Hand Held GPS

[Kraig Clement]

Do I need one???

If you guys have one, do you use it?

how often?

what kind?

what features do I need?

Please help me.....

Thank You,

Kraig

 

[Don Aird]

Kraig,

I have a magellan hand held gps. The biggest reason that I bought it is so I can find my way back to where I started. I fish a lot in the Potomac and rivers off of the Chesapeak bay, so it is pretty easy to get lost. For $129, it is well worth the peace of mind that I'll get home again.

- Don

 

[TrepMan]

Kraig:



I've got the basic/cheap $99.00 Magellen (was a gift 5 years ago). It does not have the maps/download features just the ability to A) tell me which way is north and B)allow me to LOCK/MARK spots and way points (spots between point A and point B to help me navigate). I've used it in Canada when we've gotten lost in the middle of the night out on the lake to find the cabin. I've used it on our big lake (lanier) in GA to find the ramp and specific spots where i've caught fish before.



Like anything else it's not valuable by itself but as a part of your toolkit. For instance, since mine only allows 4 characters to be stored for each location/point I have to have a code that I use, and depending on the time of the year the spot's i've marked fish on may or may not work.



I've mounted a basic cell phone holder (see grab bag) to hold mine. Oh, and also it tracks speed very accurately so I know how fast i'm REALY going!

 

[Kraig Clement]

 

[Kraig Clement]

Thanks for the help guys...

As for the map, do I have to pay for each body of water or can I down load off of the net?

Thanks again

Kraig

 

[C C]

Some of us Gals have and use GPSs. In my case I don't want to get lost I use it on big waters to help me find my way back to the ramp but mostly to mark honey holes so that when I return to that water again I might have a shot at getting some fish.



The Garman eTrax is a basic affordable unit and accurate within 20 feet and allows input of 500 waypoints, & 1 route with 50 waypoints. This unit runs about $110 Another good unit is a Magellan GPS 315, 500 waypoints, 20 routes with 30 waypoints it runs about $150.



You can get additional features on other units for more money, but for starting out either of the above units are excellent and also have a good reputation



Cass

 

[Texas Transplant]

I use the Garmin GPS 12 handheld. Serves me pretty well for the same reasons that are mentioned above. Just remember on e thing. Keep extra batteries in the boat with you. Also, I turn mine off, if I'm going to be in a small general area for any amount of time. Battery life (4 AA's) is around 6-8 hours for the GPS12. Hoping to get a better unit with the Fishing Hot Spots maps to load.



The FHS map cd get's you one area. For me, that would be NC/SC - as this is a defined area. Pay more, get more. In short, the CD has all the info on it, you just need the particular code to turn it on.

 

[Jim B]

I have a garmin gps III+ that ive been using for about three years. I love the maps and the ablility to download and manage waypoints on my pc. i have map sets for all the lakes i fish and each set has its own waypoints with it. I mark fishing spots that are hard to find ( ie. deep water humps) and dangerous spots on it. I have the us roads and rec cd from garmin and it covers the whole country. I have found the maps to be pretty good. i just with the screen was a little bigger.

 

[Russ Charles]

Texas Transplant,



I have the GPSMAP 168 with Waterways & Lights and I recently loaded Fishing Hot Spots (FL). In my opinion you can save your money on FHS. You'll do a lot better with a good contour map of the lake coupled with only W & L. The information is too old (FL) and of not much value, and only the larger lakes are covered. The only thing I really wanted was the contour lines but that is only available on the highest detail and on that setting the maps take forever to redraw. Don't know about the other Garmins but the 168 needs a lot more processor to work well at the high detail of FHS. BTW, when you reduce the detail to speed up the map redraw, the first thing to go is the contour lines. Again, only my opinion, but I think a waste of money.



Russ

 

[stan jones]

if you hunt get a hand held and you can use it in your car. but get a mount fot it also. the 1 problem they all have is they don't like being dropped. thanks stan