Which Garmin to buy?

[Red Sparky]

WildRose--I have the Garmin Rino and I bought Topo 2008. That is one of the radio and gps combo units. The radio is good for hunting parties but drains the batteries. Most times I have the unit off but with my daughters starting to hunt here a a few pluses for the radios. I can set them up to send locations to any other Rino user. So I know where my daughters are IF, yes that is a big if, the radios can reach each other. In the mountains don't expect the radios to reach as far as manufactures state. I can poll their location and it will tell me where they are. I can also talk to them and set up places to meet. The other thing I tell the wife if something happens and a search party has to be sent out for us we will be on channel 9, frequency 11. Yep 911 so any rescuer that has a Rino can locate my position. We usually use a different channel and frequency but if something bad happens we will change to 911. If I had it to do over again I would look at the Spot, I think they call it. You can send text messages and locations via satellite rather than radio. My wife could log in on the computer at home and know where I was and how things were going.

With Topo 2008 I can load topo maps in but chips might be the way to go. I hunt public land without any private land around but if I was hunting close to private land it would be nice to have the chips to make sure not to get a trespass ticket.

 

[WildRose]

WildRose--I have the Garmin Rino and I bought Topo 2008. That is one of the radio and gps combo units. The radio is good for hunting parties but drains the batteries. Most times I have the unit off but with my daughters starting to hunt here a a few pluses for the radios. I can set them up to send locations to any other Rino user. So I know where my daughters are IF, yes that is a big if, the radios can reach each other. In the mountains don't expect the radios to reach as far as manufactures state. I can poll their location and it will tell me where they are. I can also talk to them and set up places to meet. The other thing I tell the wife if something happens and a search party has to be sent out for us we will be on channel 9, frequency 11. Yep 911 so any rescuer that has a Rino can locate my position. We usually use a different channel and frequency but if something bad happens we will change to 911. If I had it to do over again I would look at the Spot, I think they call it. You can send text messages and locations via satellite rather than radio. My wife could log in on the computer at home and know where I was and how things were going.

With Topo 2008 I can load topo maps in but chips might be the way to go. I hunt public land without any private land around but if I was hunting close to private land it would be nice to have the chips to make sure not to get a trespass ticket.

Thanks. You're on the same track as I am.

For my wife's sake I'm getting one of the emergency locator/transponders. That way it will keep her from worrying too much if I'm out of cell range for a few days.

In general though I'm mainly thinking of gps/mapping but with the ability to call out for help and to help guide them in if necessary.

I'm about to go blind though looking at all the different models of Garmins that are out there and trying to settle on the best bang for the buck in one.

With the advent of solar powered charges for electronics I'm not terribly worried about battery life and of course I learned long ago to carry spares just in case.

I'm leaning towards the 600 series Garmin Radios but still pretty much flying blind.

 

[Red Sparky]

With my Rino 120 here is what I can do with it. I can download topo maps for where I am hunting. I also go to MyTopo and custom print paper maps. It seems like where I like to hunt is where the corner of four forest service maps come together. With the Garmin topo I can download way points and tracks from the gps to the computer and from the computer to the gps. I can also look at the terrain on Google Earth and have my way points transferred. The only problem in the field is sometimes the trees interfere with the gps reading. Sometime I have an accuracy of 30 feet and sometimes 300 feet, depends on how many satellites and strength I can pick them up.

I also carry extra batteries and what I do for recharging them is I have a 12 volt battery and a solar panel hooked up at base camp. This is not a car battery but a 12 volt battery out of emergency lights so it is only about 10"x6"x4" and only weighs about 3 pounds. The solar panel which cost about $30 recharges the 12 volt battery during the day then at night I just use alligator clips to hook on cigarette type sockets and use usb cords to recharge 3 cameras, cell phone, and AA batteries. It is amazing how much you can recharge this way.

I definitely think any of the new Garmins would have improvements over what I am using since my Garmin is 6 years old.

 

[WildRose]

With my Rino 120 here is what I can do with it. I can download topo maps for where I am hunting. I also go to MyTopo and custom print paper maps. It seems like where I like to hunt is where the corner of four forest service maps come together. With the Garmin topo I can download way points and tracks from the gps to the computer and from the computer to the gps. I can also look at the terrain on Google Earth and have my way points transferred. The only problem in the field is sometimes the trees interfere with the gps reading. Sometime I have an accuracy of 30 feet and sometimes 300 feet, depends on how many satellites and strength I can pick them up.

