Hiking GPS

[Tripster]

A question for the fell walking Cyclists, 😁

We usually walk a few of the Wainwright’s in the Lakes when we can as a family but as I am away more my wife and son want to do a few without me 😕 trouble is my wife has relied on me for routes and her phone relies on signal, which is sketchy at best up on the fells.
I use my Suunto 9 baro and pre plan routes at home before uploading to my watch. (I have map & compass as a back up).
Anyone use successfully any offline mapping apps or one of the Garmin etrek’s or similar and could recommend ?
I suggested a similar Suunto some time ago but she now has an iPhone watch and that seems to need a phone signal too or be linked to her phone.

Thanks for anyone’s advice

 

[Milkfloat]

Why not use offline maps on her phone? OS Maps is pretty good, or OSMAnd

 

[Fab Foodie]

I have an oldish Etrex 20 which should be fine, though have not tried it on anything more complex than a few lowland walks/Geocaching. It's great for Cycling.
The ridewithgps sites has OSM for route preparation, but again, never used it in mountains/moorland where paths are harder to come by.
It's not the most user-friendly, but it's robust and batteries are long lasting (always carry spares) and pretty robust so far!
I think for the money it's has good all-round capabilities.
Of course I would carry a map and compass as back-on open moors or mountains....

 

[Deleted member 23692]

/\/\/\ As above an eTrex 20/22 with (free) open streetmap will be will be more than sufficient - I do the same.

eTrex 10 doesn't have mapping and eTrex 30/32 is essentially a 20/22 with an electronic compass and barometric altimeter.

This chap does very good UK maps (free too) - https://shop.talkytoaster.me.uk/product-category/free

 

[pawl]

I always found Wainwright Guide paired with map and compass was alli ever needed on Lake District walks. A On two occasions I have been approached by walkers who for whatever reason the Sat nav had failed! asked for directions to a specific point.If they had no map or compass then the only directions I would give was down to there starting polnt

 

[Baldy]

A question for the fell walking Cyclists, 😁

We usually walk a few of the Wainwright’s in the Lakes when we can as a family but as I am away more my wife and son want to do a few without me 😕 trouble is my wife has relied on me for routes and her phone relies on signal, which is sketchy at best up on the fells.
I use my Suunto 9 baro and pre plan routes at home before uploading to my watch. (I have map & compass as a back up).
Anyone use successfully any offline mapping apps or one of the Garmin etrek’s or similar and could recommend ?
I suggested a similar Suunto some time ago but she now has an iPhone watch and that seems to need a phone signal too or be linked to her phone.

Thanks for anyone’s advice

Why not just lend her your watch?

 

[Andy_R]

Can she read a map properly and use a compass? If not, she needs to be able to. Tech can, and does, fail surprisingly easily as I'm sure @Drago of this parish will confirm. The ability to navigate can be a literal life saver, especially in the fells and hills. Your map and compass should be your primary method of nav, not your backup.

 

[Drago]

1:25000 OS map and my olde compass from the Army. I do use a Garmin GPSMAP in the main, but never go out and about without the paper map and compass.

Mobile phone apps can be ok, but present 2 problems - when you're in the sheet you'll find that they're not always so accurate for lots of technical reasons, and you'll find yourself wishing you'd not wasted the battery on apps when you now need it to stay alive.

Any rescuers, be it MREW, LR, RAF, etc, will all be using OS maps on MapYX SARMAN lite, so its can be a real time saver to be looking at an identical map to them, and when you're in the sheet time can be a life saver.

 

[Tripster]

Why not just lend her your watch?

Noooooo, plus I use it when working away so not an option

 

[Tripster]

Can she read a map properly and use a compass? If not, she needs to be able to. Tech can, and does, fail surprisingly easily as I'm sure @Drago of this parish will confirm. The ability to navigate can be a literal life saver, especially in the fells and hills. Your map and compass should be your primary method of nav, not your backup.

Yes she can, but doesn’t feel 100% confident so for now would like a second option until she feels more comfortable. Practicing her map reading on shorter lower fells until she feels better. Offline maps on phone sounds a good idea

 

[Tripster]

I always found Wainwright Guide paired with map and compass was alli ever needed on Lake District walks. A On two occasions I have been approached by walkers who for whatever reason the Sat nav had failed! asked for directions to a specific point.If they had no map or compass then the only directions I would give was down to there starting polnt

Yes I carry a map and compass, and my wife is reasonably ok using but as she has relied on me for much of the mapping then she would like a second option just to make sure.

 

[Dirk]

Can't go wrong with an OS map and a Silva compass.*


*Providing that you know how to use them properly.

 

[Badger_Boom]

Can't go wrong with an OS map and a Silva compass.*


*Providing that you know how to use them properly.

Don’t forget to use DDCRAPS too.

 

[SpokeyDokey]

Can't go wrong with an OS map and a Silva compass.*


*Providing that you know how to use them properly.

I pretty much agree with you but map, compass and GPS is about as close to 100% as you can get imo.

On several occasions my mountain buddy and I (both no slouches on the navigation front) have been navigating in foul conditions and using map and compass and have resorted to using GPS (eTrex 10 which receives GLONASS as well) for a near as dammit spot position check.

Came in very handy on a winter descent down the narrow little 'neck' from Aonach Beag to Aonach Mor when we were leap-frogging on 10m roped increments and the world turned from very murky to an almost whiteout. Very easy to get disorientated under those conditions and whilst we continued to leap-frog the little eTrex provided a reassuring sanity check that we were well clear of the large cornices out to our right.

***
As an aside I do have a problem with people navigating in the mountains using nothing but a map on their phone. OK on a nice and clear day (to an extent) but dangerous in the murk as the lack of detail is appalling. Similarly the screen is too small to show any real context as to where you are imo.

Despite hundreds of mountain days logged I still use a paper map (Harveys mainly - much more detail than OS and clearer markings) to rehearse routes, especially known problematic ones and definitely new ones, the night before a trip into the hills.