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I have been wanting to start keeping track of my riding this year and am also interested in making maps of where I have ridden. What are your favorite brands of GPS for trail/endurance riding, and why?
Your favorite GPS for the trail
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For the money, you almost can't been a Garmin eTrex Venture HC. I have it set to tell me speed, miles, average speed, total time, what time it is etc. on one page. Another tells me my heading, my bearing, etc. and makes a track of the trail I am going on and of course, a compass. I can mark waypoints an track to it, etc.
The Garmin Dakota 20 is a little fancier than mine with a touch screen feature which is nice and has a few more features. I think its battery lasts quiet a bit longer which is very nice!
I have a blast with mine and don't ride without it.
The Garmin Dakota 20 is a little fancier than mine with a touch screen feature which is nice and has a few more features. I think its battery lasts quiet a bit longer which is very nice!
I have a blast with mine and don't ride without it.
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One think that I like about my Garmin eTrex Venture HC is that it comes with software that you put on your computer. It is called mapsource. Anyway, you upload data from the GPS to your computer. Then you can open your track in Google Earth. Maybe I am a bit geeky, but it really entertains me to look at my ride on a Google Earth map.
My sister has been working on developing maps of some federal land (U.S. Forest Service land) for her work. There are a bunch of horse trail riders that she has working to help her. They record the locations of significant things that they find on their rides and she can use these in the maps. As part of her work, she was able to go on a 14 mile trail ride with them to check the accuracy of some of their data. Tough job, but somebody's got to do it..........
My sister has been working on developing maps of some federal land (U.S. Forest Service land) for her work. There are a bunch of horse trail riders that she has working to help her. They record the locations of significant things that they find on their rides and she can use these in the maps. As part of her work, she was able to go on a 14 mile trail ride with them to check the accuracy of some of their data. Tough job, but somebody's got to do it..........
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I actually have two hand helds, A garmin E-Trex Legend Hcx, and a Garmin 60 Csx.
I like the size of the Legend, and agree with the others, the E-Trex series is a good place to start.
Need maps?
gpsfiledepot.com
Free topo's, and they work great.
I like the size of the Legend, and agree with the others, the E-Trex series is a good place to start.
Need maps?
gpsfiledepot.com
Free topo's, and they work great.
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Thats the perfect place to learn the machine.
Use it in a place you know and learn to understand it.
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I used a Garmin eTrex legend once. It worked ok. The only main problem i had was when you went into a lower area or an area with thick tree cover and it lost it's tracking signal. I was only borrowing it for the day but I did like how simple it was to use, once I figured it out.
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The newer e-trex's have a different chipset and are much improved over the older ones.
Prior to the two I have now, I had the old blue etrex legend.
It often lost signal in heavy cover, but seldom, if ever, loose signal on either of the two I've mentioned.
However, I still, take a paper map and compass when riding in the wilderness area or National forest.
Prior to the two I have now, I had the old blue etrex legend.
It often lost signal in heavy cover, but seldom, if ever, loose signal on either of the two I've mentioned.
However, I still, take a paper map and compass when riding in the wilderness area or National forest.
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Thanks for all the info. guys! I'm definitely going to research a bit more and maybe find one to play with before I make a definitive choice. Yay! So excited!
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I have an old Garmin eTrex Venture and I loose signals frequently too. Sometimes I think it's the woods, other times I think it's the mountains.
There is one trail up here that is notorious for my GPS not being able to keep a signal on. It is both wooded and surrounded by mountains. My theory is that it takes a certain number of satellites to pinpoint it's location, so if the mountains or trees or whatever are blocking some of the signals it can't pinpoint it's location. I don't know how true that is, but that's my theory anyway!
I do love my GPS, although many times I forget to turn it on at the start of a ride. Or I turn it on and forget to reset the tracking information. But it does give me a lot of confidence to go cross country and explore and be able to find my way back to the trailer. So I really find it a valuable tool. Someday I should get a more modern one though.
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Trailhorserider, the lady said her eTrex was about 6 years old! I showed her mine and she said she might look into getting a new one. I do not live in a mountainous area but we do ride at a place that has hills and heavy tree coverage. I have never noticed losing satellites. Hummm...next time we ride there I am going to check it when we are down in the deepest places.
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Mine never totally loses signal, but when I put the track on a map in my computer at home, I notice that the satellite readings are pretty far apart when I am deep in the woods. I can always tell where I am though. Then again, I haven't tried it in places that I can get lost.
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