[Closed] recommendations on garmin etrex type gadgets

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Ouch!

Etrex if you like buttons. Dakota if you like touch screen. Oregon if you like a bigger screen.

I assume you know how to read/navigate off a map (paper or digital)? If not, get training.

iphone and viewranger app?, or other smartphone and gps app.

How did you get lost? Could you not just turn round and retrace your steps?

Basically snowy and fog came down quickly.....os map no good as bearings went.....should have had compass....was not prepared for weather......

A 'finder' type gps tool and a compass would have helped.

thinking dakota20....haz step by step guides against a box, right?

Why not get a Garmin 800 with OS mapping and then you can use it on the bike or on foot?

I have had one for years and have used it with OS mapping and other free maps from various sites and it works very well.

Dogsby

I had an etrex 30 for a while, I originally bought it for biking duties along with a little bit of geo caching with the young un.

The screen is small, make of that what you will really, it's a good unit if you're prepared to work it in the right way, route preparation will help, switching it on when you really need it probably won't.

I used free mapping rather than go down the OS route without any ill-effect, they are available with contours and capability for turn by turn nav.

SatMap's Active 12 is really good, but really expensive. The map repro is way better than Garmin's badly drawn stuff and the user interface is actually vaguely intuitive meaning you can use it from the off. Garmin's hardware's great, but the interface and the screen are bit lacking ime, though of course - anticipates howls of dissent - you can get used to anything.

ViewRanger on a smartphone is very good too, but you need to watch the power use and maybe carry a supplementary battery pack.