Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire GPS units?

I tried this in the gear review forum, but don't have the patience to see if anyone actually ever sees it there and responds. So I figured I'd post here too.

So I've finally saved up the cash and I'm ready to buy a unit. I could use a little advice.

Initially I was looking at one of the Garmin Etrex units. I like the features they have and they seem to be pretty light and functional. Everything I hear is that Garmin is really the way to go over the other brands.

Now my brother and a hunting buddy are telling me I should really consider one of the Rino units. They don't have one yet, but when they do they are thinking it might be nice if we all have these units to keep track of where each other are.

I've had some trouble figuring out if the Rino units have all of the same features, or which ones they don't.

For instance - do the Rino units have the hunting and fishing tables? Do they have the sunrise and sunset times? Any other features from the Etrex units that are/aren't available in the Rino units? And does anyone know how much time I can expect on a set of batteries.

Due to finances, I'm probably looking at the 120 right now. Any help/advice would sure be appreciated.

Seems like there was an earlier thread about these units, and everyone tended to like them - but I don't remember seeing the answers to these particular questions.

I am from the other side of this issue. I have and love my Magellan SoprTrak Map. I download maps from my computer and off I go. It has the tables you want plus lots of other great features. I have had mine for two years + and it has functioned without a problem. It sells for about $200 at Bi Mart

Eddie, these have been discussed in good detail in the last year or so .... I would recomend searching the archives and check'em out!

I have the Etrex Legend, and wish I had spent a bit more to get a slightly larger screen, and a color display. The Etrex Legend has four shades of gray, and when you're in a national forest, the shading for that obscures a lot of the other things that I probably want to see.

You're pretty well stuck with the proprietary software to load meaningful topo maps into your unit... add another $100. By a stroke of good luck, Amazon had a good price on it, and was offering $30 off if I signed up for their credit card, so I got a good deal on mine.

8 meg of memory is kinda cramped, and don't even think of anything without a USB infterface.

Battery life is about 12-18 hours. Get some of the new high capacity rechargeable AA batteries, and you'll save money.

To what denton said, I'll add that a removable SD card (like in my Magellan Meridian Color) is a godsend. Not only can you easily add extra memory, but if you're caught on the road without your GPS connector cable, you can add data to the SD card with a cheap card reader. Oh, and a B&W screen uses less power and can be easier to read in sunlight than color. In direct sun, I have to hold mine so that it's effectively a B&W screen, anyway.

I looked at RINO units, also. But I'm almost never out with anyone else, so the communications feature is moot for me. Only somebody who has owned all brands could tell you which was best - and then only if none of them had improved versions. I predict you'll like whatever you buy.

I own and use Garmin Products exclusively. I've owned everything from Garmin's GPS II through GPS V along with the Street Pilot and the 176C and I've also got most of Garmin's Mapping Software including Gamin's Topo & North America Street Series with excellent results. I have also used my Garmin's with the interfacing cables along with my Lap Top as a slave unit in real time mapping in search & rescue scenario's using National Geographic's Back Roads Explorer Topo Software with the same excellent results.

With the GPS II thru GPS V's I've downloaded the data into internal memory and while memory is rather limited it will do what you need in most hunting Scenarios as it will cover most if not all your hunting area you will cover on a hunt unless you arev going to cover more than a couple hundred square mile area.

Now with the Garmin 176C and some of the higher end Garmin's there is the ability to program removable memory chips ranging from 8mb to 128mb storage which gives you a greater on board coverage area with this capability you are able to program multiple chips covering a larger area and all you have to do is change chips to cover the area you are in.

At the present time I'm also looking at one of Garmin's Etrex Models for use as a carry tool when I'm away from my vehicles. The Rhino's are nice and they are good for their intended purpose, but you have got to remember that on the radio function it is only good for line of sight if you put a ridge line or hill between you and your hunting partners they will not work.

I got a Rino 530 for Christmas and really like it so far.Seems to be the model my friends & family are going to (which ever Rino they can afford). It is pretty nice to see where people are at, e-mail, weather channel, color map, vibrate mode, radio and dowload the topo maps. Big step up from my etrex basic model. As far as battery life...the manual says 16 hours for the battery it comes with and 18 hours for the aftermarket alkaline battery pack. I used mine yesteday in anywhere from -5 F to 18 F for 7 hours and it still had well over 3/4 left on the battery bar. Also no problems with the display at cold temps so far.

I need to replace a 9 year old unit. It's an Eagle that I think was acquired by Lowrance. My wife has an eTrex Vista, and I don't like it. Perhaps the instructions are just bad, but I can't find a function that allows me to calculate bearings and distances between 2 waypoints. It's fine for finding distances and bearings from where I am to another point, but I can't find a function to do it from a point at which I am not presently located, which is somewhat of a hinderance to advance planning. I also bought a CD Rom with Wyoming game management areas and forest service/BLM areas that is supposed to work with this particular unit, but the CD Rom says to consult the gps manual and the eTRex manual says to consult the vendor manual.

I haven't met an Etrex I like.......

I just bought the Garmin 60 CSX today. I have had 2 eTrex's and this is by far the best yet. It aquires statelites quicker than any unit that I have had yet. You can also use up to 1 G memory card and put more maps on it than you can use in a lifetime. It has a new antenna system.

Do you guys have any time for hunting??? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> I've seriously used my old Garmin 45 8 track about 3 times in the last 10 years. Mostly it's just ballast in the fanny-pack. Handy for "short-cuts" tho......

You'd probably be reading about me in the ADN if I left mine at home <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Been using Gamins for years, on my third hand held (not because they wore out, they just keep getting better). Use them mostly when flying, but being handheld they work great in the field too, I've used other brands in different aircraft and the Garmin is by far the most user friendly, get a Garmin and don't look back which ever model takes your fancy. GPS is really neat does everthing LORAN was supposed to do a whole lot better. great gas (& leg saver) When you get it learn to use it, don't wait until you need it to study the book, set in your easy chair, put it in sim. mode and go through the book you'll find you don't need all the features, but it's nice to know what it can do and how to use it. And carry extra batteries.


Mel