GPS recommendations
To keep this subject going what type of GPS would you recommend for day or overnight canoe trips???
yes
I realy don’t use my gps for navigation - I use it as a speedometer. It is hard to tell the diferance between 4mph and 5mph when your a mile from shore. This information is invaluable when adjusting headings and course.
I carry one, but only as…
A back-up for my compass & map.
Techno-gadgets are just that “gadgets”. ALWAYS use a compass & a map for sure directional capabilities, and use a GPS for a “quick check” or to look at the breadcrumb trail of where you have been.
Paddle easy,
Coffee
I like John Dowd’s use
preentering the data and using them to “see” invisible things–like when you’re in and out of a shipping lane.
I’ve had no use for one, but was just pouring over the WWTA Cascadia Marine Trail Guidebook and thinking how handy a GPS might be to keep track of park locations. Some of them look like they might be hard to spot from the water.
was that with GPS or without?
(cf. Otterslides anecdote to the opposite effect, above)
http://www.paddling.net/message/showThread.html?fid=advice&tid=920369#920551
I think this subject
will continue on and on without that just fine
Know where you are at ALL times
One of the key points to successful navigation is to know WHERE you are at all times. That can be done using a GPS, using a compass, or using the lay of the land (and water) - landmarks.
My view is that should be extended to “Know where you are on a PAPER map at all times”. If you can navigate using visual landmarks, that is good, so long as you know where you are on that map. Just make sure that you are using the CORRECT landmarks. If you need a GPS to obtain a coordinate, or to obtain bearings to pre-entered waypoints for triangulation that can work, but you need to know how to tranfer that information to the paper map (coordinates, datum, …). If you use a magnetic compass to triangulate using visual landmarks, or route such that you’re sure to find a landmark, that will work, but you need to know how to use the compass with the paper map (bearings, declination, …). To finish off the trilogy, you should also know how to use the GPS with the compass (declination, GPS true/magnetic north settings, routes for bearings, …).
My recommendation is to NOT rely on just one method for knowing where you are. What if you GPS dies? What if you drop your compass? What if you lose your paper map? What if landmarks don’t look quite right?
No, you don’t NEED a GPS, but GPS’s are so cheap and portable these days that most travelers can bring along one (with extra batteries) not only as simple insurance, but also a great navigation tool. It can really help just in case landmarks aren’t obvious, or in case you need its help to find your way back to a known waypoint.
Its all good. YOUR job is to know how to use the map, compass, and GPS BEFORE your trip. The best way to do that is to practice around your home/city first.
I’m looking for one for racing
Looking for one to enter race waypoints into. Seems to be the way to navigate when seconds matter. Bonus training aide in terms of getting sprint speed/forward stroke improvements down.
Plan to get a non-mapping one with marine info. so I have buoy information, which will help when I am not racing and bring along a laminated map of the area and compass.
You can’t go wrong with a…
Compass, a map & an analog watch.
Paddle easy,
Coffee
Bought for a reason, don’t us it as much
Reason was FOG that rolled in on me. I was solo, on Puget Sound and launched from a river/slough area that had some 5 different “entrance” points. The odds were against me getting to my car and for me spending a night out unprepared for it. Luckilly I had a hand compass and just relied on East. Even when I was in a channel, I had no idea it the the correct one for over a mile where I hit a railroad bridge I knew. Those that know, think Everett Sloughs) That convinced me to get one. I have never “needed” it like that day. It is like being able to roll, it is nice to have but you can live without it if you prepare.
I bookmark all of my launch spots, and bring it with me but these days, IF it is on, the display is turned off to save batteries and I only use it to measure distance traveled. But if something came up, it is there. In an emergency, the ability to say I am 1.2 miles NE of Point Taken and someone needs assistance, send help. Versus, I left 3 hours ago from the boat launch down that way (pointing while on the VHF).