Nomadics
All around best GPS unit
The Garmin e-trex Legend (reviewed earlier here ) is still the best GPS unit per pound. It is small and light. I continue to use mine for mountaineering when I want to log a trip while carrying the absolute least amount of weight.
Recently however Garmin has come out with a host of new large color screen models with unbelievable battery efficiency. The GPSmap 60C and 76C have nice large color screens, faster satellite acquisition, much improved button and software interfaces, and these will run for 30 hours on a set of AA batteries. While the e-trex can load in topo maps just like the 60c can, it lacks color, and a color screen is really the only way to look at complex data -- such as a topo map -- on a hand held. I have used my 60C all summer on a host of mountain biking, hiking, climbing, and driving trips and consider it well worth the $350 (street price) price tag.
(Note: The "CS" versions of the 60C and 76C have an electronic compass and barometer, as well as some extra software features around glide path and vertical speed etc. These extra functions cost extra money and eek out 30% less battery life when activated making them not worth it to me.)
So while the 60C is significantly larger, which makes it tougher to wear, and a bit heavier, the added functionality and especially battery life have made it the one I use almost exclusively. If you are going to buy one GPS unit, the Garmin 60c is the one to get.
-- Alexander Rose
Garmin GPSMAP 60C
$350
Amazon
Manufactured by Garmin
Extra tip: make sure you update the "firmware" in your GPS and the CD-Rom software periodically on the Garmin Website. They are always making improvements to the internal software and PC interface and its well worth the trouble of updating.
Posted on August 19, 2004 at 08:57 AM
Good introduction
As idiot-proof as the newest GPS units are, I still needed assistance to make sense of all those lat-long numbers in relation to navigation. Several sources recommended this guide (third edition) which has indeed been most helpful.
--KK
GPS Made Easy, Third Ed.
Lawrence Letham
2001, 208 pages
$15
The Mountaineers Books
Seattle, WA
Mountain Gear
Excerpt:
The best use of a GPS receiver is to complement your present skills, so do not abandon the navigation techniques you have already acquired. For the beginning navigator, a receiver can help you improve your present skills because it can verify the measurements you make using manual techniques.
*
After a spectacular flight, the helicopter lands near the lake and you disembark with plenty of time to set up camp. Just as planned, you are fishing the lake the next morning at 4:00 am and catch a fine breakfast. When it is time to go, you turn the receiver on, but it seems to take much longer than usual to lock onto the satellites. When a receiver loses its memory, has not been used for a few months or when it is moved more than 300 mi. from the location where it last locked, it can take up to 12.5 minutes for a single channel receiver to get a position fix. The time between turning the receiver on and locking on to the satellites is known as Time To First Fix (TTFF).
*
Altitude Profiling. One of the best features of topographical databases is altitude profiling. After the user draws a route on the map, the computer instantly produces a cross-section showing all the changes in altitude along the path. Try profiling a trail on a paper map and you will see the power of this feature. Profiling allows you to see in advance which sections of the trail will be challenging and which will be easy.
 The three circles are each 30 m (98.4 ft.) in diameter.
 Generating a profile of a trail is one of the most useful and powerful features of a topographical map database.
Posted on February 02, 2004 at 02:06 PM
I’ve used my e-trex GPS unit for the past couple of years on many car and local-hiking trips, and a few backpacking journeys deeper into the country. This unit allows me to download Garmin’s road maps into the e-trex for car trips, and their topographic maps for backcountry trips. With this unit I can also save my trail’s GPS data onto my PC for either archiving or sharing. Things I don’t like: The PC software is not terribly intuitive, although it is usable with some practice. The high resolution greyscale LCD screen helps, but topo maps are still too detailed to read usefully on a small screen. The screen also takes a while to update when scrolling around complex maps. In short this is an inexpensive, compact, and lightweight way to get into GPS navigation with downloadable maps.
However, there are much better units available, witih fast color screens and great battery life. If you are going to buy one GPS unit, the Garmin 60c (reviewed here) is the one to get.
The e-trex is small and light, and an ideal second unit. I will continue to use mine for mountaineering when I want to log a trip while carrying the absolute least amount of weight.
–Alexander Rose
 The 24 satellites that make up the GPS space segment are orbiting the earth about 12,000 miles above us. They are constantly moving, making two complete orbits in less than 24 hrs.
e-trex Legend
Manufactured by Garmin
$220
From Amazon
Posted on December 26, 2003 at 02:45 PM
Heavy-duty waterproof bags
The German company Ortlieb produce a range of waterproof items. These are excellent for use while trekking, motorcycling, bicycling, caving, canoeing, etc. I usually put clothing and sleeping bags in Ortlieb dry bags inside my rucksack. I am guaranteed that stuff will keep dry, and it makes it easier to organize the backpack.
I also have a larger Ortlieb bag which I use when I go on motorcycling trips. Useful stuff, and excellent quality/durability. They produce a range of items.
--Helge A. Gudmundsen
For instance:
PD-350 Dry Bags
$34
Packman Pro
$130
Ortlieb USA
Posted on October 08, 2003 at 03:34 PM
For precision uses, better than an analog one
For recreational orienteering, or survival, all you need is an inexpensive analog compass. For sea navigation, and for trail making, surveying, wildlife monitoring, or anything else where consistently exactitude is require, this scope is probably what you want, as recommended by Charles Platt. Waterproofed, and illuminated at night with fiber optics, these compasses can supplement GPS finders. ññKK
Charles Platt writes:
Traditional compass designs for hikers are unreliable and hard to use. A magnetized needle wobbles on a primitive bearing, and its accuracy is affected by local mineral deposits. Enhancements of this basic design are still unsatisfactory; for instance, you may find yourself peering into a hinged mirror, trying to focus simultaneously on the wobbling needle in front of you, and a distant object reflected in the mirror, upside-down.
After much searching I found that marine supply companies seem to make the most advanced compasses. I bought a KVH Datascope for about $300. It is designed as a monocular; you look through the unit, which provides 5x magnification, crosshairs, and a digital readout superimposed, accurate to +/- half a degree. This is a sighting compass, meaning that you sight a distant object in the direction in which you wish to travel, walk toward that object, taking another sighting, and so on. The fact that the compass is still accurate if you don't hold it level (it has a 20 degree tolerance) is a big plus; traditional compasses are useless unless you manage to hold them almost precisely level.
Calibration of the compass is very simple, after which you dial in the deviation of magnetic north from true north in your area. (This information is available on any topo map.) Supposedly the compass is smart enough to compensate for local deposits of ferrous metal, power lines, etc. All I know is that I was finally able to locate the small metal pegs marking the corners of my 40 acres in the middle of nowhere. A professional surveyor's compass had not enabled me to do this.
The Datascope requires three button-type batteries, and must be recalibrated each time you change the batteries, because each new set of batteries has slightly different magnetic characteristics. My first set has lasted two years so far. The compass comes in a nice padded carrying case, includes a digital clock, is supposedly "totally waterproof," and weighs 11 ounces. If you're tempted to buy one, check Froogle; I found online prices varying by as much as $150.
KVH Datascope
Manufactured by KVH
$350
from Boater's World
Posted on April 26, 2003 at 04:35 PM
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