I also carry extra batteries and what I do for recharging them is I have a 12 volt battery and a solar panel hooked up at base camp. This is not a car battery but a 12 volt battery out of emergency lights so it is only about 10"x6"x4" and only weighs about 3 pounds. The solar panel which cost about $30 recharges the 12 volt battery during the day then at night I just use alligator clips to hook on cigarette type sockets and use usb cords to recharge 3 cameras, cell phone, and AA batteries. It is amazing how much you can recharge this way.

I definitely think any of the new Garmins would have improvements over what I am using since my Garmin is 6 years old.

Very helpful, many thanks.

 

[kbaerg]

I purchased myself a Garmin 62s last spring for the main purpose of marking where my pickup and camp is at. I still carry my maps and compass cause I like to plan for that OH BOY moment when electronics fail. I have so far been happy with how it's working. I did get the birds eye as I had a discount for it. I can see pros and con's. It's nice satellite imagery when downloading in high resolution but takes forever, also I can see it takes a bit of memory if you want a big area. Low resolution is not worth it for me. For now I have the topo maps which I got free off another site and they work fine. My hunting is usually in the Black Hills of South Dakota so I'm not trekking into major canyons or mountains yet, but I do get 2-3 miles away from my vehicle and 2-3 from camp. What I like is I can mark where camp and vehicle are at and go hunt, mark where I see game or whatever else is of interest and use the garmin to get back to either if needed.

 

[Red Sparky]

I agree I still have my maps and compass but here is what happened last season to help with the gps. Why everyone, in my opinion, should have one and know how to use it. I was elk hunting on a mesa with not much elevation change on top but lots of big pines and meadows. It was a cloudy overcast day so imagine when the sun sets you want to go north so you put the brighter part of the sky on your left and start walking. It gets dark and you keep going by flashlight what you think is north. The clouds break and the setting moon is on your right. Now a setting moon is on your right when it should be on your left. The cloud cover made the sunset appear lighter in the east than the west. Hindsight being 20/20, lightbulb, I should have taken either a compass reading or used the gps rather than use what I thought was the setting sun. I pull out the gps and compass and both say I am south of where I want to be. The gps tells me it is 3/4 mile to the road and I am 200 yards from the "Grand Canyon" of NM, 1500 ft drop in 1/2 mile. Not the way I want to go. I could have gotten back to camp with either compass/map or gps. It was sure easier to navigate to a way point on the road I marked and know how far it was, how fast I was walking, and how long it would take me to get there. Yeah I plan on the electronics failing at some point but that gps pinpointed where I was on a map and sure made it easier in the dark to get back to camp.

 

[WildRose]

I agree I still have my maps and compass but here is what happened last season to help with the gps. Why everyone, in my opinion, should have one and know how to use it. I was elk hunting on a mesa with not much elevation change on top but lots of big pines and meadows. It was a cloudy overcast day so imagine when the sun sets you want to go north so you put the brighter part of the sky on your left and start walking. It gets dark and you keep going by flashlight what you think is north. The clouds break and the setting moon is on your right. Now a setting moon is on your right when it should be on your left. The cloud cover made the sunset appear lighter in the east than the west. Hindsight being 20/20, lightbulb, I should have taken either a compass reading or used the gps rather than use what I thought was the setting sun. I pull out the gps and compass and both say I am south of where I want to be. The gps tells me it is 3/4 mile to the road and I am 200 yards from the "Grand Canyon" of NM, 1500 ft drop in 1/2 mile. Not the way I want to go. I could have gotten back to camp with either compass/map or gps. It was sure easier to navigate to a way point on the road I marked and know how far it was, how fast I was walking, and how long it would take me to get there. Yeah I plan on the electronics failing at some point but that gps pinpointed where I was on a map and sure made it easier in the dark to get back to camp.

Oh I definitely agree. I've been flat out lost three times in my life and all three were on cloudy, overcast days where I could not get a good reading on where the sun is. It is definitely nerve racking to be miles off road, away from camp in a wilderness area having absolutely no clue where you are.

