A good gps for overlanding

[MVO]

Agreed... sort of. If you're going that far away from your vehicle you shouldn't be relying on the battery of anything to navigate by. A map and compass and good land nav skills don't need recharging :)

edit: Alternatively, sometimes I do use my Goal Zero solar panel and battery pack. On longer hikes I strap it to the outside of my pack, it charges the battery pack which in turn I can use to charge my iPhone with.

You are so right about paper maps and a compass. That combo saved my bacon once on a snowy mountainside where Mr Garmin could not see enough Satellites to get a fix and the snow obliterated the trail. But that was a long time ago. Today's equipment is so good that even pilots use electronic backup and no paper.



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[offroadohio]

I run paper maps, back country navigator, and google/mapquest.

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[MandAtaco]

Gaia maps on a dedicated Samsung Tab 4. Gaia works great, their online stuff is easy to use and sync, and their customer service is excellent. You won't be disappointed! I also keep a benchmark state map for wherever I'm going and any local maps I can get a hold of.

 

[Brrrt]

Garmin Montana 650, works awesome but the screen is a bit small. Fun treks has cards you can download the trails they have in there books

 

[Jelorian]

Santa brought me a Samsung S2 8.0 tablet for Christmas. I have Backcountry Navigator Pro installed on it but haven't had a chance to get it mounted in my rig yet. That RAM mount looks beefy enough, but I'm curious to hear what others are using. I'm especially concerned with it moving around too much when on the trail.

Anyone have experience with Gaia and Backcountry and care to share their thoughts? Pros and cons of either?

Good thread OP.

 

[1Louder]

Santa brought me a Samsung S2 8.0 tablet for Christmas. I have Backcountry Navigator Pro installed on it but haven't had a chance to get it mounted in my rig yet. That RAM mount looks beefy enough, but I'm curious to hear what others are using. I'm especially concerned with it moving around too much when on the trail.

Anyone have experience with Gaia and Backcountry and care to share their thoughts? Pros and cons of either?

Good thread OP.

IMHO The RAM mounts are the best you can buy. They stay put and don't move. Your mileage may vary.

Gaia vs X, Backcountry vs X, X vs Y do a search. Lots of discussions in other threads. I would find them and post in one of those threads so the information stays in one spot. I'm a Gaia person. No experience with BCN but have used many other apps. When I get on my laptop I will be happy to copy the link to the Gaia vs BCN thread.

 

[gandrimp]

I just got the Tab A 10.1 with a 128gb card and Gaia. I also loaded map.me. I loaded the hole USA off map.me to the sd card and only used 6gb. I have yet to see if it works but sitting here all looks good. I am a slow, hands on learner that is tech challenged. I tried backcountry on my phone, but went with Gaia on the tablet because it appears to be a little better maintained and reviews from places like this forum.

 

[Scott]

Agreed... sort of. If you're going that far away from your vehicle you shouldn't be relying on the battery of anything to navigate by. A map and compass and good land nav skills don't need recharging :)

edit: Alternatively, sometimes I do use my Goal Zero solar panel and battery pack. On longer hikes I strap it to the outside of my pack, it charges the battery pack which in turn I can use to charge my iPhone with.

Yep I have a similar setup and it works great. Another alternative.. Just don't get lost ;)

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[Raul B]

I'm running a iPad air 2, dual skypro gps receiver, mob armor Uav hub (to power everything) Delorme in reach for gps / communication and currently testing out the Magellan trx. As far as apps go I have Giaa, backcountry navigator, earthmate, Co pilot and leadnav. Still have yet to find an app I love....

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[Wanderer_35]

Has anyone used the HemaExplorer North America app for $20 on Android?

 

[1Louder]

Has anyone used the HemaExplorer North America app for $20 on Android?

Search is your friend. I know some folks will hate for saying that over and over again. Been discussed. It is an much less mature version of Gaia GPS. Had some bad Android bugs but those hopefully have been fixed with their first update in 8 months. Gaia had many more map layer choices and MUCH better support. Just look at the screenshots between the 2 apps. They are very similar.

https://www.overlandbound.com/forums/threads/tablets-for-navigation.3029/page-4#post-50386

If you want to go outside of OverlandBound this thread is the most detailed including all of the complaints to date.

http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/158479-HEMA-Explorer-North-America

 

[AndyH]

I use a VMS unit, Naviextras for on road mapping and navigation and digital maps for off road.

 

[Narrow Road Adventures]

I use Gaia GPS as my primary on my iPad. The mapping/tracking feature works great. You can even download map areas for low signal areas. Gaia's online desktop web-based program is great for planning out routes easily before a trip. They auto sync to your mobile devices when signed into your account.
I also have Google Maps running on my iPhone for on-road GPS use.
Don't forget a road atlas and any other maps you may need.


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[k_dipietro]

So hows the Dual XGPS150 working for you folks? I did a test today and yesterday in the city and noticed no valuable improvement over the built in GPS in my iPad Mini 4. Not sure how the performance may differ outside of the city but I'm thinking I really don't need the XGPS150 and can just run with the iPad. Will likely return the XGPS. Thoughts?

EDIT: Just came across this article, and it's pretty close to what I found personally while walking around with the device turned on and then again turned off. In addition I tested recording 2 tracks on my commute to work with and without the device. The XGPS150 seems to be slightly better, but perhaps not $100 better... Maybe for a sport that would require more accuracy, but when all we're trying to do is find a road I think the iPad Mini 4's built in hardware looks to be capable enough (at least in the city).