New Age Navigation

Submitted by Eric Daniel

Well, it only took 10 years, but I’ve finally given in to the inevitable and purchased myself a hand-held GPS unit.  While I’m not about to give up my compass (the magnetic field hasn’t failed me yet) I have come to believe that, all things being equal, navigating with a GPS (where they’ll work) is faster and less technical than navigating with a compass (as a firefighter we often parked the trucks and hoofed it to the fire as quick as we could, and then used a GPS to plot a direct route back to the trucks after the fact.)

Anyhow, after much looking and reading and thinking, the unit I settled on was the Garmin  eTrex-Vista.  No it isn’t in color, it can “only” store 20 routs and 1,000 waypoints (not that I’ll ever come close to using all of them, mind you) and its power consumption is a little on the high side, comparatively (12 hours of continuous operations as opposed to 30-50 out of some models.)  What it does do however, is support lat/long, UTM, MGRS, it comes with an electronic compass, is backlit for nighttime ops, and has an altimeter as a back up elevation instrument.  It also provides me with all that atmospheric data that you need for paragraph one of your OPORD (ever wonder where the TOC finds out when BMNT, EMNT, BENT and EENT, moonrise and percent illumination come from?  This unit will tell you.)

As a “first” GPS I am quite happy with it.  I know it’s not the biggest, the best, or the most complicated, but for only $150 it does everything I ask it to.

Check out the Garmin eTrex-Vista here.

Comments

[epiphanius]

I understand that the Garmin HC series has significantly better reception (e.g. in cloudy weather) than the non-HC models.

Also, there are some great free mapping projects that work with Garmin devices, e.g.:

http://mapcenter2.cgpsmapper.com/

Great site, keep up the good work.

e.

[Ernunnos]

Second the recommendation on the H-series Garmins. The new GPS chipsets in them are 100x more sensitive, and can even get a lock on the satellites from inside a building. They also lock on much more quickly after powering up.

I have a non-H Legend, and while it works ok out in the desert, when I took it to the forests of Michigan on a hunting trip, it couldn't get a lock through the trees AT ALL. I actually can't believe they're still selling the non-H models. While it's better than nothing, I would never rely on it again. I consider them dangerous for anything other than recreation on open land or water. For any serious use, I would highly recommend returning it while you can and upgrading to the H model.

[Oz]

I use the ETrex Legend (no backlight, but almost all else the same). I use it mostly as backup to charts / maps, but wouldn't be afraid to rely on it as primary. I've used it on several road trips as well as on a couple long foot marches and I am pleased with both the database and the ease of use. And I agree, the price is right. Of course, I still have a compass in my pocket, too.