to GPS or not to GPS?

[brethouwer]

I had to think for a moment if this belongs under technical or non-technical :confused1:

Here's my thought: We all, well, I do anyway, love to think that traveling with a GPS is 'essential'.

To answer this question correctly one must first define traveling. Traveling through the sahara, or Amsterdam, or India?

Well, not the Sahara, just from Oz to Amsterdam. For a long time I was 'convinced' I should really take one. Now:

MelbourneToLondon.com didn't bring one
The Ringdahl Family (Sweden to SE Asia) brought one but it's never been out the box, they just use a compass
LOS ZAPP (Argentina to Alaska and now Oz to India) definitely don't have one

AND I now have this lovely little app on my iphone called GPS MotionX, which takes a little longer to acquire sat positioning, as it's not 12 channel, but still does the job of giving you your coordinates, stores 300 waypoints and 100 tracks, it even has a compass!

Of course you can't download maps onto it (allthough you can cache openstreetmap tiles), but most of the countries we're traveling through don't exist for, say, a garmin gps anyway, although I don't know if the 'world map' that comes with a garmin would be any use whatsoever, considering we carry 1:1200.000 paper maps of all countries anyway.

So, is bringing, say a Garmin 60csx REALLY going to make the trip, um, shall we say 'better'?

Any thoughts appreciated!

Kai

[KTMmartin]

A very personal choice. This is my angle.

I like to keep a record for reliving journeys via Google Earth so I nearly always have some GPS switched on, though I don't necessarily refer to it.

I'd suggest that if you're sticking to roads and main routes then use a paper map. More rewarding IMHO and makes you pay attention to where you are. Especially if you have the time.

If you're in a hurry / going through urban areas then I'd take a routing GPS / satnav so one doesn't get stuck in one-way systems etc.

If you're going offroad then I think a simple GPS is a good idea if you plan to use waypoints. Depends on your map-reading/navigation skills.

I nearly always ride with a GPS Nokia logging my route. If I need OS maps I have them, and if I need satnav routing I can switch that on too. Otherwise I simply have a fully charged 'phone

I'm planning on touring The Balkans this summer and will primarily use paper maps. I will have the satnav powered on for my location, and I'll only use the routing to home in on addresses in cities. When I get home I will have a nice record of exactly where I went. But then I have the time to get lost...

Food for thought.

[motoreiter]

A GPS is certainly not essential, but they are very handy, especially if you have good maps for them. i find that I can pay much more attention to other things, like the road and scenery, if I am not constarnly worried about where I am and looking for road signs (where they exist).

even if you don't have any (or decent) maps, a gps is good to have as a handle-bar mounted compass, which is very handy for dead reckoning (today I'm heading west...).

definitely plan on paper maps as well, but I enjoy travelling much more with a gps.

[*Touring Ted*]

I love my GPS for the reason that I can set waypoints for important places that I've visited and want to return to maybe a few months later.

If you have good maps, most GPS's will tell you where hotels, hostels, petrol stations are etc too. Thats really handy after 10 hours riding in the dark and rain.

They are REALLY handy in big built up cities (like buenos Aires etc) where the road network is bit mad.

If you know other people with GPS's. They can just give you co-ordiates of cool places, altrenative routes, wild camp sites, danger areas etc etc etc.

In a rush ?? havnt got time to plan a route or dig out maps !! Just type in the address or town and BAM, you're there.

Obviously, you'd be mad to go into the wilderness without paper maps and a good compass and they can make you very lazy and dependant but that's upto the user.

I have absolutely NO SHAME in using my GPS a lot. It's a tool and makes travelling more enjoyable for me.

Did the early navigators / explorers shun off the first guy who used a sextant or a compass ???? (think not)

I really do think that the people who don't like GPS are generally people who dont know how to use them properly or to their full potential.

Garmin 2610 - Best £120 quid i've ever spent !!!

[motoreiter]

Originally Posted by tedmagnum

Did the early navigators / explorers shun off the first guy who used a sextant or a compass ???? (think not)

Heh, I disagree, I can practically hear them saying "Sextants are for sissies!"

[wiese]

I struggled with this as well. Not in a hurry, one more thing to worry about, cost, maps etc, prefer map and compass, but.....

If you know other people with GPS's. They can just give you co-ordiates of cool places, altrenative routes, wild camp sites, danger areas etc etc etc.

This was the big one for me.

While bicycle touring we always met others on the side of the road and we would pull out our maps and speak of road conditions and great places to stay. But no matter how good your memory was.... it was hard describe in detail or how to get to some of the great places you where in a few countries back. Or your notes just don't line up where the other biker was telling you about...

Traveling overland in/on a motorized vehicle it seams that everyone is carrying a GPS now days. It's so easy to share accurate detailed information with others of places not to miss with a GPS. For big trips. this is the main reason I don't leave home with out it.

Good Luck
EW