I was leaning toward buying a Delorme PN-40, but the battery life may be disappointing. I’d like a handheld mapping GPS under $300 to use for hiking & kayaking that I can take on up to week-long trips without carrying 6 lbs of batteries. I was looking at the Garmin Vista HCX also. Any other suggestions?
I have the eTrex Legend HCx . . .
. . . battery life is listed at 25 hours. I get about 30 hours with no backlight.
Vista HCX a nice choice
great with bike mount for cycling. Waterproof. I did a six day paddling trip averange maybe 4+ hours a day and got the low battery warning on the last day, so one spare set of AA can handle most trips.
Garmin 76c
Last I checked (and you can do so on the Garmin website) the 76c series had the best battery life of the Garmins with replaceable batteries. You want to stick with replaceable, because of the lack of “current bushes” in the wild.
Other tips…
Setup the gps unit in “battery saver” mode. The unit will work fine if you aren’t in deep canyons or under heavy tree cover. Some of the newer models will be fine even there. Turn of WAAS even if you are in cover. It isn’t all that helpful and it uses extra battery power needlessly.
Use lithium batteries. They are lighter and last longer. Work better in cold too. Make sure you setup your unit for lithiums if your model has the setting.
Turn off any altimeter or compass features. Big-time battery suckers.
Use the backlight sparingly or not at all. If you must use it, set up up so that it will turn off automatically in a very short time if you forget to turn it off manually.
Vista HCX
is now under $200 shipped, so this might be a no-brainer!
battery suckers
Seriously???
I never heard that befor.
I know if I play with the differend features alot it kills the batteries,But if I just use it to get back to a saved location and then turn it off again I can get over 20 hours on lithium.
The trick is not to play with it to much.