[oscarperez]

I recently bought a Garmin Etrex-H, the price was attractive so what the hell..I bought one.I am quite good with a magnetic bubble compass and my approach was to supplement my mag compass with the GPS. After some practice I headed out to the isolated Owyhee mountains here in Idaho and went for an extended ride on my Heckler equipped with handle mount GPS. I find the GPS distracts me from enjoying my ride as I look to frequently at the gizmo however I kept on reminding myself that it could save me from being lost.My other observation is the response time is rather slow so why keep looking at it?:skep: .I did a waypoint at the trail head where my truck was and did no further readings figuring that my route was not too confusing.Well I did get a bit turned around a bit and did use the gps to guide me back and did confirm with my magnetic compass...so the gps is useful no doubt . I have no interest in trying to co ordinate maps with the GPS or any upgraded GPS and plan on using my compass with topo , forestry, and BLM maps and ust the gps to supplement my guidance, is this a good appproach? the Owhyhees do not forgive fools and my intention is to be safe...so GPS is quite cool.

 

[Harold]

I have an Edge 705. I use it like a normal bike computer most of the time. It's on the trip computer screen nearly always. I only switch it to the map screen when I need to view a map, which is only rarely when I'm riding a new trail or I'm trying to find something I rarely visit.

The only courses on my local trails since they've been redone are my own, and I'm not interested in racing myself. I can do that just fine by looking at summary reports in Topofusion.

Yeah, GPS receivers work in the woods. Marking a waypoint at the parking area is always a good idea. GPS receivers are best at showing you where you are and where you've been. You generally need to rely on your own skill to determine where you need/want to go, though some GPS receivers have some functionality there in certain situations.