{"id":4352,"date":"2020-11-17T06:54:51","date_gmt":"2020-11-17T12:54:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/decideoutside.com\/?p=4352"},"modified":"2020-11-17T06:54:51","modified_gmt":"2020-11-17T12:54:51","slug":"is-a-hiking-gps-worth-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/decideoutside.com\/is-a-hiking-gps-worth-it\/","title":{"rendered":"Is A Hiking GPS Worth It These Days?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I remember when my brother-in-law used his Hiking GPS while we were out in the wilderness and it really came in handy several times. This was before the age of smartphones–fast forward to now, are hiking GPS devices even worth our time, anymore? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The primary advantages of a hiking GPS over a smartphone are durability, battery life, removable batteries, and Iridium Satellite support (SOS messaging and weather updates). Smartphones are more versatile, however, because they can perform more functions.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I was curious about the specs of a hiking GPS vs. a smartphone and I really wanted to see if there are still advantages of one over the other. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is A Hiking GPS Even Worth It?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I scoured tech specs and reviews to find out if there were advantages to using a hiking GPS. This is what I’ve found:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Category<\/th>Smartphone<\/th>Hiking GPS<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
Battery Life<\/td>6-12 hours of use<\/td>16-200 hours of use*<\/td><\/tr>
Removable Battery<\/td>No<\/td>Sometimes<\/td><\/tr>
Satellite Messaging<\/td>No<\/td>Yes (needs Iridium Satellite Support)<\/td><\/tr>
Satellite Weather Forecast<\/td>No<\/td>Yes (needs Iridium Satellite Support)<\/td><\/tr>
Preloaded Maps<\/td>No<\/td>Yes<\/td><\/tr>
Durability<\/td>Requires External Case<\/td>Yes<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>
* Some Hiking GPS’s can be configured to only reach out to satellites less often saving a lot of power<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

After doing this research I was able to narrow down the primary advantages of carrying a hiking GPS–which showed me there are definitely reasons why you would want to use one. <\/strong>However, there are strong reasons why a smartphone can work for many requirements as well. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

7 Reasons Why You Should Use A Hiking GPS<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Let’s talk about the most important reasons why you should consider a hiking GPS:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hiking GPS Satellite Messaging<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

GPS works via communication with (at least 4) satellites to find your position. This is how the GPS in your phone or the GPS in your Hiking GPS device function. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One feature that’s unique to certain<\/span> hiking GPS devices is Iridium Satellite support<\/span><\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Iridium satellites are in low-earth orbit and they are not used for GPS, but instead they are used for satellite communications<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fact, one class of devices are simply called satellite communicators, or satellite messengers. <\/strong>These devices support communicating through the Iridium satellite network.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Often these satellite “messengers” are nothing fancy in terms of the type of communication–you can think of it as text messaging <\/strong>via low-earth orbit satellites. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you’re hiking in the middle of the mountains, this is fantastic, because you can give status updates to loved ones while you journey to the earth’s most remote locations that don’t have a chance of having cellular service. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another hugely important feature of these types of devices is SOS support. <\/strong> With SOS, you can send a signal to emergency services and get help even if you are dozens of miles away from cellphone towers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

