anyone using Garmin GPS?

[Deuce 1]

THanks bro. Plus any decent Harley would shake that POS right off that velco attachment!

It is the bomb. How far to gas? click click 20 minutes.

I dig that thing.

[ltdiver 3]

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And if you're a serious GPS geek, you might wanna check out http://www.geocaching.com/.

Gone on any geocaching hunts lately?

ltdiver

Don't tell me the sky's the limit when there are footprints on the moon

[quade 4]

That was supposed to be a boobytrap joke.

Plant it and wait until "they" find it themselves.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[freeflyguy 0]

posting tonight, too much Busch Light

I use a Magellen, mostly for hunting, flying a bit, but I like old school nav for flying. GPS when my ass is grass, but haven't been there, yet.

So, hunting, you need a real compass. Reason being, I see elk 2 miles away on a ridge, I use the real mag compass to find a bearing to them. Then, you move the GPS cursor to that bearing. That is one thing it cant do, tell you where something is, they only tell you where you are.

Then I use the topo program, dead reckoning and all that crap to place the waypoint where the herd is. This way, I walk up on them, without haveing to stick my head up. So way cool!

What you described you want it for, you don't need a compass, but, I would definatley buy one that had uploadable database. It is really cool when you are out in po-dunk nowhere, come across a stream, and the GPS says, 'Oh yeah, dude, you are on Brian Creek' . So neato.

Oh, the other thing. A compass doesn't need batteries.

----------------------------
bzzzz

[Tonto 1]

I use an e-trex Venture. Just about all Garmin Handhelds have a "compass" as long as you're moving.

I use it to mark routes for sport climbs. Spotting that 1st bolt when you were last there a few years back can be tricky. Also used it when I climbed Kilimanjaro, but more as a toy as we had porters and guides. Nice to know elevation gains and distances covered though.

t

It's the year of the Pig.

[lurking 0]

Let me just try to rephrase in simple words what some of the advanced gps users here are trying to tell you:

Technically the etrex does not have a compass built in. As soon as you start moving (just a few steps are enough) it uses the change in position it has determined to point you in the right direction. It just cannot tell you in which direction your next waypoint is if you are standing still.

If that bothers you depends on the application you are using it for. I use my etrex for flying sailplanes and if I would be stationary while airborne I would be in trouble (can you say stall speed?) So I don´t need a "real" compass in my gps.

Does that make sense?

Thomas
Germany

[Gadget 0]

I use the etrek while jumping Crw.I put a waypoint at the gravelpit and when we hit clouds i have a heading to go.It's so cool to see all the guys scramble at me when we are going in to a cloud.They all want to know my canopycolour
Also doing a standup for the hangar with everybody else out is cool to.

If people from Poland are called Poles, why aren't people from Holland called Holes???
My logbook

[Frodo 0]

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Does that make sense?

Yep, thanks to all of you for making this stuff clear to meAnd yes, I had this idea of loading the gravel pit as a waypoint too... I can imagine its helpfulness very well ever since my 2nd jump (heavy clouds @ 2-3k).

[Frodo 0]

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Yup, they also come on "Suunto" watches, that some people (myself included) are using as our primary wrist-mount altimeter.

_Am

... I mean everything clear except this part!
That is, the altimeters on the watches are made for activities like climbing, where your altitude changes slowly, so they update their info every 10-15 seconds. How can you (safely) use that for skydiving?!

[Clownburner 0]

Where do you mount your etrex when jumping CRW?

7CP#1 | BTR#2 | Payaso en fuego Rodriguez
"I want hot chicks in my boobies!"- McBeth

[Clownburner 0]

The Suunto watches I've seen update more like 3 times a second... I think most of the people who use them don't pay a lot of attention to them in freefall, they use them under canopy for more precise swooping data....

7CP#1 | BTR#2 | Payaso en fuego Rodriguez
"I want hot chicks in my boobies!"- McBeth

[indyz 1]

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Where do you mount your etrex when jumping CRW?

My eTrex is in a little pouch with a belt clip. I'd put it on my chest strap and use a rubber band to secure it, like some DZs do with student radios. That's my plan for the night cross country I've been considering.

[LouDiamond 1]

I have a small neoprene pouch with a plastic window that holds the GPS. It has a belt loop on the back that I run my chest strap through on my Birdman flights. I think i will eventually mount it on top of my helmet as per Deuce's recommendation a while back. I'm not really worried about looking at it, I know where I'm flying. I just want to know how far and fast I went and so on afterwards

"It's just skydiving..additional drama is not required"
Some people dream about flying, I live my dream
SKYMONKEY PUBLISHING

[LouDiamond 1]

I have been using this service that I found through GPS world for a while now and find that it works better than I imagined. I wore my GPS on a walk in the woods and uploaded the data and it broke down the whole hike. I have also uploaded some of my birdman flights with pretty good results. I suggest you check it out as it is free.

CLICK ME

"It's just skydiving..additional drama is not required"
Some people dream about flying, I live my dream
SKYMONKEY PUBLISHING

[steve1 5]

I've put off buying one of these for years, but this year I plan to buy one. I plan to get one of the cheaper E-trex models. There's one that sells for $119. that I plan to get. Last Fall we were hunting with my wife and kids. When the sun goes down everything looks the same here in Eastern Montana. It took an extra five hours to find our vehicle that night because I didn't have a GPS or even a compass for that matter. Another time I got turned around in a blizzard. My tracks were filled with snow so backtracking was useless. Finally I found my jeep before it was too late. I should have bought one a long time ago.

Where I really want to use a GPS is to find the exact boundaries of public land. The outfitters and some greedy land owners are trying to claim large sections of public land as there own, and you really need a GPS and map to find exactly what's what and to avoid a tresspassing ticket. I've had more than one hollering contest with land owners and outfitters because I wouldn't leave their hunting area. It's the shits hunting that way. I guess that's why I like to sky dive a whole lot more than hunting now. There's just too damn many hunters....Steve1

[LouDiamond 1]

Sorry to hear that hunting has become such a drag in your neck of the woods. Typically , that would be a classic case for using a GPS. What I think more and more people are dicovering is that a GPS can be used for a wide variety of things, even if one is not concerned where they happen to be on the planet at that point in time. I think that more and more people will eventually see the benifit of having GPS as a means of logging their progress much like a Pro track logs jumps.

"It's just skydiving..additional drama is not required"
Some people dream about flying, I live my dream
SKYMONKEY PUBLISHING