Yeah, I know... it's been posted before.  But I searched the old threads and found them either dated or off the mark:  What are the hand-held GPS units of choice for Quetico or more remote locations (WC, Atikaki, etc.)?

I haven't used a GPS for land/lake navigation before, just open ocean & airborne.  What works well (and preferrably doesn't cost a fortune) for the slow-paced canoe world?  It looks like the technology half-life for these things is ~2 years, so I'm thinking it's time to get a fresh thread going.

I don't know what you are considering spending, but I got a Garmin Colorado model and loaded Quetico into it from Topo Canada.  I could not be happier.  Got mine at REI so to me that makes it worth the expense b/c if it doesn't perform properly I can bring it back.  But I really don't want to do that. It's cool.  It can map you in 3D from an arial position 15 feet up.  I'm a technophobe and I believe in maps and doing it the old fashioned way blah blah blah... but I am hooked on the ease of this GPS to help me avoid looking for a portage in a false bay, overshooting a creek mouth etc... saves time which I use to fish, eat fish, and think about where to catch the next fish..Anyway, I like it a lot.

I have a Garmin 60csx & love it, I have never lost signal anywhere I have been.

I used it for the 1st time on canoe trips last year & it was flawless & accurate. I have always done things the map & compass way & still carry both... but I have to admit I love the fact that I can paddle where ever I want & totally ignore the map...

This lets me enjoy the trip more because I am not always trying to track where I am on the map. Just fish & explore & when I need to know how to head back or out... just turn it on.

My sentiments exactly.  Also, the Garmin 60 CSX has the added benefit of being waterproof, and it floats...

I have always wondered what others use for the Quetico but for the Boundary Waters I use Garmin etrex legend HC.  Don't need any topos.  I simply got all the waypoints for the campsites and portages for free and downloaded the program Easygps which sends them to my gps.  Right before every trip I get out my maps and write the campsite and portage numbers on the map for my whole trip.  I then download them into my gps using Easygps program.  This process takes me less than 30 minutes.  If I don't know where I am I just turn on my gps and the campsites or portages will show up on my screen.  For example, I can bring the scale down to 200 feet on my screen and know that a campsite is 200 feet straight west of me and I can look at the map and know exactly where I am.  I assume for more remote locations (Quetico & etc.) you simply must pay for the mapping software sold by the gps companies.  

Quote:

It looks like the technology half-life for these things is ~2 years,

I disagree with this.  I have had two GPS units: first a garmin 12map then a Garmin 60C.  If the 12map had not died, its capabilities would be serving me well today and it would be 10 years old.  The 60C gave me color and some bells and whistles, but nothing vital.

My 60C is around 6 years old now.  I could go for an improved model, but each time I have looked, the improvements were what I considered to be quite minor.

Thanks to everyone for the posts!  I did some more searching and found that the Garmin 60 and 76 are both equivalents with the same guts, software, etc.  The only difference appears to be in the case and buttons.  The 76 appears to have a larger case for the same weight, and it is the only one of Garmin's products that *they* claim floats.  Anybody used one?

Azalea:  Perhaps I've misjudged or mis-spoke.  About 30 years ago, I had an Apple II computer.  If I had kept it (and now I wish that I had!), it would, in all probability, still be functional.  But I doubt that I could get any service or software for it today.

It isn't so much the technology dies as it is that it gets forced out of use as it becomes "obsolete" and is no longer supported.  I believe the marketing term is "planned obsolescence".  Is this a problem with GPS devices?  A glance at Garmin's website finds "discontinued products".  Do they also discontinue support?

TCK

I have and use Garmin GPS' but for canoe tripping and custom tailored mapping I use a Delorme PN40se.
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The map subscription has maps, sat/aerial photos, marine charts, and 50K topos for Canada.
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topo and aerial displays of the bridge over the stream from Little Jhon to McFarland.

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Kenny Lake, Quetico, 50K Canadian topo.

butthead

Woodstripper:
I do have a Garmin Map76 and have used it for close to eight(?) years.  It has been a very reliable unit for me with pretty decent battery life.  Fortunately, I have not had to test its ability to float yet, but keep it securely packed in a Pelican case when not in use.

Kind of like azalea, I have been thinking I need to replace it with a 'fancier' color unit maybe with a touch screen, but when I look at what the newer units actually do, I can't justify the cost to 'upgrade'.  Not as long as the Map76 does what I need it to do; get me from point A to point B.  I am also kind of like most others in that I still like to have that map out in front of me.  The GPS just affords me the straightest line and affirms my direction and on long days of paddling, it really helps.

My $0.02

OK... time for a confession:  I don't really intend to use the GPS in BW/Q.  I'll probably take it along, but I've got all the maps for those areas, and have never felt the need for anything other than traditional map & compass.

But I'm now planning to do more remote trips, some of them solo (WCPP this year, after that, who knows?).  For those trips, I want to have the ability to nail my position accurately, particularly if I get into trouble.  The other half of the equation will be a rented satellite phone.

I've looked into the SPOT, but have reservations about its reliability and genuine utility.  If I'm going to spend that much money, I might as well get a real GPS and dispense with the annual subscription fee.

WS

I have had Garmin GPSMAP 76 series for quite a while and have been pleased.  I don't know about support - I replaced my 76 with a 76C, which is discontinued so I suspect there'll be no more firmware updates - maybe that's OK.  FYI, between the 76 & 76C, I like the color a lot, but dislike the reduced control over the fields displayed in a small area at the top.  I can load campsites & portage data easily, and have all the stuff to download it too, so I'm pretty stuck on Garmin.  I've also screwed up software driver installs and they've been very helpful at fixing my problems.

Butthead - the Delorme unit looks interesting - can you load campsite & portage data (i.e., from Azalea's Quetico/BW data sets?)

-Tom

Yes!
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Pxxx = portage point, Cxxxx = campsite, grey/white stripes are portage trails from the data sets.
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Map of BWCA with database overlay, Topo8.

butthead

Quote:

It isn't so much the technology dies as it is that it gets forced out of use as it becomes "obsolete" and is no longer supported.  I believe the marketing term is "planned obsolescence".  Is this a problem with GPS devices?

There is a big difference between a GPS and a computer with respect to them becoming obsolete.  A computer has various parts that can be replaced or upgraded as separate components.  There also is a huge variety of software titles available with the newer ones usually having limited functionality on older systems.  And the performance of computers changes drastically over the span of 8 years (although that rate of change is beginning to slow down).

Even if a GPS is no longer supported, unless it breaks it can be quite useful.  I suspect garmin's mapping software still works fine in 10+ old garmin units because the nature of the communications between computer and GPS is just not very complicated.  I suspect Garmin has updates for both my GPS and my GPS software but I never bother to check because everything I have, old as it is, works fine so if it ain't broke, no need to fix it.

In summary, a GPS is nothing like a computer in how quickly it becomes obsolete.

I recently purchased a Delorme PN40.  I have been super
impressed, but I've only used it for geocaching.  It has a bit of a learning curve, but it sure has a lot of cool features, like the Top8 maps that were included.

It does, however, seem to burn throught the batteries.

Butthead-Is the protage and campsite information already included in the Topo8 program.  How difficult was it to add that information to the GPS?

Thanks.

They are not in Topo8. I used,

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bwca-portage-tracks.gpx

bwca-camp+port-wpt.gpx

import the with the draw map function.

Hope this helps.

butthead