Stand Alone GPS...

Photomom, That's just commonly known as adventure!

I know, I've been on the impassible snow covered mountain road, [at least that's what it was listed as], ran straight into a snow covered stream, had to dig out the snow [with an ice scraper] get the jack out, raise the front out of the stream, put it in reverse, drive back off the jack, retrieve jack, back up until I could find a place to turn around [about two miles!], and finally get back to where my GPS said to turn. During this period of time [it was winter] it was getting darker by the minute. NOT my idea of fun, exciting, but not fun.

Hmmmmm - Can't remember the last time I let a gps/phone plan my route. For me it's usually just my eyes and the map apps. So far so good.

To be clear, I use my Garmin all the time. It works great. But if it tells me to do something stupid, I'm not going to do it.

PXLated said:

And how do you know when it's being stupid?
About the time you don't is when you drive off the cliff :-(

Pretty much any time I get to a point where it says "travel off-road."

YMMV.

ericnliz said:

I know, I've been on the impassible snow covered mountain road, [at least that's what it was listed as], ran straight into a snow covered stream, had to dig out the snow [with an ice scraper] get the jack out, raise the front out of the stream, put it in reverse, drive back off the jack, retrieve jack, back up until I could find a place to turn around [about two miles!], and finally get back to where my GPS said to turn. During this period of time [it was winter] it was getting darker by the minute. NOT my idea of fun, exciting, but not fun.

Now that is what I call an adventure! But not a fun one.

We've been using my Garmin 450 for both on and off road travel for years now.  Thought the following might be interesting for some.

Originally I got it for my Geocaching hobby with topographical maps installed. This map set includes detailed information on rivers, streams, many trails and fire roads not on a roadmap and of course elevation which are not needed when driving and it will not "route" for driving nor are the roads themselves always displayed all that accurately.  The later is nice because the GPS does not go bonkers when you go onto new roads or get out of the car and walk into the woods.  This map set doesn't get updated frequently as the primary data it is intended to provide doesn't change much.  Seems like some that like to camp in the "boonies" like PXLated and jkjenn could really use this.

I soon learned I could obtain a "road map" map set for this type of GPS, purchased from Garmin and free on line.  The Garmin map set is the same as what is used in the Nuvi etc. and updates are frequently available in the same manner as well.  Although my GPS doesn't "talk" to me when using this map set it signal significant events and displays all the necessary directional information.  With this map set we find gas, restaurants, parks, and addresses as well as our way.  Honestly it is slower "finding" than a dedicated road GPS.

There is also satellite imagery available that can be over laid over either map set.  Many users with special interests create supplemental maps and points of interest data bases that can be incorporated as well.

The GPS does not use both map sets at the same time, we have to set it in off road and on road modes.  As an example; when Geocaching we start out in on road mode with GPS "driving" us to the closest road to the cache, we switch to off road and go for a walk.

To address PXLated concerns about roads to nowhere Garmin provides a mapping program called Basecamp (others are available) for use on a computer (PC or OS).  When planning a trip in a questionable area we create and review the "route" in Basecamp using the appropriate map set, satellite images, cross referencing with Google maps etc., and paper maps.  The "route", and important and interesting waypoints are transferred to the GPS for the trip.  Note that all but referring to Google maps is off line once downloaded.  Only limits are the memory space of the GPS and laptop.

Hope this helps. 

Another good option for folks for off-road and who don't want to buy another dedicated GPS-  there are several phone apps that work well.  Gaia is one of the best and performs most all of the functions that a GPS unit will, with topo and sat photo overlays.  I use a GPS almost daily in my forestry business and some of the phone apps work so well that I'm using it most of the time for mapping and navigation. 

jkjenn said:

SweetlyHome said:

 When planning a trip in a questionable area we create and review the "route" in Basecamp using the appropriate map set, satellite images, cross referencing with Google maps etc., and paper maps.  

You said the "P" word. I think that's against @PXLated's religion.

Oops your right  However if you back up like I do or have experienced long out of the way detours as we have some planning is warranted for us.  Fortunately he doesn't seem to have a wand. 

I've found my phone gps, on my last three phones, to be very accurate for backcountry, off-road orienteering, in a vehicle or on foot. 

Haven't heard of Gaia, but I've used Backcountry Navigator extensively, and it's quite accurate (and I can highly recommend it for hiking and topographic map work.)

Vermonster said:

Another good option for folks for off-road and who don't want to buy another dedicated GPS-  there are several phone apps that work well.  Gaia is one of the best and performs most all of the functions that a GPS unit will, with topo and sat photo overlays.  I use a GPS almost daily in my forestry business and some of the phone apps work so well that I'm using it most of the time for mapping and navigation. 

Vermonster said:

As an interesting side note-  I am a member of a search and rescue organization and our experience is that triangulation on the location of a cell caller can be REALLY inaccurate, occasionally by as much as a couple of miles.  If we can contact the caller, we try to coach them through reading off their coordinates which generally works much better. 

But, but, triangulation always works on TV! You'll probably tell us next that law enforcement agencies can't find a house based on an IP address, or generate a high resolution image from a blurry surveillance camera.

SweetlyHome said:

As I mentioned above I primarily use my GPS for geocaching.  It is a general opinion that circle and my personal experience that caches are better located when using a GPS.  That is they are physically located closer to the posted coordinates when originally located with a GPS. When I search with my phone I frequently have to increase the radius of my search to make the find.  Obviously the need accuracy is a function of the application.  I am going to take a look at these other recommended apps.

And it is a general opinion that folks who HIDE geocaches using smartphones should take up some other hobby (I am being kind here.) I use a Garmin 62S for hiking and geocaching (I'm a hider as well as a finder). If you really want to know where you are that is the sort of GPS you need.

No, you're thinking of Orienteering, which uses maps, compasses, and landmarks. Or possibly Letterboxing which uses landmarks.

Geocaching was only made possible in May 2000 when President Clinton discontinued "selective availability" so that military geopositioning satellites could be used by ordinary people. Geocaching is based on GPS receivers and the internet.

Oh, there is also Waymarking, which uses the internet, GPS receivers and landmarks.

So many pastimes, so little time.

FYI - The ScenicRoute maps are stored locally.

Wheeeeeeeeeee, Splat.