Numpty GPS on Horse

[theopental]

Hi and thanks for having me here

Its Christmas - hooray

Despite being a GPS numpty I have been thinking an entry level unit would be a good present for my gf who's into horseriding.

She rides often and usually spends hours looking at OS maps for routes on bridleways before gettting lost anyway.

Would a basic handheld unit be a practical gizmo for use on horseback?

I honestly have no idea, I guess Ive skimmed info on the Garmin Gecko but I dont know whats in the box - do I need to buy a further map package like Memory Map too for the OS data like rights of way as this seems to make it a lot more cash

It would be to supplement her own common sense so would live in a pocket and just be used to 'rescue' her sense of direction if you know what I mean
Basicallly if a route is programmed in with several dozen way points do these need to be marked off one by one or can it be kept in a pocket and just used in emergency ie it wont try to direct bck to the first, it will know its half way round or something

I say if a route is programmed in, is it that easy?
And Im unclear if I need to buy a PC cable as well, again this would make it less of a bargain.

Cheers - any help with above, especially personal experience welcome

Theo

[mikealder]

If you want OS style mapping on the unit you could have a look at the SatMap active 10, this is far from a cheap solution but provides a very good device for off road activities.

A much less costly option would be to use her mobile phone, it would have to be a PDA based phone or one of the newer Smart Phones running either MS or the newer Nokia OS.
There are topo mapping packages to run on these devices Memory Map will work on the MS devices while there are others to run on the Nokia, all you would need is the local map and a Bluetooth GPS receiver - assuming you/ she has the correct phone to start with - Mike

[theopental]

Mike

Thanks very much
That looks lovely - but she's not worth that much

What Im looking for is a unit that can be crossreferenced with an OS map and waypoints put on either manually or preferably via a PC as this seems as though it would be easier

Then she could start off with the intention of roughly knowing where she is going but nip out the GPS now and again to make sure

If every time she looked at the GPS it wanted to send her back to the first way point this would not be good

Although pessimistically I may be struggling to find this

Cheers

Theo

[DennisN]

Buy her a prismatic compass, teach her how to use it and get the relevant OS map. That would be pretty cheap (surely a girlfriend is worth a decent satnav solution? If Vera wanted one, I'd take her to the shop right now).

Alternatively, a good tip from my cowboy days (watching the films, not slinging guns) was to slap the horse's bum and say "Go home Boy (or Girl)" and it would gallop off home with an empty saddle and bring back a search party (they do it with a kangaroo called Skippy in Oz).
_________________
Dennis

If it tastes good - it's fattening.

Two of them are obesiting!!

[mikealder]

It is a costly device for occasional use but it shows you the higher end of the market, I would look into using her mobile phone, is it pay as you go or monthly contract, if the latter when can she upgrade it? - this will prove to be the lowest cost solution to display OS style maps on a device IMHO - Mike

[robertn]

Careful with Mobile Phones, they are not robust, have poor battery life (How many people relate stories of ....and then the batteires went flat, so we knew someone was in trouble...... AND most importantly, need coverage. How far off the beaten track does you GF go?
They also tend to have small antenna (dodgy signal strengths), and all but the top end have tiny screens.
If all the compromises work for you, great, but there are a lot of them.

I am suuming she has basic map skills, so won't preach (too much) about the GPS being a useful toy.

Anything from the the Garmin range superior to any cell solution. What I woudl look for is

AA batteries, that way if they go flat, whip the ones out of your tourch or camera (All using AA's of course) and off you go. Unlike any internal rechargeable, which when flat, your dead in the water. Also LiIon's have a shelf life of 3 years, so for an occational use product the replacement batteries start adding up in price. LiIon's when at the end of there lifes report "full charge", then stop, no warning (maybe a minute). They are, IMHO, great for compact, consumer grade products, like cell phones, but not good for mission critical unless a maintainace plan that involves bi-annual replacement is adhered to. (New batteries must also have a manufacture date - something consumer grade goods often don't have.)

$$$ - as you spend more, you get more features, but even the ntry level units will have enough waypoints for a day out and OS coordinates.

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