 

[sp6x6]

My buddies have the 650's and they love them. I am not super familar because I spent time cat hunting and some time in AK and we ran truck or boat FM's with good water proof hand helds for radios so I have a base unit in 3 of my rigs. And I get by with old E trex. The GPS finds you almost instant some times, mine tacks some times 15 min plus in thick timber.They have touch screen and my buddy has maps for land owners which is big plus in MT.They run them with wife and sons/daughters and know there location. The battery last pretty long some of them track position all day, its if you get heavy on radio.We just touch base on 1hr or two interval.The radio I think has 1/2 watt, then 2 and 5 , which is all you get with most quality FM band Ive reached 10-12 mile line sight with my FM on 5 watt but when in MT canyons you can not reach sometimes at 1 mile if in different drainage. The touch screen nice and you can even check speed like I like with my different tires on jeep to see how speedo run and check milage. They are a little heavy but no more than my small etrex gps plus my small compact 5 watt uniden FM. Also if you get in a group like I know you just tell them your channel and you can touch base or see their location. Now my one friend has 655 with camera even built in

 

[WildRose]

My buddies have the 650's and they love them. I am not super familar because I spent time cat hunting and some time in AK and we ran truck or boat FM's with good water proof hand helds for radios so I have a base unit in 3 of my rigs. And I get by with old E trex. The GPS finds you almost instant some times, mine tacks some times 15 min plus in thick timber.They have touch screen and my buddy has maps for land owners which is big plus in MT.They run them with wife and sons/daughters and know there location. The battery last pretty long some of them track position all day, its if you get heavy on radio.We just touch base on 1hr or two interval.The radio I think has 1/2 watt, then 2 and 5 , which is all you get with most quality FM band Ive reached 10-12 mile line sight with my FM on 5 watt but when in MT canyons you can not reach sometimes at 1 mile if in different drainage. The touch screen nice and you can even check speed like I like with my different tires on jeep to see how speedo run and check milage. They are a little heavy but no more than my small etrex gps plus my small compact 5 watt uniden FM. Also if you get in a group like I know you just tell them your channel and you can touch base or see their location. Now my one friend has 655 with camera even built in

Thanks, I've been looking at the 610's, 650's, and 655's.

I hate to buy the latest and greatest newest thing on the market because they are always overpriced and will be obsolete next year and I like to buy something and keep it forever or until it flat no longer will get the job done.

Tech being what it is though I may have to break that rule.

I blame it all on Mario!

 

[marioq]

Come on buddy!!!!! I can't help that I open your eyes!!! Hahahaja. But tell you what, I got the 530 and the 655. I'll sell you one of those. Just gimme a call

 

[WildRose]

Come on buddy!!!!! I can't help that I open your eyes!!! Hahahaja. But tell you what, I got the 530 and the 655. I'll sell you one of those. Just gimme a call

Well that just shows how smart I'm not..... .

Now I have to pay for the one I borrowed gun)lightbulb

I just shot out my own bulb!

 

[sp6x6]

Thats why I still run my electric taped together Etrex Plus I have all these secret spots marked in it

 

[Surf N Turf]

Well I got a Montana 650. Now I'm trying to decide just what I need to do about getting property boundaries to show. Yes, I'm aware of the OnXmap chip. I have the Birdseye TOPO and Birdseye Satellite cards, which I have not activated yet. I'd like to start out w/my county here in WI and branch out from there in the future. We have the GIS info avail, when it works? Just looking to access and know the public private boundaries, including MFL.
Thanks,
Gregory

 

[frostop]

Well I have one of the older 650's that at the time was the top of the line, I can tell you that it is probably the best gps that I have owned, I've had megellans in the past that were pretty much useless unless you were an expert at reading maps. The garmin has many times caused me to go farther than I would have without. The ability to communicate with fellow hunters(with a similar unit) and track there position can be nice feature as well.

I have considered upgrading to the newest one that can also take pictures, I haven't pulled that trigger yet but may have to do that soon.

Has anyone tried the New Montarra that runs Android? I have thought about one of those as well since I don't have a smart phone, that would be a convenient way to run Ballistic Software instead of packing my tablet around.

Gary