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GPS Devices for Walking, Hiking and Rambling
For more information about the walking with GPS devices - see:
Hill Skills > Navigation Skills > GPS Myths and Truths Part 1
and
Hill Skills > Navigation Skills > GPS Myths and Truths Part 2
For more (earlier) discussions and opinions on GPS see GPS Views & Discussions
Hi,
I wanted to add a slightly different perspective to the topics already
in this section. I am a hill walking novice, only really catching the
bug in May 2005 and have not really developed advanced map reading skills.
I have always been a bit of a technofile though and looked at a GPS device straight away. The Garmin and other similar devices didn't really impress me much, following an arrow on a blank background seemed a long way from helpful and I would still need to use a paper OS map as well.
I came across digital mapping (ie Fugawi, Anquet or Memory Map) at about this time and found it to be the ultimate walk planning tool, it also has a PDA version and I have had a PocketPC based PDA for years.
When you install digital mapping on the PDA you basically get an OS map in the palm of your hand. You can zoom in and out, change maps, plot routes etc.
When you add a GPS card to the PDA you enter a whole new world, you now have Satellite Navigation in the palm of your hand. The PDA now shows you your current position (as will the GPS), but it also places you directly on the relevant OS map as well. The route you planned is shown on the screen and you can see the elevation profile of the planned route. GPS data is captured and can be viewed later when you connect back to your PC, so you can see your average speed, distance etc etc.
I see that Garmin have just announced a topographical map version - this is the future for all the GPS systems. However, if you have digital mapping and PDA then you have the equivalent for the price of a GPS card for your PDA (between £30 and £100).
I love walking and this makes me feel so much safer than if I was map and compass bound. I know for certain I can navigate off a fog bound mountain without going over a cliff, I even know where the nearest pub is, as I have the electronic OS map in my hand.
Stuart Greig Cheshire
Well Stuart - that is all well and good until you run out of batteries, your PDA gets damaged (dropped or wet) or you cannot locate any satellites for one reason or another (an all too regular event). Then you are in deep deep trouble - lost and - since you can no longer check where you are - unable to navigate 'home'.
Instead of relying of gizmos that might let you down why not put your energies into learning how to navigate with a map and compass - its fun and rewarding and you can still use your PDA to confirm your position if you really need to.
Whatever you do - never, never, never go into the high mountains without a proper walking map for the area like the OS Explorer Series (paper - just £6.74 or laminated - £13.49 with our 10% OFF), a compass and knowledge how to use both.
Both a map and compass are lightweight, cheap and will take up little space in your rucksack.
If you don't know how to use either - learn. There really is no excuse - this knowledge might just save your life and the life of anyone else in your party.
Mike (Editor)
I am a bit bothered by the coments (sic) here. GPS is a map aid not a solution, the things are very inacurate (sic) in mountains (not true - you can rely on 25m accuracy and will often experience accuracy to with 1 or 2 metres Ed.), mists (not true - mist has no effect on the accuracy of a GPS Ed.) or tree cover (this is true it will not work under dense tree cover).
The software, a version of Windows 98 is hardly reliable.
What is wrong with a good map and compass?
Peter Burgess, Worthing
There is nothing wrong with a good map (1:25,000) and compass and you should never venture into the high mountains without both. However, for those who want it, a GPS can be an extremely useful additional navigational aid (particularly when the mist descends) and I for one never venture into the high mountains without one. Ed.
Hi there - Just wanted to add to this discussion.
I recently got back into hill walking in order to start training for a 40 mile crossing of the North Yorks Moors later this year.
I bought myself a Garmin Etrex Venture and Fugawi software
at 1:50,000 for my area.
Now, I am proficient with a compass, and still take map and compass, but that wasn't the point I got the unit. Surely people don't buy these things and simply go off following the GPS arrow?
That is going to either
a) Make you walk off a cliff, or
b) Ensure you miss the countryside you are walking around.
I personally use mine as follows - I take a go4awalk route, plot on Fugawi and load to the GPS.
Also make sure I know the route on my 1:25,000 of the area.
I also add in some other landmarks as non-route waypoints for helping to reference/orientate the GPS to the map (Churches, pubs, peaks etc).
Then off we go.
I use the GPS for general bearings, but mainly use the map. It has been useful when I have strayed for giving a quick grid ref, rather than using a compass and doing a resection.
Most of all though, it records my speed, moving average, times etc which is great for working on my pace (something I'll need for the challenge walk).
Best of all, I get home, upload the route I actually walked, and can save it for walking again, or analyse it.
Superb kit in the right hands
Paul Malam, Cheshire
Hi Editor,
I read your 2-part article 'The Truth about GPS Devices for Walking & Hiking'. I thought it was a refreshingly balanced perspective compared to some of the 'Flat Earth' theorists/magnetic compass traditionalists who (despite all evidence to the contrary) still claim that GPS has no legitimate role in walking.
However there's one statement I thought seemed either out-of-date or too pessimistic: That is the comment to the effect that 25m is about the best practical accuracy that one can expect.
I'm not sure when the article was written, but do you (or the author of the article) still feel that is valid for modern GPS receivers, etc? I use only a basic GPS eTrex and quite commonly get to well within 10m of my target waypoint.
I also find that for the gentle terrain conditions in Western Australia's eucalypt forests near Perth GPS is far superior to relying primarily on map and compass alone.
Often in the forests here there are few good landmarks to obtain or re-establish bearings, so GPS is fantastic for navigating to subtle features that would never be found (or re-found) using only map & compass.
Regards
Dave Osborne, Perth Australia
Thanks Dave.
I too commonly get accuracy to 10m (with a Garmin eTrex) - but not in every case. On other occasions it can be over 100m out - which is why you cannot rely on it to be that accurate every time.
Indeed the Garmin Owners Manual for the eTrex states:
The eTrex is accurate to within 15 metres without the Department of Defence imposed Selective Availability. Using differential techniques, the eTrex can be as accurate as 1-5 metres. The eTrex is accurate to within 100 metres under Selective Availability.
Another factor that will effect the accuracy of the GPS receiver is the geometry of the satellites in view of the GPS receiver. A poor geometry situation can provide less accurate position readings, and this especially applies to GPS altitude measurements. The altitude reading on the GPS unit can vary by +/- 450ft (137m) depending on the level of degradation being imposed under Selective Availability. It is not uncommon to see the altitude continuously drift up and down when Selective Availability is being imposed.
As for using it in a forest - under a dense canopy of trees you'll be lucky to get a reading at all - so you'll still going to need you map and compass.
Mike (Editor)
For more (earlier) discussions and opinions on GPS see GPS Views & Discussions
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