10 Things You Can Do With a GPS

A lot of dyed-in-the-wool traditionalists pooh pooh GPS units for

mountaineering and hill walking. But do they really deserve this disdain or

contempt? What can they offer hill walkers? Are they worth considering? Read

on and find out . . .

Bear in mind that you should always be prepared and capable of navigating

without a GPS unit. GPS units are designed to augment other forms of

navigation, not to replace them.

So what questions can a GPS answer and what features do they offer? Some you

may know and some you may not. Well, here's the list: -

1. Where am I?

OK, that's the obvious one. Since GPS stands for global positioning system

you could pretty much guess this one. But did you know that, as well as the

default latitude and longtitude in degrees and minutes, you can also choose

from many different positional formats including the one that is of most

interest to us i.e. British Grid. Therefore, armed with an OS map of the area,

you can read the grid cordinates from the unit and pinpoint your location on

the map. Therefore, if you only use it for this purpose alone (and I know

some who do) then it's worth its weight in gold for those occasions when

navigation is difficult. I rate GPS units for this feature alone but they

offer plenty more...

2. You can record your current location

If you would like to record where you are for any reason, you can record your

location and elevation as a waypoint and give it a name that you can refer

back to later. This could be useful to remind you where you've left the

mountain bikes or be useful in emergencies where you need to record an

accident location.

3. How high am I?

You can see at a glance your elevation i.e. the measurement of height above

sea level. So you should never be caught out again by false summits.

Subtracting your elevation from the height of the peak you are tackling will

tell you what ascent remains to achieve your objective.

4. How much daylight remains?

A GPS unit can give you the times of sunrise and sunset at your present

location. This is useful for planning your walk and ensuring that you can

complete it in daylight.

5. What direction am I Walking?

A GPS unit can give you your heading - the direction you are travelling and

your bearing i.e. the compass direction between your current location and

your destination.

6. How far have I walked?

A GPS unit is usually equipped with a trip odometer which can tell you how

far you have gone since the last trip reset.

7. How long have I been walking?

If you forgot to check the time that you set out but you remembered to reset

the trip odometer then the GPS unit can tell you the total time you have

travelled since the last trip reset.

8. How fast am I walking?

Like the speedometer in your car, the GPS unit can tell you how fast you are

going regardless of whether or not you are on the right track. In addition,

if you remembered to reset your trip when you set out, the GPS can also tell

you your average and maximum speed since the last trip reset.

9. How do I retrace my route?

A track log feature leaves an electronic breadcrumb navigation trail which

you can save for future use. When you are ready to return to where you

started, the GPS will take you back along the track log that you left behind.

Alternatively you can record your walk so that others may follow in your

footsteps.

10. Plan a route in advance

You can set up a route by defining it, in the GPS unit, as a series of

waypoints. When you reach one waypoint, the GPS guides you to the next with a

pointer and so on through each successive waypoint until you reach your final

destination. This is extremely useful in bad weather when map and compass

navigation is difficult.

The process of entering waypoints into a GPS is made made much easier if the

GPS unit is used in conjunction with digital mapping software which is the

subject of another review.

Recommendations

So, how do I rate gps units? Well, I wouldn't have one in my car but I'm a

big fan of GPS units for hill walking. I always carry mine with me and on a

number of occasions it has proved invaluable for identifying the current

location and keeping on the right track. The GPS unit that I use, which has

all of the above features, is the Garmin etrex. This is a low-cost entry

level GPS unit which is ideal for users new to GPS but which also offers

features that are likely to meet the requirements of many of you long term.

Remember that, in the early 70's according to Monty Python, a lot of people

pooh poohed Australian table wine but now they can't get enough of them.

Invest in a GPS - you'll find its worth every penny. I rate GPS units highly

as an essential item of equipment for hill walking in the UK.