Why have a sat nav ‘n who needs one?

[er-minio]

Two or three years ago I was hiking/walking with some friends in Wales.
They took the piss non stop because I had my GPSmap 64s with me.

They didn't mind it when the weather turned and helped greatly with directions and bifurcations on the (easy) route.

I should have left them back up there, the little cnuts

 

[Wapping]

I was a very early convert to GPS navigation, way before I discovered Garmin’s Quest.

I can’t remember what it was called but it predated the Palm * and slid into a black ‘sheath’ with a short stubby aerial / satellite receiver. A chunky thing overall, as I recall. I can’t remember how I got the maps onto it or indeed created any routes. I do though remember throwing up several hours from Annecy and my friend tapping it to find our hotel ASAP. Very crude but it worked.

I can’t remember either how it was affixed to the bike. I think it must have just sat in the window of a Baglux tank bag….. that alone dates it.

God only knows what happened to it. Probably thrown away in the march of progress.


* Were they called PDA’s?

 

[er-minio]

Navman GPS sleeve or the TomTom bundle.
I'd say the Navman sleeve.

 

[Wapping]

I'd say the Navman sleeve

I think you are correct

I have never owned a TomTom.

 

[FERRET]

Do you use GPS for sailing?

 

[Wapping]

Do you use GPS for sailing?

The OP uses a loadstone and observes Venus relative to the Moon

 

[J biker]

Pah. Just use an A to Z. Or several. I dont miss those days of trying to find houses using one.

As much as I think sat nav is the work of the devil, I would not want to be without it, phone based or bespoke unit.
And…being able to use Googlemaps for an overview is also huge. What a faff having umpteen maps, or an atlas that was never the right scale for detail v distance. Page 11 to 33, nah, lost my place.
Scribbled notes have their place, but sat nav wins overall.

 

[leadfarmer]

I love gps, it’s brilliant

 

[JohnnyBoxer]

It’s all very well having written route directions in your tank bag. I don’t have and don’t want a tank bag as I don’t want to carry it about every time I leave the bike.

Mapcase then
Leave it on the bike
That’s what I do

 

[glenn2926]

Mapcase then
Leave it on the bike
That’s what I do

Sort of like leaving the sat nav on the bike then?

 

[Boxerboy55]

Why do I need a GPS?

With pinpoint accuracy it will take me to my hotel at the end of the day. Following the path I selected from the comfort of my den, way ahead of leaving home.

I’ve only been to Europe 9 times and can rock up to 10 hotels on a trip. Every time I land on target.

I use the GPS for every outing.

I like it to count me down to every turn, waypoint of interest, fuel stop, cafe.

I like a second opinion on my road speed. BMW and Garmin tend to disagree.

Why would I want a scrap of paper on my non existent tank bag.

I do carry the relevant pages from the necessary map books, ‘cos I can read a map. But. Not while I’m riding. So stop-start map reading doesn’t work for me

 

[Wapping]

Sort of like leaving the sat nav on the bike then?

Nothing like it. But hey…..

 

[Kitsilano]

Depends where you are. GPS very useful in cities (wanna try Bogota or Lusaka without one? No thanks), or if it's dark.

I use a map to plan, then make notes and use the GPS to guide me from point to point. Wouldn't be without it, but it is only a tool.

Lusaka after dark, got me arrested at riflepoint, once. No such thing as public GPS in early 1987!

 

[Wapping]

Mapcase then
Leave it on the bike
That’s what I do

For a long time and even into GPS days, I used one of these or something pretty similar:


I remember it:

A. Had little toggles, so I could pull the strings tight.

B. Went a brownish sort of colour, the plastic reacting eventually to the sun.

Happy days.

I am thinking of giving up using a tank bank on my Himalayan, so I may well go back to using one.. Thanks for the reminder, JB.

 

[King Rat]

Why have a car or bike when we could all use public transportation?
Personally and this is just my opinion, anything which makes my life easier and with less stress is an obvious choice.

It strikes me that Er-Minio is becoming mightily stressed by this modern technology that is supposed to be making his life less stressful.

Map, route notes, mindset = less stress.

 

[King Rat]

And what if the road is closed down at Wigmore ?

What then young Ratty ?

I am writing this very much tongue in cheek as I'm a big fan of paper maps of all descriptions.

Improvise, adapt, overcome!

 

[King Rat]

It’s all very well having written route directions in your tank bag. I don’t have and don’t want a tank bag as I don’t want to carry it about every time I leave the bike.

Do like me then. Leave it on the bike, usually with my wallet inside, and lunch/nibbles, along with my jacket over the handlebars/screen and helmet on the mirror, gloves over the ignition switch. 45 years of riding a bike as a major means of transport in all places and the only time I have had an issue was one morning, outside the house, someone had taken the key out of the ignition lock. BUGGER - they obviously thought I had forgotten them and I found them, thrown up the path towards the front door! That was my Ducati 900SS (1981 bevel drive).

 

[King Rat]

I always found landing off a boat and navigating my way out of a new town or city to be stressful. I can remember first using my old Garmin 2610 and landing in St Malo and going wrong and hearing those immortal words "Off route recalculating" and being content that I wasn't going to have to watch the road, the map in my tank bag and do mental gymnastics as to what direction I was going based on the orientation of my map and the direction the road was taking me, and in the worst case, having to stop and get of the bike to get my bearings or, god forbid, ask a native for directions in pigeon French. I was reasonably competent at that sort of thing and even acted as navigator for a chum for a couple of years doing night time (Timed) navigation rallies (if you ever want to find out if you are prone to motion sickness that's the activity for it ) )

The Garmin came into its own even more when driving from Belfast to France on at least 6 occasions with three kids in the car and on a couple of visits to the states with hire cars. In those circumstances you do not need additional stress.

I too use maps for planning and know where I'm going but like the ease that a gps affords. Oddly when going hill walking I've always taken a map and an ancient Silva compass just to check direction if the mist comes down. Recently however (while still carrying a map and compass), I've started using("dicking about with", according to my wife) my phone when walking using OSMand maps

I'll see your Silva and raise you a proper Francis Barker Mk73





A very good hand bearing compass for at sea too.

 

[King Rat]

I was a very early convert to GPS navigation, way before I discovered Garmin’s Quest.

I can’t remember what it was called but it predated the Palm * and slid into a black ‘sheath’ with a short stubby aerial / satellite receiver. A chunky thing overall, as I recall. I can’t remember how I got the maps onto it or indeed created any routes. I do though remember throwing up several hours from Annecy and my friend tapping it to find our hotel ASAP. Very crude but it worked.

I can’t remember either how it was affixed to the bike. I think it must have just sat in the window of a Baglux tank bag….. that alone dates it.

God only knows what happened to it. Probably thrown away in the march of progress.


* Were they called PDA’s?

Garmin 12?

 

[King Rat]

Do you use GPS for sailing?

The chart plotter is running, but all planning and navigation is done on the chart table with charts, the old fashioned way. A weather eye is kept on the chart plotter and a waypoint dropped every 30 minutes, (except when I am not on watch and the owner/crew either can't be bothered or forgot, hence the large gaps) when a new 'dead reckoning' position is put on the chart too - it is still a maritime legal requirement, believe it or not.