Let's talk about GPS units!

[craigman]

What GPS units are you guys using when going on off road trips?
Seems like I've seen in pictures some are using Lawrence fish finders?
What's your thoughts?
Craig

[dirtkeeper]

I decided to get a smart tablet and later and iPad. Reason was they could do so much more with mapping and other tools and weren’t much more in price .I use an old Samsung galaxy tablet and now most of the time now I also have along my big iPad for better viewing of maps. The key is that you need to buy one that has the gps chip I. It. On the iPad it’s an upgrade. Many of the other brands have it.

Works great everywhere I have used it along with I use a Gaia maps app. I can get all kinds of different forest and Topo maps. Not sure what the specialty navigation products advantage is , seems more limited use.

[craigman]

[oprn]

Cell phones in our area only show roads so if you are off road you are pretty much on your own.
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[72Pstroke]

I have a Magellan TRX 7 in my SXS. It comes preloaded with forest service roads and trails in the US. You can also install Baja maps on it, but you can't use US and Mexico maps at the same time. You have to rename a file to switch between the 2 maps.
I have been really happy with it.

[Wulfthang]

A friend of mine downloaded some app to his cell phone that tracks off road trails and such. It seems to work pretty well with lot's of detail but it's not really a GPS unit. It only works in cell phone range.

I have an old Garmin Nuvi that I loaded the terrain maps from my area into. It's got a big screen and has worked well for me. I mounted the carrier for it to the frame above the windshield so all I have to do is look up and it's right there.

[dirtkeeper]

[baja5]

Cell phone of tablet is fine. I use an iPad. OnXOffroad is a decent app, lots of trails. There is a subscription fee, I think it was $30 for a year. If using a tablet without service you can pre download your maps and use an external GPS antenna like the Bad Elf. I used to use Motion X, but they discontinued support.
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[craigman]

Wow thanks for the info fellas!
I have a iPhone 8, what off road map should I load into it?

[Bad_chopper]

I use onx off road. You can save tracks add waypoint marks, share with friends. One thing I also like and i think this is with most gps units..you can use Google earth and build a track to fallow, and import it in whatever file it needs. There are a couple good you tube videos of how to do it. There are also some external Bluetooth GPS antennas you can use for a better signal. Just make sure you have a solid mount for your phone bouncy screens are hard to fallow.
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[unclebilly]

Iphone with Avenza app.

[mr_bill]

CALIFORNIA TRAIL MAPS, on my Garmin
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[Lonesome Rider]

iphone or ipad with polaris Ride Command app. All sorts of trails in West Virginia showed up on my app when I was there last trail riding. I don't think a dedicated unit for this is worth it. Check out www.rammount.com
Expensive but really good mounts for whatever you want to do. I ride horses too and theres an app called Rambler thats good for tracking your trails and finding your way back out of the woods.

[Matt Wilson]

For races, we use the Lowrance GPS. You see these in various models for boats as well as more 'civilian' use models. The trick is, to make sure the maps are loaded and you know how to use the GPS unit, whichever you choose. You can layer all sorts of maps and there's a lot of features available in these. These are usually mounted in the vehicle with an antenna, and don't offer much "mobile device" attributes. These don't offer any sort of turn-by-turn voice instruction as far as I know - maybe the civilian style suction cup to the windshield ones do??

I've also used the Garmin inReach unit, which was a handy way to send a text message when you are way far out of cell phone tower range, and don't want to use the satellite phone. It also has a breadcrumbing feature, which will report back the GPS unit's location to a website, and track your journey. You can share the website link with anyone to track your whereabouts for extra safety. They make a charging cradle that can mount in your vehicle, that uses USB. You can remove the device from the cradle and take it with you for other activities. I recall the battery lasting a long time, even when doing the background breadcrumb transmitting. Removing it from the vehicle and taking it with you also prevents it from getting stolen.

i have also used the Avenza app for iPhone. It was handy if you again, plan on getting your maps before the journey. Some maps are free, while others cost money. I used this app two weekends ago snowmobiling. The map was not accurate, and constantly stopping, taking off my gloves, digging out my phone, unlocking the phone and opening the app, was a time waste. Also, not having a way to mount the device was annoying. Running the app in the background gobbles up battery as well. Maybe not the best for snowmobile, but in a vehicle, it may be okay.
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[craigman]

Thanks for all the reply guys! I'm just looking for a simple GPS so I know where I'm at, at all times. Still not sure about using a cell phone lol.
It seems like a lot of people used to use a Lowrance unit. But I'm definitely open to new ways!

[Lonesome Rider]

cell phones work fine for me as long as you open the apps up while you have good service. I open mine at home before going out that way it already has my signal and position. I've had problems with my phone not connecting gps apps when i try to open them when there is zero cell service or wifi. just my observation

[baja5]

[Bad_chopper]

[Madkel]

I went on a trip in February to the east side of Death Valley (Nevada desert) with the Manx club.
The lead driver used the ONX Offroad app on his iPhone to scout out and mark trails to drive on. Downloaded them to the phone prior to driving. There was minimal cell phone coverage in the area, but the ONX app tracked us and kept current with exact location while we were driving offroad.
He said it cost about $30 per year to subscribe to ONX.

The key is to downloand the maps when you have good signal and then the GPS in the phone will track your path.
I think the same can be done with Googlemaps too.
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[craigman]

The key is to downloand the maps when you have good signal and then the GPS in the phone will track your path.
I think the same can be done with Google maps too.


Ahh, ok, I didn't know the GPS on a cell phone could keep tracking you!
That's good info!