Garmin TREAD

[smlobx]

I am wanting to upgrade my navigation capabilities and am looking into the Garmin Tread for a variety of reasons and am looking for anyone who has direct experience with this device.

Let me explain why I think this might work for us. While I know a lot of people are in love with Gaia it won’t work for us primarily because when we are overlanding our trips are usually from 2 to 12 weeks long and we don’t always Know what routes we’ll be taking. Plus having to download what would literally be dozens if not hundreds of files is not something I’m interested in. I have seen reviews of people who use them comment about not having the maps downloaded because they took a different path than what they initially thought. Also, our trips are not confined to North America..

Initially I was looking at at the Garmin Overlander but since I already have road based GPS in either my truck or phone it seemed kind of redundant. Plus there are several advantages that the Tread offers that are not available in the Overlander that were interesting like turn by turn directions off-road… this would have come in very handy last year when we did the Rim Rocker trail from Montrose Colorado to Moab and encountered several intersections that weren’t on any map..

Another point is that while we have an InReach and will always carry it when hiking and away from the vehicle the Tread has it incorporated into the device which will make texting much easier…

Anyway, here are a series of screenshots detailing the differences between The Overlander and the Tread…please share your thoughts and experiences.
Thanks!

 

[Coreymol]

interesting ive been using Gaia but id like something a little better and more hassle free this may be that option interested in what others will have to say.

 

[KonzaLander]

On paper the TREAD is the do it all, rugged and waterproof Garmin device that everybody has wanted for years. I would love to have one, but I am not excited about the price tag... especially for a NEW Garmin release. Garmin's history of initial release bugs/issues is quite rich. I hope to pick one up in a few years when they hit the used market and the bugs have been worked out. I look forward to hearing first hand impressions of the unit as well!

While I enjoy using my smartphone for navigation, there is something I really like about using a dedicated Garmin device when disconnected from the world.

 

[Downs]

interesting ive been using Gaia but id like something a little better and more hassle free this may be that option interested in what others will have to say.

I've got a long history of Garmin use via motorcycle GPS units. Hassle free is not how I would describe them. Especially when it comes to updates and their basecamp software. And 1300 dollars is a lot of gas, and would buy you a lot of smart phones or tablets.

 

[smlobx]

While I agree that it is a lot of coin I enjoy going where there isn’t any cell phone coverage. I have been a Garmin user for many years as well and as long as you keep things updated before each trip I have found them to be pretty intuitive to use and relatively straight forward…

 

[Downs]

So do I. It's never been an issue. Nearly every smart device takes a SD memory card most measured in hundreds of gigabytes. I can load multiple states worth of maps if I need to. If you can drive across multiple states and never see a cell signal.........you probably don't have a cell phone at all.

 

[Ragman]

I have been curious the difference. I grabbed an Overlander on sale and connect it to my In-Reach device. It seems this unit combines the two into a single unit. I used the Overlander last year but honestly ended up using my GAIA for most of the off-road stuff due to the greater ease of downloading maps and setting routes. I found the Overlander clumsy at best (likely due to my lack of spending a lot of time trying to figure it out). All that being said I liked the unit and continue to study it so I can make it more useful but at this point I am happy carrying my old I-pad with GAIA at the same time.

 

[MazeVX]

So, I think this is interesting and could definitely be a hell of a deal as many people would like to have something like this, but these prices getting out of hand. It's plain ridiculous to charge that amount of money for this.

 

[Srijken]

I own the Tread Overland edition, and when it works it's great.. Downside is that it locks up multiple times a day, and is nearly impossible to reliably restart to get working again. Tried getting into contact with Garmin support, but that hasn't been helpful yet..

 

[Bama_Kiwi]

Reading about it makes it seem like the perfect device. I love the incorporated InReach functionality. But, that price is scary, and I can't even think of what it would be in $NZD, if it is even available at all.

 

[Hogan]

Yes, the price is a bit nutty, but you have to consider that inReach tech is included. A standard Overlander + inReach Mini 2 = $1,100. The Tread is $200 more and does provide better specs and functionality than the standard Overlander above and beyond the inReach tech. Is that worth the extra $200? That's up to you.

 

[Bama_Kiwi]

As the kiwis say, "Yeah, nah."

 

[XC70_OVERLANDER]

View attachment 231302

As the kiwis say, "Yeah, nah."

 

[smritte]

I own the Tread Overland edition, and when it works it's great.. Downside is that it locks up multiple times a day, and is nearly impossible to reliably restart to get working again

I have been looking for something like this most of my life. When Magellin came out with theirs, I had no issue putting out the money. Everything I quoted above,^^^^^^^^^^^^ was why I don't use it any more. It didn't work more than it did.

I'm very OCD about my mapping system but will tolerate a few issues as long as it does what I want. The post that @Srijken made makes me think they pulled a Magellin.
In the past I did all of my mapping on Garmins Base camp. I really liked the layout and how it meshed with my GPS. Now that I don't own a Garmin anymore, It needs to link to a Garmin to work properly.

Once this has been around a while, I'll look at it again.

 

[enjoitheride]

I picked one. Excited to put it to use. And, they just released a new backup camera for it. The BC-50.

 

[Downs]

View attachment 231302

As the kiwis say, "Yeah, nah."

That's 62.5 years of Gaia Premium. Or about 625 gallons of gas in my current location. I think I'll buy the gas instead.

 

[Ocean_Ranger]

I’ve been using OnX and Gaia for mapping and nav (still trying to decide which better meets my needs). I like that I can use them on iPad and iPhone hardware that I already own. I also like that I have redundancy with two pieces of hardware.

inReach does bring SOS and satellite SMS to the table. I’ve been happy with Zoleo for those needs.

 

[diabetiktaco]

I've had issues with Garmin units freezing on me. When you contact Garmin they are never helpful and have no answers. That alone keeps my from buying it regardless of it's capability.

 

[terryg]

I'm looking forward to the YouTube reviews.

 

[John and Mandi]

We must be one of the odd men out. We use a regular Garmin but not for mapping. I like to see the road contours ahead and our unit has a built-in dash camera. We use our iphone for routing, either Google Maps or Maps.ME, and iOverlander, UltimateCG, and Avenza for planning…along with books, blogs, National Forest website, and maps when available. We also have an inReach that we rarely turn on, at least once every six months I make sure it still works. When the Garmin Overlander was being promoted at Expo East 2019 I asked the reps if it also included all of the comments for each entry, which they replied no. I asked if they were going to be included in the future and I received a smug look like I’m an idiot or something. Without the full crowd sourced up to date info it’s just a listing of POIs etc which can be downloaded for free from iOverlander.com and loaded in whatever one wants. Maybe that is different today and the comments are included, if not, we recommend the app instead.

As for a flaking out Garmin. If you have added an SD card that could be the problem. We had a freezing and random reboot issue with ours and found some information online stating you must use one of the cards listed on the Garmin website. We ordered a cheaper card and have had no problems since. I usually only use extreme or the highest speed cards but our Garmin doesn’t like them.