.I think the price of gps will come down over the next couple of years anyway as the price of satnav has.

 

[benp1]

i love em! they'e very useful, though perhaps not that much use in bushcraft (i never need to navigate anywhere)

i use them for hillwalking/geocaching/general navigation

 

[BushTucker]

I have a TomTom in the car and an Etrex for hiking and the likes. I think they are great additions to your kit

 

[John Fenna]

In my early days on the hill I never even used a compass - just relying on a good map and looking at the ground.
I was introduced to a compas on my ML intro and although I learned to use it and am very confident in my skill I was quicker on my nav section of the ML assesment (at night in thick snow) than those who had their noses stuck to the compass when it came to working out where I was and what lights we could see.
GPS would seem to take you even further from the land than a compass....
I am not saying don't use a compass - it is a life saver when you realy need it - nor am I saying the GPS is Satans tool - again it can have its uses - but eyes and a good map are my main nav tools. A compass is for detailed work, a GPS for quick detailed work - when they work.
I have gone out in terrain I know well (N Wales, Presceli Hills etc) and have deliberately done complicated routes in thick mist without taking map or compass out of my bag - just to see how good my "map memory" is good enough for the open hill it would seem, or N ridge Tryfan/Glyders/Devils Kitchen or even the hills between Aber and Idwal...
Avoiding relience on nav tools turns you on to the land!
What is wrong with getting lot anyway?

 

[Hoodoo]

I'm a big fan. My epiphany came when I was easily able to find my hunting treestand in the dark, while traveling through heavy cover. Most of the time I use a compass or simply nothing for navigation but in certain situations, I've found the gps excellent. It can also be great when you are driving in big country that is riddled with logging roads that are not on the map or you just don't have the map. My GPS will store topos for the entire lower 48 states here. If you travel multiple states on a trip, you are never without a topo map. Many times I have come to a the end of a T road wondering whether I need to turn right or left. I can stop, get out of the truck, get the map out (if I have one), shoot some bearings, and figure it out, or just keep the gps fired up and take a quick look. It's a tool, like anything else. One of my favorite uses of a GPS is to mark my fishings spots, especially my icefishing spots. Works a treat.