swiftdream
Trail Wise!
the Great Southwest Unbound
Posts: 541
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Post by swiftdream on Oct 9, 2019 8:39:33 GMT -8
What do you good people use? Phone only? GPS only? Pros? Cons? Any recommendations one way or the other? And no, these are not replacing my map & compass. Phone and Gaia app only for gps. It is very accurate and easy to use, several map and satellite layers to choose from. Since the iPhone has a dedicated gps chip integrated and you don’t need cell signal or WiFi it really does replace a stand alone gps unit very nicely. Add an Anker power pack for longer service. The phone also makes a very good tool for photojournalism so I’m saving a lot of weight and bulk. The map displays are just super. I pair this with my maps and compass for good and more complete navigational information. |
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ErnieW
Trail Wise!
I want to backpack
Posts: 9,852 
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Post by ErnieW on Oct 9, 2019 11:27:10 GMT -8
I have been carrying one of these: www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07M6HYLPR/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1I need USB-C for my new Samsung A50. The above cable is charge only, No data but for trail/travel I think that is better. It's tough but that makes it a little heavy side for a cable. It might be a touch lighter to carry the individual USB-C and Micro-USB cables I need but having a Lighting along too I can help Apple people if need be. I do carry an iPhone for work.
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Post by Coolkat on Sept 30, 2020 19:23:29 GMT -8
Well I think I'm well on my way to answering my own question that I started this thread almost a year ago. This summer I've used my phone twice now with two different apps.... Avenza and Backcountry Navigator Pro. Both worked very well.
However, I've discovered a possible flaw in downloading your maps to the sd card you put in the phone. This last hike I turned on my phone to double check something and when it booted up it said that my sd card was not available. Which is where I pre-downloaded my map with kml file overlayed on it. However, when I rebooted it, it was fine. This time it wouldn't have been huge deal as I was only using it to double check a very faint trail that I've done before. In other situations it might have been bad. Good reason to always bring paper map backup.
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gabby
Trail Wise!
Posts: 4,537
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Post by gabby on Oct 1, 2020 8:30:26 GMT -8
However, I've discovered a possible flaw in downloading your maps to the sd card you put in the phone. This last hike I turned on my phone to double check something and when it booted up it said that my sd card was not available. I'm having so many "mysterious" problems with devices lately, I'm starting to doubt my somewhat aging expertise per computers. Notwithstanding that observation, I get that same "sd card not available" on most of my Android tablets and other Android devices which have sd card slots all the time when booting. So far, at least on the devices I own, I haven't found it to cause any trouble at all. I theorize that, because the sd card is removable, the software MUST check it for validity/corruption/etc. every time you boot the device, so the popup saying "sd card not available" is just during the momentary "check period" during bootup - or, at least, that's what I've found. Still, your observation about paper backup is entirely valid WRT electronic devices: they tend to fail when you most need them. |
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Image Credit / Coolkat