SOS communication and Satellite messaging over the Iridium satellite network requires a monthly subscription fee. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Iridium satellite communication support is limited to certain devices. <\/strong>Most Hiking GPS units actually don’t support Iridium Satellite communications, but some do, like the Garmin GPSMAP 66i<\/strong><\/a>, or the Garmin inReach Explorer<\/a> (Amazon links)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Garmin GPSMAP 66i supports Iridium satellite communication and therefore satellite messaging and SOS signaling, as well as supports all the features you’d expect in a Hiking GPS, including global navigation and advanced topography maps so you can accurately navigate in remote locations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you don’t need help navigating, or if you want to use your smartphone GPS to navigate but want the SOS and satellite messaging feature, you’re better off getting a satellite messenger such as the Garmin inReach Mini.<\/strong> With a lower profile (roughly half the weight) and a lower price, you just get the satellite communication without the navigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hiking GPS Satellite Weather Forecasts <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Another benefit of being able to access the Iridium satellite network is that you get the ability to get the weather. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Getting weather forecasts at home is great for convenience because it can help you dress for the occasion, properly. Getting the weather forecast in the middle of the ocean or in the mountains could be a matter of life and death. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Again, the Garmin GPSMAP 66i<\/a> supports the inReach subscription which means it has access to the Iridium network–this is necessary to get satellite weather forecasts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your standard hiking GPS (or your standard GPS app on a smartphone) doesn’t get this information<\/strong>. You need to get a device with access to the Iridium satellite network. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hiking GPS Battery Life<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps one of the strongest reasons why it’s worth considering a hiking GPS rather than using the GPS in your smartphone is battery life. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In general, because the hiking GPS is specialized it has more capability to use less battery life. A smartphone is designed to do a lot of things (even at the same time), and it has a focus on user experience. A smartphone has a beautiful display with a very accurate touchscreen, while many hiking GPS units don’t have these types of features.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Only some <\/em>hiking GPS units have the ability to take pictures! Which is just a small example of how smartphones can do hundreds of things (like playing games, checking notifications from a the hundred different social media apps out there, and on and on for days) while a hiking GPS unit is meant to do a few specific things<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because of this specialization, a hiking GPS has the capacity to have a much strong battery life than a smartphone.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On average, I found that hiking GPS units advertise about 34 hours of battery life<\/strong>, while the most popular smartphone actively used can last about 8-12 hours <\/strong>depending on what you’re doing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hiking GPS Low Power Modes<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Furthermore, hiking GPS units occasionally have low-power modes<\/strong> which allow for tweaking the amount of times the GPS unit reaches for the satellites in an hour. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Garmin GPSMAP 66i for example has Expedition mode<\/strong>, which advertises over 200 hours of battery life, which is amazing<\/strong> if it reaches even half of that. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Garmin inReach Satellite Communicator like the inReach Mini supports a power-saving mode that advertises up to 480<\/strong> hours. This device doesn’t allow you to use it as a hiking GPS, but it’s another example of how the GPS unit can be configured for power-saving modes to last a lot longer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Removable Batteries For Hiking GPS Units<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Even if the your particular hiking GPS doesn’t have stellar battery life, an incredibly important feature for many hiking GPS units is the ability to replace the batteries. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most of the time, the flagship smartphones (i.e. the most popular and expensive) don’t have removable batteries. If you want to charge your smartphone while in the wild you need solar panels and a solar “generator”, which is just a device that makes the power from the solar panels fit for electronics. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The alternative is to bring a power bank which is simply a battery that allows for energy transfer to your Smartphone or other non-removable battery pack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s more weight efficient, most of the time, to simply carry an extra battery pack or a couple of AA batteries–this is a bit of a double-edged sword since Lithium Ion has longer-lasting batteries (much of the time), but being able to replace batteries means you can get the device to last indefinitely depending on how many extra batteries you bring. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The key is to plan your trip carefully and bring extra batteries or power banks depending on how much you’ll be using your device.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Protecting Your Battery Life For Your Hiking GPS (Or Smartphone)<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Some hiking GPS units advertise amazing battery life, but after reading user experiences I discovered that what’s advertised and what’s reality is often based on the best case scenario. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The best case scenario for battery life is for a device to be on a fence in the open for the extent of the battery test.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unfortunately, you probably wouldn’t need a GPS unit if your trip consisted of sitting on a fence for 20 days. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Simply moving<\/strong> puts extra work on the GPS unit because it has to disconnect and reconnect to satellites that come into and out of view more often. This is especially true of walking through forest<\/strong> since the trees obscure the ability to communicate with satellites. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The most battery consuming activity for a GPS unit is connecting to satellites. <\/strong>When a device powers on, it can take 5-30 minutes to detect and connect to the needed number of satellites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is true of whatever GPS unit you get–so if you want your GPS unit to last as long as possible, it’s important to do what you can to protect the battery life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n