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Off Road GPS?

Camping350

NAXJA Forum User
Location
In the OC-CA
Need help with recommendations for a GPS for off roading. Was thinking the Garmin Montans 650T. Looking for opinions and advice never owned a GPS other than a regular Garmin for on road driving directions which I don't need now because of advanced cell phones.
 
As long as you buy a garmin you should be good. I'd stay away from any other brand.

I've noticed that most of the new model series (Montana, Oregon, 62 series) all have upper scale models that come preloaded with topo maps. I would defiantly buy one of these. The topo maps are nice when you are on jeep trails.
 
Do these have the ability to map your own trail?
 
Most will record a track as you drive. Tracks can be saved and shared. Mapping out a route that does not show on the Topo maps is possible, but may be an involved approximation.
 
Do these have the ability to map your own trail?

What exactly do you mean by "map your own trail"? Pretty much any GPS will allow you to leave bread crumbs. A trail of where you have been so you can follow your way back.

If you mean to draw out a map for yourself to follow later... I don't know of any that do this. You can however set up routes with flagged waypoints to follow.
 
Need help with recommendations for a GPS for off roading. Was thinking the Garmin Montans 650T. Looking for opinions and advice never owned a GPS other than a regular Garmin for on road driving directions which I don't need now because of advanced cell phones.

Whay do you want on off highway GPS? What features do you want that a smart phone deosn't have?


I own a Gramin 60CSx and find myself using my smart phone-Google Maps-more and more for off highway navigation. If you have a decent service provider (Verizon is better than ATT in SoCal, they have better coverage up in the mountains and out in the desert)the satellite images from GM are great for navigating off road.
 
I own a Gramin 60CSx and find myself using my smart phone-Google Maps-more and more for off highway navigation. If you have a decent service provider (Verizon is better than ATT in SoCal, they have better coverage up in the mountains and out in the desert)the satellite images from GM are great for navigating off road.

Get out of California and you will find this isn't the case. In Utah and Nevada if you are really out in the sticks a smart phone GPS is pretty much worthless.
 
I have become comfortable using the My Tracks app on my android phones and now my tablet. I haven't dealt with any topo maps but I can upload the tracks online and can get them from my friends.

You can also review them in google earth.
 
I use a first gen iPad ( model with internal gps chip) mounted to my dash and motion x software installed, its also handy for mp3's and now controlling my go pro with wifi back pack. The screen is so much easier to work with, you just need to download the maps for where you'll be first if your going to be in areas without data service.
 
Get out of California and you will find this isn't the case. In Utah and Nevada if you are really out in the sticks a smart phone GPS is pretty much worthless.

Correct although I am suprised on the coverage that I have gotten on the east side of the Sierra Nevada mountains along the highway 395 corridor.

My off highway navigation tools consist of 7.5' topo maps, BLM Surface Management Maps, USFS maps, Garmin 60CSx gps, Garmin mapping software, and National Geographic Topo software. The smart phone is a nice tool when it is available.
 
I use a first gen iPad ( model with internal gps chip) mounted to my dash and motion x software installed, its also handy for mp3's and now controlling my go pro with wifi back pack. The screen is so much easier to work with, you just need to download the maps for where you'll be first if your going to be in areas without data service.

From what I have seen this works well. A guy has an app on his Ipad that works well, and can trace and save where he has been....
 
I use a first gen iPad ( model with internal gps chip) mounted to my dash and motion x software installed, its also handy for mp3's and now controlling my go pro with wifi back pack. The screen is so much easier to work with, you just need to download the maps for where you'll be first if your going to be in areas without data service.


so dumb question but, how does that work exactly? do you pay a monthly fee for coverage like an i phone? or like a regular tablet?


cancel that, i just looked it up and yeah you pay and yeah im an idiot :)
 
I like my Delorme Earthmate PN60-W. It's easy to use and I like that the maps correspond to the Delorme Atlases. Just remember to load all the maps you need before you drive on an 8000 mile trip (been there, done that)
 
I'm still happy with my Garmin Zumo 550, unfortunately it is now discontinued. That thread could use an update, I have been using Garmin Mapsource Topo Southwest 24k for 3 years or so and it is the perfect map to use with the Zumo. It allows autorouting on any of the roads contained on the map and I can still import a track, convert it to a route and have Zumo guide me along the route. Very useful when I have a track to somewhere that is not included on the map.

Speaking of managing tracks, all of Garmin's new GPS units use Basecamp as a track & waypoint manager. I found Basecamp much less user friendly for editing, saving and loading tracks back into my GPS. The older Mapsource application was sooo easy to use to clean up and save tracks after a trip. I have every trip I have ever taken archived on my computer. I can easily pull individual tracks out of several separate trips and use them to plan a new one. I don't know if I am becoming an old fart or what, but I am not happy with the direction Garmin is going with their new software and GPSs. The emphasis is on putting more gadgets into them and creating a more visually stimulating experience. Meanwhile they have gone away from the ability to import off road tracks to follow, at least on their automotive navigators. If anyone has personal knowledge of a current auto-oriented GPS that will allow me to import and route on an off-road track I am all ears.
 
I have the Montana 650 and like it very much still learning the system but the base camp and is cool. It came already loaded with maps. I do have an Android but the Garmin never loses reception. It does trace your travels and it has the built in camera you can tag your way points with. At first I thought it was over priced but now appreciate it a lot more.
 
I use my android phone and an app called Open GPS Tracker plus the software on www.gobreadcrumbs.com to map trails. Need to see how well it does (or find something that will work for this, not sure the Open GPS tracker can do this) viewing saved GPS tracks on the mobile device, though.
 
I have a Garmin Montana and love it. It's somewhat ruggadized and water resistant (but not completely water proof), so it has no problem surviving in my jeep. And it can run on either the rechargeable lithium batteries or AA's, very convienent if you're going to take it backpacking. And compared to all the little handhelds, the big touchscreen makes using it in a jeep much more convienent.

In addition to the pre-loaded topo's, put the road maps onto it, without that map package it can't do the normal street directions.

And if you get the motorcycle mount, you can directly screw it into the dash, and the GPS firmly snaps into it, with an extra little security screw to prevent stealing it. And it's got a built in charger that you can hardwire into the jeep. The mount also comes with a couple screen protectors, highly recommend using those for that big touch screen.

First downside, the built in camera is shitty. Although a little picture tag shows up on the map where you took it, and you can click it to see the thumbnail. It's convienent if you want to remember where something is, snap a picture.

Only other downside I can think of, when you're doing street directions, it doesn't show distance to next turn right on the map, you have to click to see the list of directions to see the distances.
 
I use a first gen iPad ( model with internal gps chip) mounted to my dash and motion x software installed, its also handy for mp3's and now controlling my go pro with wifi back pack. The screen is so much easier to work with, you just need to download the maps for where you'll be first if your going to be in areas without data service.

+1 on this setup. The iPad screen size is great (Helen Keller could see it), the Motion X apps work great (I use both Motion X GPS Drive and GPS HD) and being able to compose your GoPro, control it's functions from the drivers seat and being able to see when it gets knocked off your Jeep is darn handy.
 
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